Charles Yarnall Abbott (September 23, 1870June 24, 1938) was an American photographer and painter.

Early life

Charles Yarnall Abbott was born on September 23, 1870, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, to Sarah (Yarnall) and William Holloway Abbott, an attorney.Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer,
Philadelphia: A History of the City and Its People
' (Clarke, 1912), pp. 134-135. Accessed at Archive.org, 25 July 2014. He grew up in Philadelphia. He originally went to college to study law. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

in 1892. He was a lawyer for ten years before becoming an artist.

Mid-life and career

Abbott became interested in the arts while working as a lawyer. First, he gained interest in photography, followed by an interest for painting. He quit working in law and went to study painting. He studied at the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

, training under

Thomas Anshutz Thomas Pollock Anshutz (October 5, 1851 – June 16, 1912) was an American painter and teacher. Known for his portraiture and genre scenes, Anshutz was a co-founder of The Darby School. One of Thomas Eakins's most prominent students, he succeede ...

. He relocated to Paris, France. He studied at the Académie Colarossi. There, he trained under Raphael Collin and

Gustave Courtois Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois, also known as Gustave Courtois (; 18 May 1852 in Pusey, Haute-Saône – 1923 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French painter, a representative of the academic style of art. Life Courtois was born 18 May 1852 in ...

. He returned from Paris and moved to

Rose Valley, Pennsylvania Rose Valley is a small, historic borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its area is , and the population was 913 at the 2010 census. The area was settled by Quaker farmers in 1682, and later water mills along Ridley Creek drove ...

. He married

Elenore Abbott Elenore Plaisted Abbott (1875–1935) was an American book illustrator, scenic designer, and painter. She illustrated early 20th-century editions of ''Grimm's Fairy Tales,'' ''Robinson Crusoe'', and '' Kidnapped''. Several books were publishe ...

in 1898. Abbott fathered one child with Elenore, Marjorie (1907-?). Some of Abbott's pictures appeared in ''

Camera Work ''Camera Work'' was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It presented high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world, with the goal to establish photography as a ...

''.Alfred Stieglitz, ''Camera Work. The Complete Photographs'', Köln, Taschen Bibliotheca Universalis, 2015, The couple relocated to Philadelphia in 1913. Abbott also worked in

Rockport, Massachusetts Rockport is a seaside New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,992 in 2020. Rockport is located approximately northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula. Rockport borders Gloucester ...

. He co-founded the

Rockport Art Association Rockport Art Association is an art association in the United States. It started as an artist's cooperative and became a gathering place of New England artists of the 20th century. The artists Aldro Hibbard, Antonio Cirino, Paul Strisik, Anthony ...

. Starting in 1916, his work was featured in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Annual Exhibition, until he died.

Later life and legacy

He served as president of the

Philadelphia Sketch Club The Philadelphia Sketch Club, founded on November 20, 1860, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of America's oldest artists' clubs. The club's own web page proclaims it ''the'' oldest. Prominent members have included Joseph Pennell, Thomas Eaki ...

and the

Philadelphia Art Alliance The Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. It is the oldest multidisciplinary arts center in the United States for visua ...

. His work was exhibited at 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 ...

and

Corcoran Gallery The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

. He lectured and wrote about

art appreciation Visual arts education is the area of learning that is based upon the kind of art that one can see, visual arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practic ...

. His work was published in ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

''. Abbott also was a playwright. He died in 1938. His work is held in the collections of the

National Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum G ...

, 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 ...

and the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

. Abbott died on June 24, 1938, in Philadelphia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, C. Yarnall 1870 births 1938 deaths 19th-century American painters 19th-century American photographers 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American photographers Académie Colarossi alumni American expatriates in France American male painters Artists from Philadelphia Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni 20th-century American male artists