Background
Jewett was born on January 14, 1792, in East Haddam, Connecticut, one of the nine children of Nathan Hibbard and Mary (Griffin) Jewett. As a boy he worked on the farm of his grandfather.
Jewett was born on January 14, 1792, in East Haddam, Connecticut, one of the nine children of Nathan Hibbard and Mary (Griffin) Jewett. As a boy he worked on the farm of his grandfather.
At sixteen Jewett undertook the job of preparing paints for carriages for a coachmaker in New London. This early apprenticeship probably determined his future career, for while grinding paints for designs on coaches, he aspired to apply his knowledge of color mixing to some higher purpose than mere decoration.
The second determining influence in his artistic life was his acquaintance with Samuel L. Waldo, the portrait painter. When young Jewett realized that Waldo was an artist, and not a poor artisan like himself, he offered to become his assistant. Thereupon a struggle ensued between the young apprentice and the master coachmaker who refused to release Jewett. Upon Waldo's departure for New York, nevertheless, Jewett followed, after signing a note with interest as indemnity for the loss of his services.
After three years of study and paint mixing, he began to assist Waldo in painting. In those days imported casts from antique sculptures were kept in the custom-house near Bowling Green, and there Jewett spent considerable time in drawing from casts. From the beginning Waldo took the young man into his home where he remained for eighteen years. Jewett performed routine studio work, and then he began to paint from nature. The two artists made journeys to the picturesque banks of the Hudson River and painted landscapes.
After seven years Jewett was able to pay his debt to the exacting coachmaker, and within ten years he became Waldo's partner in the business of painting portraits. The two men worked jointly on the same portraits, and it is said that only experienced critics could distinguish the work of the one artist from that of the other. That they must have been appreciated is evident from the number of commissions which they received.
Jewett made his home in New York City until 1842, when he moved to Bergen Hill, New Jersey. He died in Jersey City on March 24, 1874.
Jewett was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design in 1847.
Jewett married Mary Lyon Jewett in 1829. The couple had one son.