George Henry Boughton | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait of Boughton in 1884 | |
| Born | (1833-12-04)4 December 1833 Norwich, England |
| Died | 19 January 1905(1905-01-19) (aged 71) Campden Hill, London, England |
| Known for | painting |
George Henry BoughtonRA (4 December 1833 – 19 January 1905)[1] was anAnglo-American landscape and genre painter, illustrator and writer.
Boughton was born inNorwich inNorfolk, England, the son of farmer William Boughton. The family immigrated to the United States in 1835,[2] and he grew up inAlbany, New York, where he started his career as a self-taught artist. He was influenced by the artists ofHudson River School.[3]
By the age of 19, Boughton was recognized as a landscape painter and opened his first studio in 1852. In 1853, theAmerican Art-Union purchased one of his early pictures which financed six months of studying art in England. He concluded this period of his training with a sketching tour of theLake District, Scotland, and Ireland.[4]
After returning to the U.S.,[5] Boughton exhibited his works in Washington, D.C. and New York City. But in the late 1850s, he decided to move to Europe, where, from 1859 to 1861, he studied art underPierre Edouard Frère (1819–1886) andEdward Harrison May (1824–1887) in France.[citation needed]
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In 1861, Boughton opened a studio in London. While living in England, he focused on subjects of earlyAmerican colonial history, and an American critic noticed that "for early history of this country his talents seems to be peculiarly fitted."[6] His subject pictures, such as theEarly Puritans of New England Going to Church (1867), were especially popular. TheReturn of the Mayflower (shown at theGoupil Gallery, New York in 1871) was praised as "a picture which will live as long as the memory of the Mayflower itself lasts."[6]
Vincent van Gogh, who lived in London from 1873 to 1875, was impressed by Boughton's paintingGodspeed! Pilgrims Setting Out for Canterbury. Then working as a minister, he gave a sermon inspired by the painting, and wrote about it to his brother Theo.[7] The Boughton painting is now part of the collection of theVan Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.[citation needed]
Boughton illustratedNathaniel Hawthorne’sThe Scarlet Letter andHenry Wadsworth Longfellow's poems. In 1893, the edition ofWashington Irving’sRip Van Winkle andSleepy Hollow was published in London with 53 illustrations by Boughton (see bibliography). A London critic once declared that he "has learnt the secret of putting natural feelings into rustic figures, which has been almost entirely wanting to English painters."[citation needed]
Boughton exhibited extensively in both Britain and the U.S. and was elected a member of theNational Academy of Design in New York City in 1871.[8] He was elected a member of theRoyal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, anAssociate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1879, and aRoyal Academician (RA) in 1896. "He was a useful and popular member of this body, and worked well as member of the council, as a 'hanger', and as a teacher in the schools."[9] After the death ofJohn Callcott Horsley, Boughton was elected a Director of the "Fine Art and General Insurance Company".
His landscape paintings included views of England and Brittany in France. In 1883, he travelled to Holland, and his illustrated account of that journey was published in theHarper's Magazine as "Artist Strolls in Holland", and published the following year in London asSketching Rambles in Holland.
Boughton enjoyed writing, and later participated in publishing the "English Art in the Public Galleries of London", which provided an overview ofGeorge Morland's biography and work.[10]
Boughton easily socialised in London artistic circles and was a member of theArts Club (1869–96), of theReform Club, theAthenaeum Club, theBurlington Fine Arts Club and the Grolier and Lotos Clubs in New York.[citation needed]
In 1865, Boughton married Katherine Louise Cullen (1845-after 1901), and they adopted a daughter, Florence. Along withJohn Callcott Horsley, he was one of the early clients of architectRichard Norman Shaw who built a house for the Boughtons on Campden Hill, London. "The parties given here by Mr and Mrs Boughton were celebrated among artistic and literary people and in the Anglo-American section of the society."[9]
Boughton was influenced by the works of British painter and illustratorFrederick Walker (1840–1875).[9] In the 1870s in London, he metJames Whistler. In 1878, an American reviewer praised them as "shining lights in the art world" of London.[11] Boughton published vivid recollections about Whistler, particularly mentioning his work on the famous ‘Peacock Room'.[12] In 1877 he made an acquaintance withHenry James (1843–1916).
The female novelistViolet Hunt (1862–1942) based her novelsTheir Lives (1916) andTheir Hearts (1921) on her early love affair with Boughton. The novelChristina Chard (1894) by Mrs Rosa Campbell-Praed (1851–1935), an Australian novelist, was dedicated to Boughton, because he had suggested the idea of the book.[13]
Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, he was associated with several artistic colonies in countryside, namely with the village ofBroadway inWorcestershire, the rustic beauty of which was recognized by American artists. Along with Henry James,Edwin Abbey,John Singer Sargent and others, he frequently visited Broadway. Through Horsley and Shaw he also was associated with theCranbrook Colony of artists, visiting them in the late 1860s-1880s.[citation needed] Boughton also served as an agent and advisor toHenry Gurdon Marquand, one of the founders of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, and namesake of theMarquand Collection.[14]
Boughton died of heart disease, on 19 January 1905, in his studio atCampden Hill, north London. His obituary stated that "he was kindly, genial, humorous, a lover of a good story, the essence of hospitality, and wholly free from jealousy, malice, and incharitable judgments."
His paintings are now represented in many museums in the United States and Europe.
