Edwin Howland Blashfield (December 5, 1848 – October 12, 1936) was an American painter and muralist, most known for painting the murals on the dome of the Library of Congress Main Reading Room inWashington, DC.^[1]

Edwin Blashfield
Edwin Blashfield
Born	Edwin Howland Blashfield December 5, 1848 Brooklyn, NY, US
Died	October 12, 1936
Resting place	Woodlawn Cemetery,The Bronx, NY
Nationality	American
Education	Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Known for	Painter, muralist

Blashfield was born inBrooklyn in 1848 to William H. Blashfield and Eliza Dodd.^[2] He studied painting at thePennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts after initial coursework in engineering at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology. He moved to Europe in 1867 to study withLéon Joseph Florentin Bonnat inParis and remained abroad until 1881, traveling, painting, and exhibiting his work in salon shows. His academic background in painting and extensive travels in Italy to study fresco painting melded in work marked by delicacy and beauty of coloring. Following his early success as a genre painter, Blashfield became a widely admired muralist whose work ornamented the dome of the Manufacturers' and Liberal Arts building at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, inChicago, several state capitols, and the central dome of theLibrary of Congress.

Edwin Blashfield designed the1896 two-dollar note. The mural on the obverse features Science presenting Steam and Electricity. Science is seated with two boys.^[3] The figures of Steam and Electricity are represented by the children and Commerce and Manufacture are portrayed by the two adults.^[4] The reverse of the note features portraits of inventorsRobert Fulton andSamuel Morse.^[3]

He was a member of numerous arts organizations, including theNational Academy of Design, theNational Society of Mural Painters in which he served as President from 1909 to 1914.^[5]American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Blashfield served from 1920 to 1926 as President of theNational Academy of Design. Among his many honors, Blashfield was awarded a Gold Medal by the National Academy of Design in 1934, an honorary membership in theAmerican Institute of Architects, and an honorary doctorate of fine arts byNew York University in 1926. He served on theU.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1912 to 1916. His circle of friends included sculptorDaniel Chester French, paintersJohn Singer Sargent andMaxfield Parrish, and architectCass Gilbert.^[6] His style was influenced byPierre Puvis de Chavannes,Jean-Paul Laurens, andPaul Baudry. He married Evangeline Wilbour in 1881 and together they wroteItalian Cities (1900) and translatedVasari'sLives of the Painters (4 vols., 1897). Wilbour died in 1918 and Blashfield married Grace Hall in 1928.^[2] He became president of theSociety of Mural Painters, and of theSociety of American Artists. Blashfield died in 1936 at his summer home on Cape Cod and is interred atWoodlawn Cemetery inThe Bronx, New York City.

•  
  The Roman Emperor Commodus Leaving the Arena at the Head of the Gladiators, 1878
•  
  Detail of The Roman Emperor Commodus Leaving the Arena at the Head of the Gladiators
•  
  Angel with the Flaming Sword, 1890-1
•  
  Ellen Day Hale, 1890s
•  
  Books, 1914
•  
  Dome of theWisconsin State Capitol, 1917
•  
  Wisconsin State Assembly chamber mural, 1917
•  
  Spring Scattering Stars, 1927

• inAtlanta, Georgia
  • a mural of the Good Shepherd St. Luke's Episcopal Church
• inChicago
  • a dome in the manufacturer's building at the 1893World Columbian Exposition
  • theElks National Veterans Memorial
• inWashington D.C.
  • the dome of the Main Reading Room of theThomas Jefferson Building of theLibrary of Congress
  • the mosaic ofSaint Matthew inSt. Matthew's Cathedral
• theIowa State Capitol atDes Moines, Iowa
• theHoward M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse inCleveland, Ohio
• theMinnesota State Capitol atSt. Paul, Minnesota
• theGovernor's office inPierre, South Dakota
• theWisconsin State Capitol atMadison, Wisconsin
• theClarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse inBaltimore^[7]
• theMahoning County Court House,Youngstown, Ohio
• theDetroit Public Library
• inNew York City
  • Appellate courthouse
  • the grand ballroom of theWaldorf-Astoria Hotel
  • the Lawyers' Club^[8][9]
  • the Great Hall ofCity College of New York, "The Graduate" mural,^[10]
  • the residences ofWK Vanderbilt andCollis P. Huntington
  • theNational Academy of Design, "Saint Michael".
• inPhiladelphia
  • the residence of George W. Drexel (son ofAnthony J. Drexel)
  • the chancel dome of theCathedral Church of the Savior
• theMassachusetts Institute of Technology inCambridge, Massachusetts. Many paintings by the artist are present, including "North Wall Alma Mater", "South Wall Right Panel Humanity", "North Wall Left Panel Angels in Trees", et al., all painted 1923-1930.
• inMercersburg Academy, Pennsylvania

• Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1900)."Blashfield, Edwin Howland" .New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
• Cortissoz, Royal, introduction,The Works of Edwin Howland Blashfield, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1937
• The Works of Edwin Howland Blashfield", Art Inventories Catalog,Smithsonian American Art Museum,The Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

• Blashfield, Edwin,Mural Painting in America: The Scammon Lectures Delivered Before the Art Institute of Chicago, March 1912, New York : C. Scribner's sons, 1913.
• Vasari, Giorgio; Blashfield, Edwin, (editor)Lives of seventy of the most eminent painters, sculptors and architects, Volume 4, New York : C. Scribner's sons, 1902
• Weiner, Mina Rieur, (editor),Edwin Howland Blashfield: Master American Muralist, New York : W.W. Norton, 2009.ISBN 978-0-393-73281-8
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911)."Blashfield, Edwin Howland" .Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 43.

• Morseburg Galleries.The American Renaissance: Edwin Blashfield
• Iowa State Capital mural "Westward"
• The Papers of Edwin Howland Blashfield at the New York Historical Society
• Letters from Edwin Blashfield