Thomas Hovenden (December 28, 1840 – August 14, 1895), was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and teacher who spent much of his life in the United States. He painted realistic quiet family scenes, narrative subjects and often depicted African Americans.

Biography

Self Portrait of the Artist in His Studio by Thomas Hovenden 1875

Hovenden was born in Dunmanway, Co. Cork, Ireland. His parents died at the time of the Great Famine and he was placed in an orphanage at the age of six. Apprenticed to a carver and gilder, he studied at the Cork School of Design. In 1863, he immigrated to the United States. He studied 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 ...

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 ...

. He moved to Baltimore in 1868 and then left for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1874. He studied at the

École des Beaux Arts École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région ...

under

Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. According to ''Diccionario Encicloped ...

, but spent most of his time with the American

art colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (, Breton: 'River Bridge') is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 2,821. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called ''Pontavenistes'' in French ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

led by Robert Wylie, where he painted many pictures of the peasantry. Returning to America in 1880, he became a member of the

Society of American Artists The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative. The group began meeting in 1874 at the home of ...

and an Associate member of the

(elected Academician in 1882). He married Helen Corson in 1881, an artist he had met in Pont-Aven, and settled at her father's homestead in

Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania Plymouth Meeting is a census-designated place (CDP) that straddles Plymouth Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Plymouth and Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, Whitemarsh Townships in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, Penns ...

, outside of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. She came from a family of

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

and her home was a stop on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. Their barn, later used as Hovenden's studio, was known as " Abolition Hall" due to its use for anti-slavery meetings.Thomas Hovenden: American Painter of Hearth and Homeland, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, 1995. . He was commissioned by Mr. Robbins Battell to paint a historical picture of the abolitionist leader

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

. He finished ''The Last Moments of John Brown'' (at least two copies exist, in the collection of the deYoung Museum in San Francisco and also the Metropolitan Museum in New York) in 1884. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Stoeckel in 1897. Accession Number 97.5 Mrs. Stoeckel was Mr. Battell's daughter. His ''Breaking Home Ties'', a picture of American farm life, was engraved with considerable popular success. In 1886, he was appointed Professor of Painting and Drawing at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artists. For the length ...

who was dismissed due to his use of nude models. Among Hovenden's students were the sculptor

Alexander Stirling Calder Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculpture, sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander Calder, Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-kn ...

and the leader of the

Ashcan School The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods. ...

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

. Hovenden was killed at the age of 54, along with a ten-year-old girl, by a railroad locomotive at a crossing near his home in Plymouth Meeting. Newspaper accounts reported that his death was the result of a heroic effort to push the girl in front of the train, while a coroner's inquest determined his death was an accident. A Pennsylvania state historical marker in Plymouth Meeting interprets Abolition Hall and Hovenden.

Hovenden House, Barn and Abolition Hall Hovenden House, Barn and Abolition Hall is a group of historic buildings in Plymouth Meeting, Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In the decades prior to the American Civil War, the property served as an important station on ...

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 v ...

in 1971. He is buried across the street in the cemetery of the Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse. ''Note:'' This includes

Selected works

*''Self-Portrait of the Artist in His Studio'', 1875, Yale University Art Gallery *''Image Seller'', 1876, Metropolitan Museum of Art *''News from the Conscript'', 1877 *''Loyalist Peasant Soldier of La Vendée'', 1877 *''A Breton Interior, 1793'', 1878, Metropolitan Museum of Art *''In Hoc Signo Vinces'', 1880, Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan *''The Old Version'', 1881, San Francisco Museum of Fine Art *''Sunday Morning'', 1881, San Francisco Museum of Fine Art *''Chloe and Sam'', 1882, Amon Carter Museum * ''Death of Elaine'', 1882, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Pennsylvania *''The Last Moments of John Brown'', 1882–4, Metropolitan Museum of Art *''Taking His Ease'', 1885, San Francisco Museum of Fine Art *''Breaking Home Ties'', 1890, Philadelphia Museum of Art *''Bringing Home the Bride'', 1893, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota *''Jerusalem the Golden'', 1894, Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Thomas Hovenden - The Last Moments of John Brown - Google Art Project.jpg, '' The Last Moments of John Brown'' (1884). The original painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while a 2/3 size copy is at the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...

. File:Hovenden House Corson Family History opp.114.jpg, Hovenden House, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. He lived here from his marriage in 1881 to his death in 1895. File:Abolition Hall PM Montco PA.jpg, Hovenden's studio, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. File:Thomas Hovenden Chloe and Sam Amon Carter Museum.jpg, ''Chloe and Sam'' (1882),

Amon Carter Museum Amon may refer to: Mythology * Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra * Aamon, a Goetic demon People Momonym * Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah Given name * Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American pu ...

. File:Thomas Hovenden, American (born Ireland) - Breaking Home Ties - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Breaking Home Ties'' (1890),

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

. File:Thomas Hovenden I Know'd It Was Ripe c. 1885.jpg, ''I Know'd It Was Ripe'' (c.1885),

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

References

External links

"Thomas Hovenden Killed,"
''The Pittsburgh Press'', 15 August 1895. *
www.abolitionhall.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hovenden, Thomas 1840 births 1895 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters People from County Cork National Academy of Design alumni Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts faculty Pont-Aven painters Painters from Pennsylvania Underground Railroad people 19th-century American male artists 19th-century Irish male artists