Background
William Baxter Palmer Closson was born on October 13, 1848 at Thetford, Vermont, United States. He was the son of David Wood and Abigail (Palmer) Closson.
William Baxter Palmer Closson was born on October 13, 1848 at Thetford, Vermont, United States. He was the son of David Wood and Abigail (Palmer) Closson.
As a youth he was clerk in a Vermont railroad office when, during a visit to Boston, he saw some wood-engravers’ tools which he borrowed, and with which in the early morning before going to work he taught himself to engrave. Having sent some proofs to a Boston engraver he was invited to become an apprentice at three dollars a week— one-third of the salary he was already earning in Vermont. Closson accepted the offer and lived on his stipend until it was considerably increased. He studied in the evening drawing classes of the Lowell Institute and gained facility in portraiture.
His employer S. G. Kilburn sent him to New York to solicit work. At the Century Company’s office young Closson’s engravings were highly approved, but he learned that the company dealt only with individual artists, not with firms. Returning to Boston he opened a studio and began engraving independently for the Century Company, Harpers, and Boston book publishers.
A friendship formed with George Fuller led to Closson’s engraving “Winifred Dysart, ” a very popular work. In 1882 Harper & Brothers sent him to engrave masterpieces in European galleries. This employment lasted several years. Closson in each case familiarized himself with his subject by making at the gallery a painted copy from which he engraved at his studio. In 1886 appeared L. Prang & Company’s Homes and Haunts of the Poets, with etched portraits by Closson. He also engraved many of his own compositions, such as “The Water Nymph, ” “Night Moths, ” and “Evening in the Woods. ” About 1888 he devised a method of printing from intaglio plates, examples of which were exhibited at the Keppel Gallery, New York, in 1890. Two circumstances caused Closson rather abruptly to give up his burin: the close application required of the engraver had affected his eyesight, and the development of the half-tone practically ended in this country opportunities for artistic engraving on wood. The artist, who had been awarded medals for his engravings at the Paris Exposition, 1889, and the World’s Columbian Exposition, 1893, and who as a member of the Society of American Wood Engravers participated in the award of a Grand Diploma of Honor for a joint exhibition at Vienna, began to devote himself to painting in pastel and oil. He married in 1907 Grace W. Gallaudet of Washington, D. C. Of quiet unassertive personality, he was liked by fellow artists. His style of painting, usually festive and somewhat reminiscent of Watteau and Monticelli, found general appreciation. An important exhibition of his paintings and wood engravings was hung at the Worcester Art Museum, July 10-Aug. 10, 1914. A Closson Memorial Exhibition was held at the Robert C. Vose Galleries, Boston, May 9, 1924.
He was a member of the Society of American Wood Engravers.
Closson had a quiet unassertive personality. He was liked by fellow artists.
In 1907 Closson married Grace W. Gallaudet of Washington, D. C.
