Russell Cheney (October 16, 1881 – July 12, 1945) was an
American Impressionist,
Post-Impressionist and New England regionalist painter.
Early life and education
The youngest of eleven children, Cheney was born in
Manchester, Connecticut, to Knight Dexter Cheney and Ednah Dow Cheney. He graduated from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 1904, where he was a member of the
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...
secret society.
Cheney studied at the
Art Students League with
Kenyon Cox and
George Bridgman
George Brant Bridgman (November 5, 1864 – December 16, 1943) was a Canadian-American Painting, painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New Yor ...
until 1907. He continued his art education in Paris under
Jean Paul Laurens at the
Académie Julian
The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...
. After his father's death in 1908, he returned to America and continued with Cox and
William Merritt Chase at the
Art Students League. In 1909, Cheney was elected president of the League (the same year he exhibited at the
Salon des Artistes Francais); he resigned a year later but continued to take classes there, studying with Chase as a private pupil. Cheney spent the summers between 1911 and 1914 painting in York and nearby Ogunquit, Maine. In 1912, he studied there with
Charles Woodbury.
Career
In 1909, Cheney exhibited his portrait of Professor Candle at the
Salon des Artistes Francais. His first American exhibition was shown at the Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts in 1914. His first New York exhibition was in the Babcock Galleries in 1922, and a catalogue of his paintings was published the same year. His work was also exhibited at the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and the
San Francisco Museum of Art
Cheney illustrated
F. O. Matthiessen's book ''Sarah Orne Jewett'' (1929), a work on the life and work of
writer of the same name.
Cheney was a member of the Connecticut Association of Fine Arts, Colorado Springs Art Society, and the San Francisco Art Society.
Personal life
Cheney's health was poor and he spent two years in a Colorado tuberculosis sanatorium and subsequently spent winters in warm climes. He was the longtime partner and lover of author
F. O. Matthiessen, who was also a Yale graduate and became a member of Skull & Bones in 1923. Russell was supported by his family and later when the family business was dissolved he was supported by Matthiessen.
Matthiessen was twenty years Russell's junior. Russell's death was due to
mesenteric thrombosis
Thrombosis () is the formation of a Thrombus, blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thrombocytes) and fib ...
. He was buried in East Cemetery in Manchester, Connecticut. He was survived by Matthiessen and two sisters, Ednah Cheney Underhill of Santa Barbara, California, and Mrs. Halstead Dorey of Boerne, Texas.
References
Further reading
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External links
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russellcheney.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Russell
1881 births
1945 deaths
Yale University alumni
20th-century American painters
American LGBTQ painters
LGBTQ people from Connecticut
Art Students League of New York alumni
Members of Skull and Bones
Deaths from thrombosis