Charles Henry Hart (February 4, 1847,

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 ...

– July 29, 1918,

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) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

art expert and author.

Biography

He received a classical and scientific education, and studied law. He was admitted to the

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in 1868 and graduated at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

the next spring. In 1894, he received severe injuries in a train accident. On recovering, he decided to give up the practice of law and devote himself to literature and art, though even while active as a lawyer he found time for literary activities. In 1865, he was elected secretary of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, and three years later became its historiographer. He did much literary work in connection with this society. From 1882 to 1902 he was director of the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

. His specialty in art was historical portraiture, in particular the work of

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washi ...

. He actively publicized works he believed to be mislabeled, in particular being concerned to prevent the purchase of such works by misled buyers.

Publications

His numerous publications include: * ''Memoir of William Hickling Prescott, A Historian of Spain, Mexico, and Peru'' (Boston: D. Clapp & Son, 1868) *''Bibliographia Lincolniana'', reprinted under the title ''Biographical Sketch of Abraham Lincoln'' (1870) * *''Abraham Lincoln's Place in History'' (1900) *'' Edward Savage, Painter and Engraver'' (1905) *''Who Was the Mother of

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's Son?'' (1911) *''Memoirs of the Life and Works of Jean Houdon'' (1912), in collaboration with E. Biddle

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Charles Henry American biographers American male biographers Writers from Philadelphia 1847 births 1918 deaths University of Pennsylvania alumni People associated with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts American art historians World's Columbian Exposition 19th-century American lawyers