Paul Sawyier (March 23, 1865 – November 5, 1917), one of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

's most renowned artists, was an American

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

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 ...

Early life and education

Sawyier, the son of Dr. Nathaniel and Ellen Wingate Sawyier, was born on March 23, 1865, on his grandfather's farm near London in

Madison County, Ohio Madison County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,824. Its county seat is London. The county is named for James Madison, President of the United States and was es ...

. In 1870, he moved with his family to

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...

. After high school Sawyier attended the McMicken School of Design (now the

Art Academy of Cincinnati The Art Academy of Cincinnati is a private college of art and design in Cincinnati, Ohio, accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. It was founded as the McMicken School of Design in 1869, and was a department of the U ...

), studying under

Frank Duveneck Frank Duveneck (né Decker; October 9, 1848 – January 3, 1919) was an American figure and portrait painter. Early life Duveneck was born in Covington, Kentucky, the son of German immigrant Bernhard Decker. Decker died in a cholera epidemic whe ...

and

Thomas Satterwhite Noble Thomas Satterwhite Noble (May 29, 1835 – April 27, 1907) was an American painter as well as the first head of the McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati, Ohio. Biography Noble was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and raised on a plantation wher ...

. In 1889, he furthered his art studies under

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

Career as artist

Sawyier worked mostly in

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

and is best known for his scenes in the

area and New York. Sawyier is noted for his paintings of the

and Dix rivers. In 1893, Sawyier went to the Chicago's

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

, where some of his works were in the State of Kentucky display. Sawyier originals are on display in Frankfort, Kentucky at Liberty Hall & Orlando Brown House, Paul Sawyier Art Gallery, Kentucky History Center, Kings Daughter's Apartments, and at the

University of Kentucky Art Museum The University of Kentucky Art Museum is an art museum in Lexington, Kentucky, located in the Singletary Center for the Arts building. The collection includes European and American artwork ranging from Old Masters to contemporary, as well as a sele ...

in Lexington and

Speed Art Museum The Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, now colloquially referred to as the Speed by locals, is the oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky. It was established in 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky on Third Street ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

Later life and death

From 1913 until his death, Sawyier lived in a converted chapel at "Highpoint," the estate of art patron Mrs. Marshall L. Emory in the New York Catskills. On November 5, 1917, at the age of 52, Sawyier died of a heart attack. He was buried in a cemetery in

Fleischmanns, New York Fleischmanns is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 351 at the 2010 census. The Village of Fleischmanns is within the town of Middletown and is named after Charles Louis Fleischmann, a Hungarian manufactu ...

. Five years later, his cousin, Judge Russel McReary, returned Sawyier's body to be reinterred on June 9, 1923, in the Sawyier-Wingate family plot in

Frankfort Cemetery The Frankfort Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located on East Main Street in Frankfort, Kentucky. The cemetery is the burial site of Daniel Boone and contains the graves of other famous Americans including seventeen Kentucky governors and a ...

in Kentucky. At the time of his death it is estimated that he painted 3,000 works, mostly watercolor landscapes.

References

External links

Paul Sawyier Gallery
*
Library named for the artist in Frankfort, KY

Paul Sawyier paintings at the Kentucky Historical Society
1865 births 1917 deaths Burials at Frankfort Cemetery People from Frankfort, Kentucky 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters Painters from Kentucky Art Academy of Cincinnati alumni American Impressionist painters People from Madison County, Ohio Painters from Ohio Art Students League of New York alumni 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-1860s-stub