John Appleton Brown

Background

John Appleton Brown was born on July 12, 1844 and was the son of George Frederick Handel and Asenath Lyons (Page) Brown, who were living in West Newbury, Massachussets, at the time of their son's birth.

Education

Early developing a taste for art, Brown studied as a youth with a certain Mr. Porter then well known as a portrait painter. At the age of twenty-one he came to Boston to open his first studio in 1865. Two years later he sailed for Paris for further study under Émile Lambinet.

Career

Though John Appleton Brown spent some months in England in the early eighties, working with Edwin Abbey and Parsons, and painting in Italy and along the Riviera, most of his work was done in his native New England. The marsh lands and orchards, the scenes of his childhood in his own state of Massachusetts, he immortalized on canvas.

For many years Mr. and Mrs. Brown lived in the famous Quincy mansion in Boston, returning to Newburyport for their summers, where most of Brown's painting was done directly from nature. Brown never grew old; to his joyous spirit each spring appeared entirely new. He died in New York City.

Achievements

• Among his better-known paintings are "Springtime" painted in 1899; "Summer" and "A View at Dives Calvades, France, " which were accepted by the Paris Salon in 1875; and "November" exhibited in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Works

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  • Wall Art Print Entitled Bridge in Late Spring by John Appleton Brown (1844 by Celestial Images | 32 x 24

    (Gallery-Wrapped Canvas entitled 'Bridge in Late Spring by...)

  • John Appleton Brown The Old Mill Private Collection 30" x 25" Fine Art Giclee Canvas Print Reproduction (Unframed)

    ( This Canvas Art Print will look stunning on any interio...)

  • Art Oyster John Appleton Brown Spring Marshland - 16.05" x 20.05" Premium Canvas Print with Gold Frame

    (16.05" x 20.05" John Appleton Brown Spring Marshland fram...)

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Views

Neither realistic nor detailed in his work he portrayed forcibly and directly his subject, realistic outline merging into vagueness. When he painted the sea he caught its cold, grey color, even the weight, density, and mass of the water being preserved and emphasized in his tints.

Brown painted nocturnal scenes; marine pieces; flower gardens; cattle pieces; and architectural compositions; but it is as a painter of apple orchards that he is best known. He was never fatigued, blasé, or disillusioned in a world of trees, blossoms, grass, flowers, running water, and blue skies.

His work was never impulsive or impassionate, but of an even quiet, having a definite note of serene cheerfulness, typical of the artist's own nature. Though his work shows the influence of Corot he was imitative of none, developing the rural scene into a symbolic reflection typically American in its unquenchable optimism, hopefulness and buoyancy.

Membership

John Appleton Brown was a member of the Society of American Artists.

Personality

Brown was ever a mild, lovable man, his temperament showing in the gentle treatment of nature in his paintings.

Quotes from others about the person

• "He had the felicity to utter the right word with just the right accent, never forcing the note. He made us think not of the painter, but of the thing painted" (William Howe Downes in American Magazine of Art, August 1923).

Connections

Returning to Newburyport, John Appleton Brown married Agnes Bartlet, daughter of Edmund and Louisa S. Bartlet of that city. His wife also was an artist, though less widely known than her husband.

Father:

George Frederick Handel Brown

Mother:

Asenath Lyons (Page) Brown

Wife:

Agnes Bartlet

References

• Artists of the Nineteenth Century and Their Works, Vol. 2: A Handbook Containing Two Thousand and Fifty Biographical Sketches (Classic Reprint)
• History of Newburyport, Mass;, 1764-1909, Vol. 2: With Maps and Illustrations (Classic Reprint)