Background
He was the oldest son of Augustine Ulysses Machen, a government-employed civil engineer, and Agatha Kuyke of Werkendam, Holland.
He was the oldest son of Augustine Ulysses Machen, a government-employed civil engineer, and Agatha Kuyke of Werkendam, Holland.
University of Detroit Mercy.
William Henry Machen (February 10, 1832 – June 19, 1911), was a painter and teacher. His early education was by tutors. Two sisters died en route and were buried at sea.
The remaining family members arrived in New York in September.
From there they made their way via the Hudson River to Albany, via the Erie Canal to Buffalo, and finally across Lake Erie to Cleveland, where they stayed for the winter. At the suggestion of Bishop Amadeus Rappe of Cleveland, Augustine and young William traveled on horseback to Toledo in February 1848 to inspect a 100-acre (040 km2) farm at the town‘s edge.
They soon purchased the land and in April the family settled in Toledo. The farm setting gave William ample subjects for his paintings—landscapes, game birds, animals, rivers and streams.
He also painted portraits, religious subjects, still life, and local scenery.
Most of his work was oil, but also water color, pencil sketches, and some pen and ink. Architectural design was not beyond his talents. In 1861 William married Mary Ann Short of Buffalo, New New York
Their oldest son later became Assistant Postmaster General.
Another son became a prominent Washington physician. He exhibited his work at the Pennsylvania Academy, the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and the Detroit Museum of Artist
He served as organist and choir director for Saint Francis de Sales church in Toledo for several years. He was talented in other ways too.
He was a naturalist by inclination and studied extensively in that area.
He also was fluent in six languages, frequently serving as an interpreter. In 1882 William and his family moved to Detroit where he taught art at Detroit College (later University of Detroit) and Sacred Heart Convent at Grosse Pointe. He continued his prolific art work, including portraits, religious subjects, and a variety of others
The artist and his family remained in Detroit for 12 years.
He eventually moved to Washington, District of Columbia in 1894. There he continued his painting, completing many portraits, still life, and scenes of nature.
He was a devout lifelong Catholic. He died in Washington in 1911 at age 79.
He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Toledo.
In his lifetime William Machen completed more than 2700 oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and sketches.