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John George Brown (November 11, 1831 – February 8, 1913) was a
John George Brown at MuseumSyndicate
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John George 1831 births 1913 deaths Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery 19th-century American painters Painters from New York City American male painters British emigrants to the United States 20th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists
John George Brown (November 11, 1831 – February 8, 1913) was a British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
citizen and an American
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* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
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painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
who specialized in genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
scenes.
Biography
John George Brown was born inDurham, England
Durham ( , locally ), is a cathedral city and civil parish on the River Wear, County Durham, England. It is an administrative centre of the County Durham District, which is a successor to the historic County Palatine of Durham (which is dif ...
on November 11, 1831. His parents apprenticed him to the career of glass worker at the age of fourteen in an attempt to dissuade him from pursuing painting. He studied nights at the School of Design in Newcastle-on-Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...
while working as a glass cutter there between 1849 and 1852 and evenings at the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh while working at the Holyrood Glass Works between 1852 and 1853. After moving to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1853, he studied with Thomas Seir Cummings 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 ...
where he was elected a National Academician
An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...
in 1861. Brown was the Academy's vice-president from 1899 to 1904.
Around 1855, he worked for the owner of the Brooklyn Glass Company as a glassblower
Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...
, and later married the daughter of his employer. His father-in-law encouraged his artistic abilities, supporting him financially, letting Brown pursue painting full-time. He established a studio in 1860 and, in 1866, he became one of the charter members of the Water-Color Society, of which he was president from 1887 to 1904. Brown became famous for his idealized depictions of street urchins in New York (bootblack
Shoeshiner or boot polisher is an occupation in which a person cleans and buffs shoes and then applies a waxy paste to give a shiny appearance and a protective coating. They are often known as shoeshine boys because the job was traditionally d ...
s, street musicians, posy sellers, newsboys
Newsboys (sometimes stylised as newsboys) are a Christian rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, the band has released 17 studio albums, 6 of which ...
, etc.).
His ''Passing Show'' (Paris, Salon, 1877) and ''Street Boys at Play'' (Paris Exhibition, 1900) are good examples of his popular talent. Brown's art is best characterized as British genre paintings adapted to American subjects. Essentially literary, Brown's paintings are executed with precise detail, but poor in color, and more popular with the general public than with connoisseurs. His paintings were quite popular with wealthy collectors. Many of Brown's paintings were reproduced as lithographs and widely distributed with packaged teas. He also painted some landscapes, just for pleasure.
He died at his home in New York City on February 8, 1913.
Quotes
*Wishing to more faithfully capture his subjects as they appeared in real life, Brown once said, "They ''will'' change their dress, as though to show the extent of their wardrobe. Being cautioned expressly on Saturday, and told to return in the same fustian jacket your boy will appear on Monday morning, if he appears at all, in a red woolen shirt. And they are constantly having their hair trimmed--perfect dandies!" *Brown was trying to capture the spirit of the street children as people who "pull themselves up by their bootstraps." *Many years later, Brown claimed that most of the street children he painted had grown to become successful businessmen. *Brown claimed to bobbies, "I do not paint poor boys solely because the public likes such pictures and pays me for them, but because I love the boys myself, for I, too, was once a poor lad like them."References
* *External links
John George Brown at MuseumSyndicate
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John George 1831 births 1913 deaths Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery 19th-century American painters Painters from New York City American male painters British emigrants to the United States 20th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists