Frederic Crowninshield (1845–1918) was an American artist and author.

Life

Crowninshield was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on November 27, 1845 into the

Crowninshield family Crowninshield may refer to the following: * Crowninshield family, long-standing American family * USS Crowninshield, a World War I era American destroyer * Crowninshield Island Crowninshield Island, also known as Brown's Island, is a small islan ...

. His father was Edward Augustus Crowninshield (1817–1859) and mother was Caroline Maria Welch (1820–1897). He had two older brothers: Francis W. Crowninshield was born in 1843, and died from wounds in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

in 1866. Brother Edward Augustus Crowninshield was born in 1841 and died a year later. After his father died his mother married Howard Payson Arnold in 1869. Crowninshield graduated at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1866, and studied abroad 11 years; under Thomas Leeson Rowbotham in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Thomas Couture Thomas Couture (21 December 1815 – 30 March 1879) was a French history painter and teacher. He taught such later luminaries of the art world as Édouard Manet, Henri Fantin-Latour, John La Farge,Wilkinson, Burke. ''The Life and Works of A ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. According to ''Diccionario Enciclopedi ...

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 ...

. From 1879 to 1885 he taught at the Museum of Fine Arts School of Drawing and Painting when it was housed in the basement of the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

Copley Square Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to it ...

. Crowninshield then moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he was the first president of the

National Society of Mural Painters The National Society of Mural Painters (NSMP) is an American artists' organization originally known as The Mural Painters. The charter of the society is to advance the techniques and standards for the design and execution of mural art for the enri ...

a position that he held from 1895 to 1899. , and president of the Fine Arts Federation from 1900 to 1909. In 1911 he was appointed director of the American Academy in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. One of his best-known works is a stained-glass window depicting John Bunyan's

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of ...

, entitled "Emmanuel's Land", at the

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Boston Emmanuel Episcopal Church, a historic church at 15 Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts, was founded in 1860 as part of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. History Designed by architect Alexander Rice Esty and constructed in 1861, it was t ...

. He designed the window in 1899 and dedicated it to his mother. On October 24, 1867 he married Helen Suzette Fairbanks, daughter of William Nelson Fairbanks and Augusta Reed. They had three children. Helen Suzette Crowninshield was born in Paris July 28, 1868, and married Carl August de Gersdorff on September 18, 1895. Edward Augustus Crowninshield was born at Rome April 7, 1870. Son Francis Welch Crowninshield, known as "Frank", was born on June 24, 1872. He died September 13, 1918 in

Capri, Italy Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

Family tree

Works

His writings include: * ''Mural Painting'' (1887) * ''Pictoris Carmina'' (1900) * ''A Painter's Moods'' (1902) * ''Tales in Metre'' (1903)

Life

Family tree

Works

References

Further reading