George Fuller (January 17, 1822 – March 21, 1884) was an American figure and portrait painter.

Biography

Fuller was born in

Deerfield, Massachusetts Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachu ...

. His father, Aaron Fuller, was a farmer. His mother was Aaron's second wife, Fanny Negus of

Petersham, Massachusetts Petersham is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,194 at the 2020 census. Petersham is home to a considerable amount of conservation land, including the Quabbin Reservation, Harvard Forest, the Swift R ...

. His parents were not in favor of Fuller becoming a painter. At age thirteen, he went to Boston, Massachusetts to work for a grocer, then tried selling shoes before giving up on this also and returning home. A year or so later, he went to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

with a survey team for the railroad, and continued working with the survey team for a couple of years. Fuller then returned home once again, entered

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admis ...

, and began to paint in his spare time. In 1841, his desire to paint overcame his parents' opposition. He joined his half-brother Augustus as an itinerant painter, and enjoyed some success painting portraits in northern New York. That winter he went to Albany where he studied painting with

Henry Kirke Brown Henry Kirke Brown (February 24, 1814 in Leyden, Massachusetts – July 10, 1886 in Newburgh, New York) was an American sculptor. Life He began to paint portraits while still a boy, studied painting in Boston under Chester Harding, learned a lit ...

for nine months. The next two winters, he studied painting with the Boston Artists' Association, working on the family farm in the summers. In 1846 he sold ''A Nun at Confession'' for six dollars. In 1847, he enrolled in the National Academy of Design in New York. He spent most of the next ten years in New York. Some winters he spent in the southern United States painting portraits and scenes about local life. Friends included painter E.T. Billings, with whom he travelled in the south. In 1857 he was elected an associate of 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 f ...

. His father died in 1859, and he became aware that he would eventually need to return to the family farm to support his family. In January 1860 he began five month a tour of Europe with friends during which they visited London, Paris, Florence, Rome, and Venice. He married Agnes Higginson of

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

in 1861 and brought her home to the Deerfield farm. For the next fifteen years, he worked the farm and painted in his spare time in a studio converted form a carriage house. His farm failed in 1875, and he turned to painting for his livelihood. In the spring of 1876, the opening of his first art exhibition relaunched his career as a painter. In 1878 the National Academy exhibition included his ''Turkey Pasture in Kentucky'' and ''By the Wayside''. The following year he sent to the Academy ''And She Was a Witch'' and ''The Romany Girl''. He sent more pictures to the Academy in 1881 as his reputation and commercial success grew. In 1878, Fuller showed the oil painting, ''Reapers Resting'', as his first exhibited at the

Boston Art Club The Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, serves to help its members, as well as non-members, to access the world of fine art. It currently has more than 250 members. History The Boston Art Club was first conceived in Boston in 1854 with the co ...

. Subsequently, at the

, he exhibited one oil painting, ''Head'', in 1880; one oil painting, ''Portrait of Miss A___'' in 1881; three oil paintings: ''Study Head'', ''Portrait of Miss F.'', and ''Maidenhood'', at the 1882

exhibition; and the final oil painting he exhibited at the Club, ''Portrait of Miss C.'', was January 19–February 16, 1884. His work continued to enjoy success until his death at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts on March 21, 1884, of kidney disease. A memorial exhibition of his works was held at the Boston Museum of the Fine Arts in 1884. Examples of Fuller's artwork reside in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York. Winifred Dysart

Works

* ''Hannah'', 1879, oil on canvas
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
* ''The Plains Between "The Bars" and South Deerfield'', c. 1836-1838, oil on canvas
Addison Gallery of American Art

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

* ''Cupid'', 1854 * "The Birdcatcher", 1880, oil on canva
The University of Arizona Museum of Art
Tucson, Arizona * ''Negro Nurse with Child'', 1861 * ''At the Bars'', 1865 * ''Ideal Head of a Boy (George Spencer Fuller)"", c. 1867–1873, oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

* ''By the Wayside'', 1877
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
* ''The Romany Girl'', 1877-1879, oil on canvas
Addison Gallery of American Art

* ''Shearing the Donkey'', 1877-1879 * ''And She Was a Witch'', 1877–1884, oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art

* ''Turkey Pasture in Kentucky'', 1878 * ''The Dandelion Girl'', 1879 * ''The Quadroon'', 1880, oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art

* ''The Gathering of Simples'', 1880 * ''Sketch of the Deerfield Valley'', c. 1880-1884, chalk on blue-grey wove paper
Addison Gallery of American Art

* ''Portrait of Mary C. Hardy as a Child'', 1881, oil on canvas,
Addison Gallery of American Art

* ''Winifred Dysart'', 1881
Worcester Art Museum
Worcester, Massachusetts * ''Hoeing Tobacco''
Worcester Art Museum
Worcester, Massachusetts * ''Nydia'', 1882, oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art

* ''Priscilla Fauntleroy'', 1882 * ''Psyche'', 1882 * ''November'', 1882-1884 * ''Fedalma'', 1883-1884, oil on canvas
Smithsonian American Art Museum

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* ''Arethusa'', 1884
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
* ''A Nun at Confession'' * ''Boy and Bird'' * ''Girl with a Calf'' * ''Ideal Head'', oil on canvas
Smithsonian American Art Museum

* ''Reapers Resting''

Notes

References

* Downes, William Howe. "George Fuller." ''Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936.'' Reproduced i
Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
Online. February 18, 2008. * ;Attribution *

External links

George Fuller Exhibition Catalogs
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art *
19th Century Biographies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, George 1822 births 1884 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters Deaths from pneumonia in the United States 19th century in Boston People from Deerfield, Massachusetts Artists from Massachusetts Deerfield Academy alumni American portrait painters 19th-century American male artists