Dwight William Tryon (August 13, 1849 – July 1, 1925) was an American landscape painter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work was influenced by

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

, and he is best known for his landscapes and seascapes painted in a

tonalist Tonalist (foaled February 11, 2011) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2014 Belmont Stakes, beating the favored California Chrome, who was attempting to win the Triple Crown. Tonalist won the Peter Pan Stakes in ...

style.

Biography

Tryon was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, to Anson Tryon and Delia O. Roberts. His father was killed in a gun accident before Tryon reached four years of age, and Tryon was raised by his mother on his grandparents' farm in East Hartford. His interest in art evolved naturally. As a young man Tryon took a job at a prominent Hartford bookstore and studied art instruction manuals from the store shelves. He also took to sketching the surrounding countryside during his off hours. Tryon sold his first painting in 1870. After exhibiting and selling work locally, he successfully exhibited at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

in 1873. His artistic convictions affirmed, Tryon married Alice Belden, quit his job at the bookstore and became a full-time artist. Some of his first works from this period are seascapes and harbor views executed in a luminist manner. Soon after, however, Tryon's style shifted towards the

Barbizon school The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name f ...

, which was then becoming popular among American artists. He may have been influenced by the works of

George Inness George Inness (May 1, 1825 – August 3, 1894) was a prominent United States, American landscape painting, landscape painter. Now recognized as one of the most influential American artists of the nineteenth century, Inness was influenced b ...

and

Alexander Helwig Wyant Alexander Helwig Wyant (January 11, 1836November 29, 1892) was an American landscape painter. His early works belonged to the Hudson River School, with its direct pastoral narrative, but evolved into the more moody and shadowy Tonalism. After a s ...

. In 1876 Tryon decided to advance his skills through a formal study of art. He sold all of his paintings at auction and, with the help of a benefactor, traveled to France with his wife. He enrolled in the atelier of Jacquesson de la Chevreuse, and took classes 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 ...

. He also received instruction from

Charles-François Daubigny Charles-François Daubigny ( , , ; 15 February 181719 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of impressionism. He was also a prolific printmaker, mostly in etchin ...

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 ...

, and Jean Baptiste-Antoine Guillemet.

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

was blossoming in France all around Tryon, but he was not swayed by the new style and remained comfortably within the realm of the

. Tryon traveled and sketched Europe with his wife, and met

Abbott Handerson Thayer Abbott Handerson Thayer (August 12, 1849May 29, 1921) was an American artist, naturalist and teacher. As a painter of portraits, figures, animals and landscapes, he enjoyed a certain prominence during his lifetime, and his paintings are represen ...

and his wife with whom he became friends. He returned to the United States in 1881 and settled in New York City where he taught and painted landscapes. In New York, Tryon became friends with artists

Robert Swain Gifford Robert Swain Gifford (December 23, 1840 – January 15, 1905) was an American landscape painter. He was influenced by the Barbizon school. Early life and education Gifford was born on Nonamesset Island, in the Elizabeth Islands, When he was ...

and

Thomas Dewing Thomas Wilmer Dewing (May 4, 1851November 5, 1938) was an American painter working at the turn of the 20th century. Schooled in Paris, Dewing was noted for his figure paintings of aristocratic women. He was a founding member of the Ten America ...

. He became an early member of the

Society of American Artists The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative. The group began meeting in 1874 at the home of ...

and continued to exhibit paintings to the National Academy of Design. He also became a member of the

American Water Color Society The American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. Qualifications AWS judges the work of a painter before granting admission to the soc ...

and the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

(now

The American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

). On the advice of Gifford, Tryon and his wife built a summer house in South

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 ...

in 1887. Though he would continue to spend each winter in New York City, South Dartmouth became Tryon's home for the rest of his life. The coastal area appealed to Tryon's aesthetic sensibilities and allowed him to indulge in fishing, his favorite pastime. By the late 1880s Tryon, working most often in oils, began painting landscapes in what would become his mature and iconic style. Tryon's paintings typically feature a group or broken row of trees in the middle distance, often colored in an autumnal hue, separating a glowing sky above and a foreground marsh or pasture below. He also continued to paint the sea in his mature career, often employing

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

to show a bare expanse of water, sky and beach in various weather and light. He exhibited his works nationally but tended to favor 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 ...

in Philadelphia and the Montross Gallery in New York. A Detroit industrialist,

Charles Lang Freer Charles Lang Freer (February 25, 1854 – September 25, 1919) was an American industrialist, art collector, and patron. He is known for his large collection of East Asian, American, and Middle Eastern Art. In 1906, Freer donated his extensive col ...

, first bought a painting by Tryon in 1889 and became his most important patron. Freer eventually bought dozens of Tryon's paintings, including many of his best works, and worked closely with Tryon in the interior design of his Detroit home. Freer, a major collector of Asian art and works by

, went on to establish the

Freer Gallery of Art The Freer Gallery of Art is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. focusing on Asian art. The Freer and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. The Freer and Sac ...

, part of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

in Washington, DC, where many works by Tryon can be seen today. He took the first prize for his painting ''Salt-Marsh, December'' at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition that was held in Nashville, Tennessee in 1897. He is described in the "Fine Art Catalogue" which is copyrighted by Theodore Cooley as follows: "William Tryon is an American landscape painter whose pictures are greatly sought for their delicacy of coloring and refinement of feeling. A pupil of Daubdigny, he is, like that artist, a painter of country life - the idyllic rusticity of apple trees in bloom, of waving cornfields, of shining valleys and streams rippling gently to the sea. He is especially fine in the silvery-gray atmosphere." He went on to win the

Carnegie Prize The Carnegie Prize is an international art prize awarded by the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It currently consists of a $10,000 cash prize accompanied by a gold medal. History The Carnegie Prize was established in 1896, to ...

at the Carnegie Exhibition of 1908 at the

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbur ...

. In addition to his painting, Tryon taught at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

from 1886 to 1923, visiting part-time to critique students' work and, late in his career, establishing the Tryon Gallery of Art. He died of cancer in South Dartmouth on July 1, 1925.

Papers

Dwight William Tryon's papers can be found at the

and

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., focusing on Asian art. The Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. Th ...

Archives in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, founder of the Freer Gallery of Art, was a primary patron of Tryon. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, a sketchbook, and newspaper clippings.

Works by Tryon

Image:Self portrait dwight william tryon.jpeg, ''Self Portrait'', 1918 Image:Autumn_new_england_dwight_william_tryon.jpeg, ''Autumn: New England'' Image:After sunset looking east dwight william tryon.jpeg, ''After Sunset: Looking East'' File:Brooklyn Museum - Apple Blossoms - Dwight William Tryon - overall.jpg, ''Apple Blossoms'',

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

* ''Glastonbury Meadows'', 1881 * ''Cerney La Ville'', 1881 * ''Landscape: A Lighted Village'', 1887, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Awarded the 1887 Third

Hallgarten Prize The Julius Hallgarten Prizes (defunct) were a trio of prestigious art prizes awarded by the National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samue ...

by the National Academy of Design. * ''Early Morning, September'', 1904

References

Sources

* * Sherman, Frederic Fairchild, ''American Painters of Yesterday and Today'', 1919, Priv. print in New York. Chapter
The Landscape of Dwight W. Tyron
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tryon, Dwight William 1849 births 1925 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters American landscape painters Artists from Hartford, Connecticut Tonalism American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts People from Dartmouth, Massachusetts 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists