Clement Nye Swift (1846 – March 29, 1918) was an American artist associated with the

Pont-Aven School Pont-Aven School (french: École de Pont-Aven, br, Skol Pont Aven) encompasses works of art influenced by the Breton town of Pont-Aven and its surroundings. Originally the term applied to works created in the artists' colony at Pont-Aven, which s ...

and known for his paintings of nautical themes and of life in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Biography

Clement Nye Swift Couple devant une fontaine

Swift was born in 1846 in

Acushnet, Massachusetts Acushnet () is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,559 at the 2020 census. History Acushnet was first settled in 1659. It has been included as a part of three separate towns throughout its history. It ...

to Rhodolphus Nye Swift and Sylvia Hathaway. As a child, he attended the

Friends Academy Friends Academy is a Quaker, coeducational, independent, college preparatory school serving students from nursery school through the twelfth grade, located in Locust Valley, New York, United States. The school was founded in 1876 by 78-year-old ...

Dartmouth, Massachusetts Dartmouth (Massachusett: ) is a coastal town in Bristol County, Massachusetts. Old Dartmouth was the first area of Southeastern Massachusetts to be settled by Europeans, primarily English. Dartmouth is part of New England's farm coast, which co ...

. His early interest was in painting animals, and he moved to France to study painting at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He also studied with the artists

Adolphe Yvon Adolphe Yvon (1817–1893) was a French painter known for his paintings of the Napoleonic Wars. Yvon studied under Paul Delaroche, rose to fame during the Second Empire, then finished his career as a teacher. Career Shortly after the end of th ...

and

Henri Harpignies Henri-Joseph Harpignies (; June 28, 1819 – August 28, 1916) was a French people, French Landscape art, landscape painter of the Barbizon school. Life He was born at Valenciennes. His parents intended for him to pursue a business career, but ...

. After the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he moved to

. He settled in the coastal town of

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (, Breton: 'River Bridge') is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 2,821. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called ''Pontavenistes'' in French. ...

, where he joined the artistic community known the

. He lived there for ten years, and during this time he produced the majority of his paintings. Between 1872 and 1880, he exhibited his work at the

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 ...

. In 1881, Swift returned to Acushnet, Massachusetts, where he took up writing, producing a series of stories and poems. He married his cousin Annie Amelia Swift on October 15, 1895. He died March 29, 1918 and is buried in Acushnet Cemetery.

References

External links

Clement Nye Swift papers
at the

New Bedford Whaling Museum The New Bedford Whaling Museum is a museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States that focuses on the history, science, art, and culture of the international whaling industry, and the "Old Dartmouth" region (now the city of New Bedford and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Clement Nye 1846 births 1918 deaths 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters American male painters American marine artists Pont-Aven painters People from Acushnet, Massachusetts 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists