Mary Blood Mellen
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mary Blood Mellen (13 May 1819–11 February 1886) was an American painter who was one of several individuals (including William Bradford, Benjamin Champney (1817–1907), and George Merchant Jr.) who studied under Fitz Henry Lane (also called Fitz Hugh Lane). Mellen is one of a number of women painters associated with the Hudson River School of artists in nineteenth-century New England. Her paintings often included landscapes and maritime images. Though she spent time in New York and Connecticut, Mellen lived primarily in Massachusetts, and many of her paintings find their source in the Massachusetts and Maine landscapes and seascapes. In 1840, she married the Rev. Charles W. Mellen, a Universalist minister at a number Massachusetts churches prior to his death in 1866. As a
copyist A copyist is a person that makes duplications of the same thing. The term is sometimes used for artists who make copies of other artists' paintings. However, the modern use of the term is almost entirely confined to music copyists, who are emplo ...
, Mellen created studies and copies of the work of her friend and mentor Fitz Henry Lane. According to
Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford (May 6, 1829 — June 2, 1921) was a Christian Universalist minister and biographer who was active in championing universal suffrage and women's rights. She was the first woman ordained as a Universalist minister in Ne ...
, "When
ane Ane or ane may refer to: * Āne, a village in Latvia * Ane, Netherlands, a village in Overijssel, Netherlands, also ** Battle of Ane (1227), a battle fought near the village * -ane, a suffix in organic chemistry, or specifically ** Alkanes, which ...
called at her residence to see the latest copy of ne of his paintings the
ane Ane or ane may refer to: * Āne, a village in Latvia * Ane, Netherlands, a village in Overijssel, Netherlands, also ** Battle of Ane (1227), a battle fought near the village * -ane, a suffix in organic chemistry, or specifically ** Alkanes, which ...
and the copy were brought down together..." evidently as a lighthearted challenge to Lane, to spot which was his original. As a talented painter in her own right, Mary created numerous compositions of her own as well. Her paintings include a landscape of the Blood family home (presumably her childhood home), a representative seascape entitled ''Shipwreck on the Beach'' (1870s), and a painting that portrays ships at sea as well as a pastoral New England countryside entitled ''Field Beach (c 1850s)''. Like Lane and others associated with the Hudson River artists, Mellen painted in the luminist style popular in mid-nineteenth century America.


