Seth Wells Cheney was an American engraver and artist. He worked a lot together with his brother John and was also associated with a number of American artists.
Background
Seth Wells Cheney was the fifth son of George and Electa (Woodbridge) Cheney and was born on November 26, 1810 in South Manchester, Connecticut, United States. He was not a robust healthy child and on this account was more at home than his seven brothers, but he was earnest and thoughtful. He had an inventive mind and enjoyed mechanical work.
Education
Cheney received a public school education where he learned a little French and Latin. His art education was largely experience and connection with engravers and artists, especially with his brother John, of whom he once said, “He taught me all that ever I knew. ” They were very closely associated, working together on the same engravings, studying at the same schools, traveling together, working for the same publishers. In 1833 Seth went to Paris and studied under Jean-Baptiste Isabey and Paul Delaroche.
Career
Seth Cheney had a position when he was about twenty- two at the Athenaeum, where he was able to work and study. It was probably while he was here that he engraved “Mother and Child, ” after the painting by Washington Allston. But as this is considered his best engraving and as it was not published until 1837, it has been sometimes thought a later work. While Cheney did only a few engravings, they are mentioned as the equal of and occasionally as superior to those of his brother, John. Beside the ones he finished himself, he and his brother were associated as well in making twenty-one from the outlines and sketches of Washington Allston. He joined John in Paris in 1834 but worked so hard that his health gave way and his brother was obliged to bring him home.
About 1835 the raising of mulberry trees for the use of silk worms became a great speculation: three of Cheney’s brothers, Ward, Rush, and Frank, were in the business and they sent Seth abroad to buy trees in 1837. He was still there in the spring of 1840, when the mulberry-tree bubble burst, but fortunately the brothers had started a silk-mill at South Manchester in 1838 and they turned their energies with great success to developing this industry which was ultimately to make both John and Seth financially independent. Seth returned home in 1840, settled at the old homestead and made crayon drawings.
In the autumn of 1841 he determined to give up engraving and devote his time to portraiture. He moved to Boston where in 1841 and 1842 he did 150 heads, mostly of children. His prices ranged from $10 to $50. Ednah D. Cheney says of the drawings of this period, “There is an exquisite beauty in these early portraits unsurpassed even by the work of his later life, in perception of character and spiritual grace. His execution was free and delicate, and it seemed as if his spirit had breathed itself into form on paper. ” Having had a very successful two years, and the family being in excellent financial condition, on account of the silk business, in the summer of 1843 Cheney went abroad, studying with Ferrero in Rome, where he was also associated with a number of American artists, such as Daniel Huntington and S. F. B. Morse.
In January 1845 he returned to Boston and to his profession, orders were numerous, and his prices were raised to $75 and $100. The work, however, proved exhausting, and he spent the summers in recuperating at South Manchester. Beside his black and white crayon drawings, he made a few paintings, a few engravings, and a few pieces of sculpture. In 1854, together with his friends, he visited Europe again, but it was of slight pleasure as he was ill much of the time. Little artistic work was done in the last years of his life.
Achievements
Membership
On May 10, 1848 Cheney was made an associate of the National Academy of Design.
Connections
In September 1847 Cheney was married to Emily Pitkin, who died in 1850. In 1853 he married Ednah D. Littlehale.