Charles Lewis Fussell (1840–1909) was an American landscape painter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fussell lived near

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. Since ...

for most of his life and studied at 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.

with his close friend, mentor, and colleague,

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artists. For the length ...

Biography

Early life and education

Charles Lewis Fussell was born in West Vincent Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1840 to Edwin and Rebecca (Lewis) Fussell. He was the oldest child of a large

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

family and attended Central High School in Philadelphia, where he was classmates with

and

William Sartain William Sartain (November 21, 1843 – October 25, 1924) was an American artist, known for the moody tonalism of his paintings, and interests and influences that spanned Orientalism and the Barbizon plein air approach to art. Friend to Thomas ...

. Fussell later enrolled at 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.

and was tutored by Peter F. Rothermel. In 1861, Eakins joined Fussell to study at the academy, where they formed a lifelong friendship. Eakins painted a portrait of Fussell in 1905.

Painting career

In an attempt to restore his father's failing health, Fussell's family moved to Townsend's Inlet, New Jersey in 1868. At the advise of Rothermel, Fussell moved to

Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 201 ...

in 1870 to paint the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, while researching the possible climatic benefits for his father's medical condition. He soon returned to Philadelphia to study under Eakins and his family moved to

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about west of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation with 1.6 million residents as 2020. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan ...

in 1871. Fussell traveled extensively throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, creating many landscape portraits.

Later years

In 1889, Fussell moved to Brooklyn, NY to further his pursuit of landscape painting. Fussell painted scenes at Crow's Hill, Flatbush,

Fort Hamilton Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which i ...

Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * ''Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central A ...

, Rockaway and other rural areas threatened by imminent

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly th ...

. He returned to Media, PA in 1897 and lived with his sister and his aunt, Graceanna Lewis, a known

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

. Fussell continued to paint locally and gave art lessons until his death in 1909.

Painting gallery

Fussell worked in many different mediums including oil paints, watercolors and pen & pencil. From 1863 to 1905, Fussell exhibited 38 paintings at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His exhibits consisted primarily of landscape paintings, but his early work also included genre subject and

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, bo ...

pieces. File:Charles Lewis Fussell - Summer afternoon.jpg, "Summer afternoon" File:Charles Lewis Fussell - The old Mill (1901).jpg, "The Old Mill" (1901) File:Charles Lewis Fussell - The Evans Homestead Haddonfield New Jersey (1901).jpg, "The Evans Homestead Haddonfield New Jersey" (1901) File:Charles Lewis Fussell - Spring blossoms (1902).jpg, Spring blossoms (1902)

References

External links

Schwarz Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fussell, Charles Lewis 1840 births 1909 deaths People from Delaware County, Pennsylvania 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters Painters from Pennsylvania Quakers from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni Philadelphia articles needing expert attention Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni