Amanda Brewster Sewell | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait, 1904, National Academy of Design[1] | |
| Born | Lydia Amanda Brewster (1859-02-24)February 24, 1859 |
| Died | November 15, 1926(1926-11-15) (aged 67) Florence, Italy |
| Education | |
| Known for | Painter of portraits and genre scenes |
| Notable work |
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| Awards | SeeAwards section below |
Lydia Amanda Brewster Sewell (February 24, 1859 - November 15, 1926) was a 19th-century American painter of portraits and genre scenes.[2] Lydia Amanda Brewster studied art in the United States and in Paris before marrying her husband, fellow artist Robert Van Vorst Sewell. She won a bronze medal for her muralArcadia at TheWorld's Columbian Exposition in 1893. She continued to win medals at expositions and was the first woman to win a major prize at theNational Academy of Design, where she was made an Associate Academian in 1903. She was vice president of theWoman's Art Club of New York by 1906. Her works are in several public collections.
Lydia Amanda Brewster, the daughter of Benjamin T. Brewster and Julia Ann Washburn Brewster,[3] was born inNorth Elba, New York[4] on February 24, 1859. Sewell paintedWilliam Brewster, aMayflower passenger and one of her ancestors, when she was a young girl.[5]
In 1876, Sewell studied in the antique class of theNational Academy of Design.[5] She studied withSwain Gifford andDouglas Volk at theCooper Union, theArt Students League of New York underWilliam Sartain andWilliam Merritt Chase[5][6] In Paris, she studied underTony Robert-Fleury andWilliam-Adolphe Bouguereau at theAcadémie Julian;[5][6] She also studied atÉmile-Auguste Carolus-Duran'satelier and in 1886 exhibited at theParis Salon for the first time[5] and again in 1887 and 1888.[3]
She married Robert Van Vorst Sewell, a painter, on April 12, 1888.[3][5] He was born in 1860 and became anAssociate National Academian in 1901.[7] The couple lived onLong Island, New York in the Fleetwood House inOyster Bay.[5] designed by her husband. He learned to be a sculptor to create wood carvings and sculptures for the house, fashioned afterMedieval designs.American Homes and Gardens said it was among the country's most notable residences.[8] They were on theSocial Register in 1918.[9] One of their sons, William Joyce Sewell, married Marion Brown, the daughter of artistBolton Brown.[10]
After having completed her studies in Paris, Sewell opened a studio in New York. The painted portraits, including Mrs.Peter Cooper Hewitt, Mrs. Helen Jennings Ranger (wife ofHenry Ward Ranger), Mrs. Flora Bigelow Dodge (wife of Charles Stuart Dodge, mother ofLucie Bigelow Rosen andJohnnie Dodge), and her husband, Robert Van Vorst Sewell. She was also a decorative painter.[5] The National Academy of Design said that her "artistic tendencies were stimulated by the mountain scenery around her home and before she received any instruction she attained considerable facility in the use of color."[5]
In 1888, Sewell won the Norman W. Dodge Prize at the National Academy of Design.[3][11] Sewellexhibited her work at thePalace of Fine Arts andthe Woman's Building at the 1893World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.[12][13] She was awarded a bronze medal for wasArcadia, a side mural for the Hall of Honor of the Woman's Building.[5][14] Kirsten Swinth says that "Amanda Brewster Sewell'sArcadia displayed her ability to paint the human figure, develop complex compositions, and manage the subject matter of history painting."[15] Other works exhibited includePleasures of the Past,Sylvan Festival,Mother and Son andBy the River.[16]
Sewell exhibitedA Pastoral,A Sylvan Festival, andPleasures of the Past at thePennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts exhibition between December 21, 1896 – February 22, 1897.[17] She won a bronze medal at the 1901Pan-American Exposition, a silver medal at the 1902Charleston Exposition in South Carolina, a bronze medal at the 1904St. Louis Exposition,[3] and theThomas B. Clarke prize for best figure composition at the 1904 National Academy of Design exhibition in New York forThe Sacred Hecatomb.[18] The painting, called an "important" work byThe Independent,[19] depicts dancing Greek maidens and children leading a procession of cattle to the sacrifice.Harper's Weekly commented, "These joyous figures, moving in a leafy glade into which the sunlight filters, are charming in color and rhythmic movement, and as a piece of admirably conceived and executed decorative painting it stands alone in the collection."[20] She was the first woman to earn a major prize at the National Academy.[21]
Her self-portrait was anAssociate National Academian (ANA) diploma presentation on March 7, 1904;[5][22] It was also exhibited with in theNational Academy of Design Portraits exhibition held by theNational Arts Club in 1916.[5] By 1906 she was vice president and member of the selection jury of theWoman's Art Club of New York, which was formed in 1890 as a social club for women interested in art and as a forum to exhibit women artist's works.[23]
Sewell died in 1926 in Florence, Italy.[24] Her husband, Robert Van Vorst Sewell died in 1924, also in Florence.[25]
| Columbia University |
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| Farnsworth Art Museum |
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| National Academy of Design |
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| University of the South, University Art Gallery |
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| Williams College Museum of Art |
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| Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts/Rosen House |
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Media related toAmanda Brewster Sewell at Wikimedia Commons
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