Henry Roderick Newman

Background

Henry Roderick Newmanwas born about 1843 in Easton, New York, United States. His father, Roderick Newman, a physician and surgeon, worked so incessantly that he undermined his health. He thereupon sold his home and his practice in Easton and moved to New York City. His son, at that time eleven years old, was a delicate boy. Dr. Newman hoped that Henry would become a physician, but his artistic bent was strong and his mother encouraged his ambition in this direction.

Education

Newman's studies were often interrupted by sickness, but in spite of this handicap he always kept his place at the head of his class.

Career

When Henry was eighteen years of age his father died. Soon afterward the youth left his New York home and went to Stockbridge, Massachussets, where he spent six months making studies and sketches from nature. His work was received with so much favor on his return to New York that his purpose of becoming a painter was confirmed. He then went to the Green Mountain region of Vermont and passed another year in field work. Again returning to New York, he taught an art class in the Cooper Institute until he fell ill from overwork, but shortly he was able to go to Stockbridge for a second time, taking his mother with him.

He spent the winter of 1868-69 in Florida and then determined to go to France for the purpose of continuing his studies. After a few weeks in Fontainebleau, he found himself in Paris at the moment of the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. He pursued his studies in Germe's class for about three weeks, but the German armies were then advancing toward Paris, and he betook himself to Chartres, where he spent two months making careful and elaborate studies of the cathedral. After this he went to Switzerland and to Italy, arriving in Florence late in the summer of 1870. His work soon came to the attention of John Ruskin, who was extremely enthusiastic about his draftsmanship, and expressed himself so strongly on the subject that Newman's drawings began to find many eager buyers in Italy, England, and America. His personal relations with Ruskin became more and more intimate, during the decade from 1870 to 1880, and more than once he was a guest at Coniston. Ruskin bought his watercolors and persuaded his friends to do likewise; the two men rambled about the old Italian cities together, making sketches; and they jointly assembled the materials for the illustrations for the Stones of Venice. Newman's motives included such historic architectural monuments as the Duomo, the Bigallo, Or San Michele, the Palazzo Vecchio, the Mercato Vecchio, and Santa Maria Novella. His flower pieces were also in high favor among amateurs.

After his marriage, Newman's home and studio in the Piazza dei Rossi, Florence, became an interesting and attractive social center, more especially for the British and American colony. Such personages as the Brownings, the De Morgans, Henry James, and Nathaniel Hawthorne were among the friends who foregathered there.

The Newmans traveled widely. They spent several winters in Egypt, where the artist made a series of pictures of the temples and royal tombs along the valley of the Nile. He died at Florence in 1918 and was survived by his widow. His view of the Church of St. Martin of Lucca is in the Birmingham (England) Museum.

Achievements

• Newman was one of the first significant American painters to paint in Florida.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Wall Art Print Entitled Henry Roderick Newman (American, 1843-1917). The P by Celestial Images | 32 x 23

    (Poster Print entitled 'Henry Roderick Newman (American, 1...)

Connections

Newman married a cultured Englishwoman in 1884.

Father:

Roderick Newman

physician, surgeon

References

• John Henry Newman: A Portrait in Letters
• A quiet devotion: The life and work of Henry Roderick Newman