George William Breck

Background

George William Breck was born on September 1, 1863 in Washington, D. C. , and was a son of John and Annie (Auer) Breck.

Education

When quite young George Breck went to New York to take up mechanical drafting. Instruction at the Art Students' League marked the beginning of his technical studies and following this, he taught drawing and did some illustrating. Through his realization of the need for special study, he became greatly interested in the possibilities in the development of mural painting and entered the first competition for the Jacob H. Lazarus Scholarship for the Study of Mural Decoration, held under the auspices of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1896. Being the fortunate winner of this scholarship, he had the opportunity of attending the American Academy of Fine Arts in Rome for several years (1897 - 1902).

Career

At the suggestion of Edwin A. Abbey, while in Rome George William Breck was commissioned by the University of Virginia to make a replica of Raphael's "School of Athens" for the Auditorium in Charlottesville.

During 1904-09 he was director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, but in 1910 established a studio in New York.

During his period of study as an associate member of the American Academy of Fine Arts, at Rome, Breck had an exhibition of his work in the Pratt Institute Department of Fine Arts, Brooklyn, New York, October 10-25, 1902. This exhibit included the following: copies--"Jurisprudence, " "Group from the Disputa, " "Group from Messa di Bolsena, " "Mt. Parnassus, " "Poetry" and "The Temptation, " from Raphael; "Prophet Esaias, " from Michelangelo; "Sixtus IV" and two copies entitled "Angel" from Melozzo da Forli; "Fame" from Guercino; four works entitled "Muse, " from Lo Spagna; original sketches--"America" and "Sketch for Mural Decoration" made in competition for the Lazarus Scholarship. Other important examples of Breck's work are: two mural paintings in the Watertown, New York, Flower Memorial Library, entitled "First Public Commemoration of the Declaration of Independence in Jefferson County, New York, " and "Conference between M. de la Barre, Governor of Canada, and the Representatives of the Five Nations" (1904); mosaics in the façade and interior of St. Paul's P. E. Church at Rome, Italy; three medallions for the library of the Hon. Whitelaw Reid, one, "Reflection, " a beautiful ceiling panel, symbolic in treatment, the pose of the principal figure, a female, being of interest for its suggestion of grace, poise, and intellectual strength.

In later years of his life he made his home at Flushing, Long Island, where his death occurred in 1920.

Achievements

• George Breck's reached successes not only in his work as a mural painter but also in the social life as well. For example, he served the Art Students' League as president for three terms. At the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, he was awarded a silver medal. He received a Lazarus Scholarship for Mural Painting for study in Rome from 1896 to 1899. While in Rome, he also designed in 1909 the cartoons for facade mosaic decoration of the American Church of St. Paul's. His most noted works are: mural paintings in the Watertown, New York, Flower Memorial Library, entitled "First Public Commemoration of the Declaration of Independence in Jefferson County, New York, " and "Conference between M. de la Barre, Governor of Canada, and the Representatives of the Five Nations" (1904); mosaics in the façade and interior of St. Paul's P. E. Church at Rome, Italy; three medallions for the library of the Hon. Whitelaw Reid called "Reflection".

Works

More photos

• book

  • Mural Painting In America: The Scammon Lectures, Delivered Before The Art Institute Of Chicago, March, 1912, And Since Greatly Enlarged, By Edwin Howland Blashfield...

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

Views

His later successes probably came to him because of his long absence abroad. Despite the fact that very little has been written concerning some of the most active years of the artist's life, but we may safely conclude that the ideal environment of Rome and the many opportunities for helpful and congenial personal contacts laid the foundation for successes.

Membership

Breck was a member of the New York Architectural League; New York Municipal Art Society; National Society of Mural Painters; the Century Club; the New York City Art Commission (1912 - 15); and of the American Fine Arts Society. He was also an associate member of the American Academy of Fine Arts at Rome, Italy.

Connections

An important event in his life at this time was his marriage, June 10, 1903, to Katharine, daughter of Franklin H. Head of Chicago.

Father:

John Breck

Mother:

Annie (Auer) Breck

Daughter:

Elizabeth Head Breck

1910–1918

wife :

Katherine Putnam Head Breck

1869–1939

associate:

Edwin A. Abbey

muralist, illustrator, painter