Ambrose McCarthy Patterson (29 June 1877 – 26 December 1966) was a painter and printmaker.

Life

Patterson was born in

Daylesford, Victoria Daylesford is a spa town located in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, within the Shire of Hepburn, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately 108 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. First established in 1852 as a gold-mini ...

. He studied at the Melbourne Art School under

E. Phillips Fox Emanuel Phillips Fox (12 March 1865 – 8 October 1915) was an Australian impressionism, impressionist painter. After studying at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School in Melbourne, Fox travelled to Paris to study in 1886. He remained in ...

and

Tudor St. George Tucker Tudor St George Tucker (28 April 1862 – 21 December 1906) was an English painter who spent a large part of his short life in Australia. He was best known for his landscapes and portraits of women. Biography He was the son of Captain Charlton ...

, at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

Art School in Melbourne and continued his studies in Paris at the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

and the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

under

Lucien Simon Lucien Joseph Simon (1861 – 1945) was a French painter and teacher born in Paris. Early life and education Simon was born in Paris. After graduating from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, he studied painting at the studio of Jules Didier, then from ...

André Lhote André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art. Early life and education Lhote was born ...

and Maxime Maufra. In Paris he became a friend of compatriot

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, ...

, the famous soprano; Patterson's brother, Tom, was married to Melba's sister, Belle. Through Melba's influence, he was able to continue his studies with

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

. He became part of the Paris arts scene and exhibited at the first

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...

exhibitions. He had five paintings at the 1905

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

at which

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

and

the fauves Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

stunned the art world. He arrived in Hawaii in 1916 on a stopover from Sidney to New York, and decided to stay with a Parisian friend living in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

. During the next 18 months, Patterson made block prints and paintings with particular interest in Kilauea.Honolulu Museum of Art, wall label, ''Mount Kilauea, The House of Everlasting Fire'', accession 12980.1 His art was included in the Hawaiian Society of Artists Annual in 1917. An online facsimile of the entire text of Vol. 1 is posted on the Traditional Fine Arts Organization website (http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/10aa/10aa557.htm ). He left for California in 1918 and settled in Seattle. At the 1918 Spring Annual of the

San Francisco Art Association The San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) was an organization that promoted California artists, held art exhibitions, published a periodical, and established the first art school west of Chicago. The SFAA – which, by 1961, completed a long sequence ...

(SFAA) his wood block prints were said to be "especially fine in color." That summer his art was given a one-man exhibition at the SFAA galleries and he contributed three color prints (''The Steeple Chase,'' ''The Bull Fight'', and ''The Long Beach'') to the Seventh Annual of the California Society of Etchers.''San Francisco Chronicle'', 4 August 1918, p. E-6. By September 1918 Patterson had moved to Seattle to work as a freelance artist, perhaps being the first modern artist in that city, and that fall his art was given a solo show at the Seattle Fine Arts Society, the first of many exhibitions in Washington State. In 1919 he established the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

School of Painting and Design. Patterson married painter and former student Viola Hansen in 1922, and the two became major figures of the arts in the Pacific Northwest region. Patterson taught until his retirement in 1947. He died in Seattle in 1966 leaving behind an impressive record of awards received and exhibitions across the United States, including the:

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York City,

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington, D.C., and the World's Fairs in San Francisco and New York City. The

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

(Sydney, Australia), the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single col ...

, the

National Portrait Gallery (Australia) The National Portrait Gallery (NGPA) in Canberra is a public art gallery containing portraits of prominent Australians. It was established in 1998 and moved to its present building on King Edward Terrace in December 2008. History In the earl ...

(Canberra), the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

, the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...

and the

Tacoma Art Museum The Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is an art museum in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It focuses primarily on the art and artists from the Pacific Northwest and broader western region of the U.S. Founded in 1935, the museum has strong roots in the c ...

are among the public collections holding works by Ambrose McCarthy Patterson.

Gallery

File:Ambrose Patterson's wood block print 'Surfriders, Honolulu', c.1915.jpg, Wood block print ''Surfriders, Honolulu'', c. 1915 File:Ambrose Patterson's painting at the Allen Center, University of Washington.jpg, A painting at the Allen Center, University of Washington File:Ambrose Patterson's mural 'Local Pursuits' at the Mount Vernon Post Office, 1938.jpg, The

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

mural ''Local Pursuits'' at the

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

Post Office, 1938

References

* Alexander, Jane, ''Portrait of an Artist: Ambrose Patterson (1877–1966) From the Latin Quarter to the pot pourri of Palamadom'', Jimaringle Publications, Melbourne, Australia, 1992. * Congdon-Martin, Douglas, ''Aloha Spirit, Hawaiian Art and Popular Design'', Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA, 1998, p. 179 * Hughes, Glenn (Editor), ''Hawaii, Twelve Woodcuts by Ambrose Patterson'', Seattle, University of Washington Book Store, 1928. * Knapp, Danielle Marie
''Rethinking Ambrose Patterson and Modern Art in Seattle''
MA thesis, University of Oregon, June 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Ambrose Mccarthy 1877 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters Australian painters University of Washington faculty Artists from Seattle Volcano School painters Hawaii artists Works Progress Administration workers Northwest School (art) Australian emigrants to the United States People of the New Deal arts projects People from Daylesford, Victoria Académie Colarossi alumni 20th-century American male artists National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni