George de Forest Brush (September 28, 1855 – April 24, 1941) was an American painter and

Georgist Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—including ...

. In collaboration with his friend, the artist Abbott H. Thayer, he made contributions to military

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

, as did his wife, aviator and artist Mary (called Mittie) Taylor (Whelpley) Brush, and their son, the sculptor Gerome Brush.

Background

Although Brush was born in

Shelbyville, Tennessee Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat of Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The town was laid out in 1810 and incorporated in 1819. Shelbyville had a population of 20,335 residents at the 2010 census. The town is a hub of the Tenness ...

, his parents, Nancy (Douglas) and Alfred Clark Brush, were New Englanders, and he grew up in

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

.Bowditch, Nancy Douglas (1970), ''George de Forest Brush: Recollections of a Joyous Painter''. Peterborough NH: Noone House. He attended 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 New York, and also studied in Paris under

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ran ...

at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, where Thayer was also a student.White, Nelson C. (1951). ''Abbott H. Thayer: Painter and Naturalist''. Hartford CT: Connecticut Printers.

Native American interests

He returned from Paris in 1880, and soon after accompanied his brother on a business excursion to Wyoming. He remained in that part of the country for some months, and lived among various Native Americans, including Arapahoes,

Crows The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle. T ...

and Shoshones. When he returned East, he developed a series of paintings derived from his drawings of Indian life. In the early 1880s, some of these were published in prominent periodicals, such as ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...

'' and ''

Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associati ...

'', sometimes as illustrations for his own eyewitness accounts.Brush, George de Forest (1885), "An Artist Among the Indians" in ''Century Magazine'' (May). Even years later, he still enjoyed living occasionally in a tepee. It was partly because of such "wildness" that his future in-laws refused to approve of his marriage to their daughter, née Mittie Taylor Whelpley, which took place by elopement in 1886.Bowditch 1970, pp. 30-31.

Artistic career

Around the same time period, the subjects of Brush's paintings evolved from heroic depictions of Indian life to Renaissance-inspired portraits, some of which were modeled by his wife and his children. Among his many awards were gold medals at the

Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

(Chicago, 1893), Exposition Internationale (Paris, 1900),

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...

(Buffalo, 1901), and

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

(St. Louis, 1904). He was elected to 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 ...

, the

(1908), and 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 headqu ...

(1910).

Camouflage

Brush and his family often spent the summer in

Dublin, New Hampshire Dublin is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,532 at the 2020 census. It is home to Dublin School and ''Yankee'' magazine. History In 1749, the Masonian proprietors granted the town as "Monadnock No. ...

, where there was a thriving artists colony, and where they eventually settled. Among the other residents was Thayer, who was intensely interested in

protective coloration Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

in nature or what later became known as

. According to Brush's daughter, as early as 1898 Brush and Thayer worked together on devising ways to use natural camouflage principles for military purposes. For example, they suggested that

countershading Countershading, or Thayer's law, is a method of camouflage in which an animal's coloration is darker on the top or upper side and lighter on the underside of the body. This pattern is found in many species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and ...

(a natural protective device that Thayer had discovered in 1896) could be used as a way of reducing the visibility of a ship. This was later patented (by Thayer and Gerome Brush) as U.S. Patent No. 715013, "Process of Treating the Outside of Ships, etc., For Making Them Less Visible".

Behrens, Roy R. Roy Richard Behrens (; born 1946) is an American artist and academic who is an emeritus professor of art and distinguished scholar at the University of Northern Iowa. He is well known for his writings on camouflage in relation to art, design and c ...

(2002), ''False Colors: Art, Design and Modern Camouflage''. Dysart, Iowa: Bobolink Books, pp. 36-57. . In 1916, Brush acquired a small

Morane-Borel monoplane The Morane-Borel monoplane (sometimes referred to with the retronym Morane-Saulnier Type A or simply the Morane monoplane; company designation Bo.1) was an early French single-engine, single-seat aircraft. It was flown in several European air r ...

(also known as a Morane-Saulnier). He experimented with the possibility of making its wings and fuselage transparent, to reduce its visibility. His wife, who was an early woman aviator, also addressed the problem of airplane camouflage, as shown by her various patents.

(2009), ''Camoupedia: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage''. Dysart, Iowa: Bobolink Books, pp. 70-73.

Later life

Brush died in

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Eng ...

, in 1941. Nearly thirty years later, his eldest daughter, a painter and theatre designer named

Nancy Douglas Bowditch Nancy Douglas Bowditch (July 4, 1890 – May 1, 1979) was an American artist, author, costumer and set designer. The daughter of painter George de Forest Brush, she produced a biography of him in 1970, and her own memoirs published posthumously. ...

, published an account of his life. Brush is also well known as the "grandfather" of

American art pottery American art pottery (sometimes capitalized) refers to aesthetically distinctive hand-made ceramics in earthenware and stoneware from the period 1870-1950s. Ranging from tall vases to tiles, the work features original designs, simplified shapes, an ...

. Having been inspired by the American Pueblo artisans, and learning their craft, he brought these techniques to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and more importantly Long Island and Manhattan, New York, where he started The Brush Guild Pottery Foundation. His students were mostly females, who would later go on to create decorative household works, jars with lids, urns and such. Many depicted animal stylings (bulls, cows, lions). He was also a personal friend of Author Mark Twain, whom he visited many times. He was a world traveler. His oil paintings (specifically of Indians, from the period 1888–1900) were important influences on the young illustrator

N. C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

. Observe the similarities in shapes and symbols in his painting ''Mourning her Brave'' and Wyeth's ''Winter'' (of 1909). He led a fascinating life and was an important force in the arts at the turn of the 20th century.

Selected works

* ''The Sculptor and the King'' (1888),

Portland Museum of Art The Portland Museum of Art, or PMA, is the largest and oldest public art institution in the U.S. state of Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882. It is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District in Portland, Maine. Hi ...

, Portland, Oregon. Awarded the 1888 First

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 Samuel ...

by the National Academy of Design. * ''The Moose Chase'' (1888),

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

, Washington, D.C. File:Brush The Sculptor and the King 1888.jpg, ''The Sculptor and the King'' (1888) File:The Moose Chase.JPG, ''The Moose Chase'' (1888)

References

External links

de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings
National Gallery of Art
American paintings & historical prints from the Middendorf collection
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Brush (no. 46)
Nancy Douglas Bowditch and Brush Family papers, circa 1860-1985
digitized archival collection of Brush family papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brush, George de Forest 1855 births 1941 deaths American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters Painters from Connecticut Art Students League of New York faculty National Academy of Design alumni People from Shelbyville, Tennessee People from Danbury, Connecticut Artists from Tennessee Camouflage Georgists Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters