Posts in Category: American

William Morris Hunt

On March 29, 2026 - 19th Century, American, march 31

William Morris Hunt, American painter, March 31, 1824 – September 8, 1879

John Frederick Kensett

On March 22, 2026 - 19th Century, American, march 22

John Frederick Kensett, American painter, March 22, 1816 – December 14, 1872

William H Johnson

On March 16, 2026 - 20th Century, American, march 18

William H. Johnson, American artist, March 18, 1901 – April 13, 1970

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

On February 23, 2026 - 19th Century, 20th Century, American, march 1

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Irish and American sculptor, March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907

Winslow Homer

On February 15, 2026 - 19th Century, 20th Century, American, february 24

Winslow Homer, American artist, February 24, 1836-September 29, 1910

Elie Nadelman

On February 10, 2026 - 20th Century, American, february 20

Elie Nadelman, Polish-American sculptor, February 20, 1882 – December 28, 1946

Grant Wood

On January 29, 2026 - 20th Century, American, february 13

Grant Wood, American artist, February 13, 1891 - February 12, 1942

Frances Benjamin Johnston

On December 31, 2025 - 19th Century, 20th Century, American, january 15

Frances Benjamin Johnston, January 15, 1864–May 16, 1952, was an American photographer. Born in Grafton, West Virginia, and raised in Washington DC, she studied art in Paris and Washington before learning photography and opening a Washington studio in the 1890s.

Johnston built a career as a portraitist and photojournalist, photographing political and cultural figures as well as the White House. Her work also documented education at Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes, and in 1900 she organized an exhibition of photographs by American women for the Paris Exposition.

In later decades Johnston specialized in gardens and historic architecture across the American South. She settled in New Orleans in 1940 and died there in 1952; major holdings of her work are preserved by the Library of Congress.

Marsden Hartley

On December 23, 2025 - 19th Century, 20th Century, American, january 4

Marsden Hartley, January 4, 1877–September 2, 1943, was an American painter, poet, and essayist. Born in Lewiston, Maine, he studied at the Cleveland School of Art, William Merritt Chase’s New York School of Art, and the National Academy of Design.

His teachers included John Semon, Cullen Yates, and William Merritt Chase. Alfred Stieglitz presented Hartley’s first solo exhibition in New York at the 291 gallery in 1909, and Hartley became associated with the artists promoted by Stieglitz. He worked in the United States and Europe, including extended periods in Paris and Berlin, and returned to Maine during the final years of his life.

Hartley’s work is represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, and other major public collections.

Joseph Cornell

On December 14, 2025 - 20th Century, American, december 24

Joseph Cornell, December 24, 1903–December 29, 1972, was an American artist and filmmaker born in Nyack, New York. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover but did not graduate and received no formal artistic training.

Cornell began making collages and assemblages in the early 1930s after encountering Surrealist art at Julien Levy’s New York gallery. He became known for glass-fronted box constructions assembled from found objects and printed ephemera, and he also made experimental films, including Rose Hobart.

Cornell lived and worked for most of his life in Flushing, Queens, where he cared for his mother and his brother Robert. Major holdings of his work are in the Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Menil Collection, Tate and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.