Biography

Mary Blood was born to Reuben Blood Jr. and Sally Taylor, a couple from Sterling, Massachusetts. Though she had two older brothers, Mary was the eldest daughter and there was a considerable gap of twelve years before the next of her four younger siblings were born. In Sterling young Mary would learn to paint in watercolors. Her talents must not have gone unnoticed, for within a few years she was studying at the Frye Academy in nearby
Bolton, Massachusetts Bolton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Bolton is in eastern Massachusetts, located 25 miles west-northwest of downtown Boston. The population was 5,665 at the 2020 census. History The town of Bolton was incorpora ...
, a school established in 1823 by Thomas Fry (a local
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
) as a co-educational preparatory school. An examination of census reports from those years indicate that Mary was something of an intellectual and artistic standout in the family. None of her siblings appear to have risen from the labor class of the day. In the 1830s, the family relocated to
Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire Fitzwilliam is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,351 at the 2020 census. Fitzwilliam is home to Rhododendron State Park, a grove of native rhododendrons that bloom in mid-July. History First granted a ...
, and by 1839 a young Universalist minister, Reverend Charles W. Mellen, would arrive to act as pastor in the neighboring town. Reverend Mellen came from a family of farmers from nearby Phillipston. He and Mary must have made one another's acquaintance quite early, for in 1840, after just a year spent living in neighboring towns, the young pair married. Charles was an eligible bachelor at the time, and with the two only a year apart in age, Charles had the proper "taste and culture... to take a lively interest in ary'sefforts at oil painting...". For the next few years Charles' itinerant ministering meant that the duo were more-or-less constantly on the move. In 1846, while living in
Foxborough Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 a ...
Mary gave birth to a daughter, Amanda. The infant would live for only 48 hours. The couple never had any other children, and Amanda's gravestone reads, "Our short-lived flower returned unto God." It is unclear how the Mellens first became acquainted with Fitz Henry Lane, but by 1845 the young couple was living just south of Boston; a time when Lane's reputation in the city was growing considerably. Charles' brother William Grenville Rolland Mellen was also a Universalist minister, and during the late 1840s was acting as pastor at the Second Society of Universalists in Cambridge. It is likely that the couple would have spent time in the city socially, visiting Charles' brother. It is not difficult to imagine a woman with Mary's artistic and cultural inclinations taking advantage of the opportunity to explore New England's cultural Mecca. The
Boston Athenæum The Boston Athenaeum is one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States. It is also one of a number of subscription library, membership libraries, for which patrons pay a yearly subscription fee to use Athenaeum services. The instit ...
would have been a likely destination: at that time it boasted the largest art collection in New England. Lane's work would have almost certainly been on display during those years, and it is possible that Mellen became acquainted with him first through his work in this way. The next few years involved more travel for the Mellens, including a brief stint in
Glen Falls, New York Glens Falls is a City (New York), city in Warren County, New York, Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls, New York metropolitan area, Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,7 ...
. In 1855 Charles' brother William was invited to become the minister of the First Universalist Church on Middle Street in
Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...
. William moved with his wife and children to a small rented house near the eastern end of Main Street, an area which would have overlooked Lane's recently build granite house on Duncan Point. That same year, Charles and Mary resettled in Weymouth, Massachusetts. While most of Mary's surviving work is undated, the Lane paintings she copied generally date from about 1855 onward. Her brother-in-law's relocation to Gloucester that same year suggests that she may have begun taking regular excursions to Gloucester from Weymouth. While the details of their professional relationship are mostly undocumented, it is known that they had collaborated, as evidenced by a small 1850s painting entitled ''Coast of Maine'', now in the collection of the
Cape Ann Museum Cape Ann Museum is an art and historical museum located in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Its collection and programming focuses on the artists and art colonies of Cape Ann, including thRocky Neck Art Colonyand the Folly Cove Designers. The museum's c ...
in Gloucester, which is signed by both artists on the backside of the canvas. Mellen and Lane are also known to have traveled together in 1859 to the old Blood family home in Sterling. Both artists painted a rendition of the scene, with the two paintings depicting a different season. By 1861 the Mellens were living in
Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...
, with a short commute to Gloucester. A few years later in 1864, the couple again relocated to
Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount ...
, roughly 40 miles south of Boston. The next two years proved a difficult time for Mary as she would learn of Lane's passing in 1865, and would also lose her husband unexpectedly in 1866. Following her husband's death, she relocated to
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, moving in with her sister-in-law, also recently widowed. Census reports from this period reveal Mary's occupation as an "artist", a distinction that had not previously been made during her time painting with Lane. Widowed and childless, this may indicate the realization of her identity as an artist in her own right. It was, at the very least, her primary source of income during those years. She is known to have owned a number of Lane's paintings, and was still engaged in creating copies. However, there is evidence suggesting a unique body of work of her own, including a series of moonlight pieces, thought to either have been a series based on a lost and unknown Lane, or perhaps "her own creations done during a time of protracted mourning for the two men who played such significant roles in her life." In the ensuing years she moved between Taunton and her family home in Sterling, where she succumbed to typhoid in 1886. Her death certificate again specifies her occupation as an artist and several obituaries commented on her skill as a painter and the popularity of her work. Her will, which was drawn up in 1882 specifies to which niece and nephew each of her original Lanes should go. She also specified that Lane's nephew Fitz Henry Winter should receive a painting by Lane, as well as a portrait of him that was in her collection.Dunlap, Sarah and Buck, Stephanie: ''Fitz Henry Lane: Family and Friends''. Church & Mason Publishing, 2007, pp. 88-99


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellen, Mary Blood 1819 births 1886 deaths 19th-century American painters Hudson River School painters American women painters American landscape painters Luminism (American art style) Painters from Massachusetts 19th-century American women artists People from Sterling, Massachusetts