Harrison Bird Brown (1831–1915) was an American painter. He was born in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

and died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was known primarily for his painting of marine life and White Mountain landscapes. Assistance from art critic and patron John Neal made Brown Portland's most successful artist of the nineteenth century. Brown helped establish the Portland Society of Art and served as one of its first presidents. His work was 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 f ...

from 1858 to 1875. More recently his work has been exhibited at the

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. ...

Colby College Museum of Art The Colby College Museum of Art is an art museum located on the campus of Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1959 and now comprising five wings, nearly 8,000 works and more than 38,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Colby Colleg ...

and Bowdoin College Museum of Art. He was particularly well known for two paintings of

Crawford Notch Crawford Notch is a major pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, located in Hart's Location. Roughly half of that town is contained in Crawford Notch State Park. The high point of the notch, at approximately above sea level, is at ...

in the White Mountains which were produced in 1890. In 1892, he moved to London to live with his only surviving child, a daughter. He died there in 1915.

Harrison Bird Brown House

His home, the Harrison B. Brown House, was built overlooking the Fore River in Portland's West End in 1861 and was often the location in which he painted.Guide to the Western Promenade
Portland Landmarks It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1980.

References

Published Sources

* Routhier, Jessica Skwire, and Earle G. Shettleworth Jr. ''Vividly True to Nature: Harrison Bird Brown, 1831–1915'' (Portland, ME: Portland Museum of Art, 2007) * Shettleworth, Earle G. ''A Painter's Progress: The Life, Work, and Travels of Harrison B. Brown of Portland Maine'', 2 vols. (Portland, ME: Phoenix Press, 2005–6) 1831 births 1915 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters Artists from Portland, Maine American expatriates in the United Kingdom 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-stub