Harry Fenn (September 14, 1837 – April 22, 1911) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

, landscape painter, etcher, and wood engraver. From 1870 to around 1895 he was the most prominent landscape illustrator in the United States. He is also noted for his illustrations of Egypt, Palestine and the Sinai.

Biography

Fenn was born at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, near London, England in 1837. He started as a wood engraver, serving and apprenticeship with the firm Dalziel of London, and soon turned to drawing for illustration and watercolor painting. In 1857, he made a trip to the U.S. to see the

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

and settled in New York where he worked first as a wood engraver. In 1862, he married Marian Thompson of Brooklyn. After an extended wedding trip to England and Italy, where Fenn studied painting, he focused on illustration in New York. Fenn settled in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

, around 1865. His first highly successful commission was to illustrate

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

's ''

Snow-Bound ''Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl'' is a long narrative poem by American poet John Greenleaf Whittier first published in 1866. The poem, presented as a series of stories told by a family amid a snowstorm, was extremely successful and popular in its t ...

'' published by Boston's

Ticknor and Fields Ticknor and Fields was an American publishing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as a bookstore in 1832, the business would publish many 19th century American authors including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, ...

in 1867 for the Christmas trade (dated 1868). Its tiny images apparently opened the eyes of many to the artistic possibilities of wood engravings, and it is often referred to as the "first gift book published in America," although it had predecessors. Fenn is best known for the engravings he contributed with his friend Douglas Woodward to three massive books filled with wood and steel engravings that were published by New York's D. Appleton and Co.: ''

Picturesque America ''Picturesque America'' was a two-volume set of books describing and illustrating the scenery of America, which grew out of an earlier series in '' Appleton's Journal''. It was published by D. Appleton and Company of New York in 1872 and 1874 a ...

'' (1872–74), edited by

William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...

, which started as a serial in '' Appleton's Journal'' in 1870; ''

Picturesque Europe ''Picturesque Europe'' was a lavishly illustrated set of books published by D. Appleton & Co. in the mid-1870s based on their phenomenally successful ''Picturesque America''. An edited form was reprinted in Europe by Cassell & Co.''Picturesque ...

'' (1875–79), and '' Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt'' (1881–84). Other artists contributed to each of these books, but Fenn was the most prolific contributor, and his innovative page designs combining image and text popularized this approach. Fenn and his family lived in England from 1873 to 1881 while Fenn worked on ''Picturesque Europe'' and ''Picturesque Palestine''. After returning to the U.S. in 1881, Fenn was a sought-after illustrator for the leading illustrator periodicals, ''Century Magazine,'' "Harper's Monthly," "Harper's Weekly," and ''Scribner's.'' He was commissioned to illustrate landscape throughout the world and the U.S. as well as to produce depictions of architecture and plant life. As the technologies for printing illustrations changed, Fenn adapted, producing ink drawings for reproduction as process line cuts and later watercolors for reproduction as halftones. He also contributed to numerous books of poetry. An edition of ''Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard'' published by Roberts Brothers in 1884 was stamped "Harry Fenn Edition" on the front cover. He was also the sole illustrator of an edition of Tennyson's "In Memoriam", published by Fords, Howard and Hulbert in 1897, in a very different style from his earlier designs for poetry. Throughout his career Fenn prepared watercolors for exhibition and sale. He was among the founding members of the

American Watercolor 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 ...

, attending the second meeting in 1867, and he regularly participated in their exhibitions. He was a member of the

New York Watercolor Club 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 ...

, the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

, and the

Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership roster ...

. He 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 1864 and at the Brooklyn Art Association between 1864 and 1885. He exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 and 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 ...

in Chicago in 1893, where he was awarded a medal. Fenn died on April 22, 1911, at his home in Montclair, where he had lived since 1881.

Work

Fenn's works reached a wide audience and popularized publications with illustrations, expanding the field for other artists. As Sue Rainey wrote in her book ''Creating a World on Paper: Harry Fenn's Career in Art'': "Fenn's dynamic and appealing compositions set a high standard. They built pride in America's scenic landscapes and urban centers, informed a curious, increasingly cosmopolitan public about foreign lands, and fostered an appreciation of printed pictures as artworks accessible to a growing middle class" (p. 1).

Illustrated works

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . *

Illustrations

File:Roman bridge of Salamanca 1860 H. Penn, J. Godfrey.jpg, ''Roman Bridge of Salamanca,'' 1860 File:Jerusalem cafe 1880.jpg, ''Jerusalem Cafe,'' 1880 File:Jerusalem jewish cotton 1880.jpg, '' A Jerusalem Jewish Cotton Cleaner,'' 1880 File:Damascus Gate P6080085.JPG, ''Damascus Gate, '' 1880 File:Harry Fenn. Gate of 'Akka. 1881-1884.jpg, ''Gate of 'Akka,'' 1881-1884 File:Eshdûd, the ancient Ashdod. Called by the Greeks Azotus (1881-1884) (A).jpg, ''Eshdûd, the ancient Ashdod. Called by the Greeks Azotus,'' (1881-1884) File:Caesarea Philippi (Banias) MET ap1980.298.jpg, ''Caesarea Philippi (Banias),'' date unknown Picturesque America32.jpg, ''

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

'', illustration, date unknown

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* *
Harry Fenn: Pen and Ink Virtuoso
*https://archive.org/details/cihm_25270/ Picturesque America *http://www.umass.edu/umpress/title/creating-world-paper/Publisher's information on book {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenn, Harry 1837 births 1911 deaths English emigrants to the United States English illustrators English watercolourists American illustrators People from Montclair, New Jersey American wood engravers 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists 20th-century engravers