Alexander Helwig Wyant
Encyclopedia
Alexander Helwig Wyant, was born January 11, 1836, in Ohio - and he died November 29, 1892 in New York, New York. He was an American
landscape painter. Also known as Alexander Wyant, A. H. Wyant, he was active as an artist in Arkville, New York
, and Keene Valley, New York among other places.
. He started painting beside the Ohio River
when he was in Cincinnati, Ohio
. A landscape painter in the style of George Inness
, whom he later met in New York City
. His early paintings followed closely the Hudson River School
tradition, while the later—infused with low-key colors, atmospheric features and poetic interpretation—are representative of tonalism
.
Raised in Defiance, Ohio, Alexander H. Wyant worked during his teens as a sign painter in nearby Port Washington. In 1857 he was impressed with some paintings by George Inness at an exhibition in Cincinnati
and soon left for New York to meet Inness. After returning to Cincinnati, Wyant secured the support of Nicholas Longworth and went to study in New York in 1860. He went on a trip that started in Paris in 1860 where he saw Corot and Dupré
's works before moving on to Germany
.
After an interlude of two years in Cincinnati, he moved back to New York City
in 1863. He exhibited for the first time at the National Academy of Design
in 1864 and was elected an associate there in 1868 and an academician in 1869. Wyant went abroad in 1865, studying for a few months with the Norwegian painter Hans Gude
in Düsseldorf
and Karlsruhe, Germany, and making brief stops in England
and Ireland
before settling again in New York. After 1866 Wyant gradually shifted toward a more fluid handling of paint, with increasing reliance on a palette emphasizing shades of white, gray, and the earth colors. From 1867 he exhibited his watercolors almost annually and was instrumental in the founding of the American Watercolor Society in 1878.
A partial stroke while on a government expedition to Arizona and New Mexico in 1873 led to paralysis of his right arm. Between 1874 and 1880 he worked in his studio in New York City, teaching himself to paint with his left hand. After his marriage in 1880, he began to spend most of his time in Keene Valley, New York. He moved in 1889 to Arkville, New York (in the Catskills). He frequently painted in the Adirondacks as well as in the Catskills. He died in 1892 in New York City shortly after completing Arkville Autumn Landscape, his last painting. He was only moderately appreciated during his lifetime, though after his death his works were eagerly sought for.
and J. M. W. Turner
and his stroke in 1873, which accelerated the artist's movement away from the sort of detailed examination of natural facts that one finds, for example, in his well-known, Mohawk Valley, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
. In his later years Wyant's solitary, introspective mood came to blend more closely than ever with his landscapes, especially those from the Arkville area at the Pakatakan Artists Colony
, where a kindred spirit, J. F. Murphy, also worked.
He was a member of the Century Association
and the National Academy
.
Exhibitions included the following venues: National Academy of Design
, 1865–92; Brooklyn Art Association, 1867–92; Boston Art Club
, 1877–82; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1879–81; Art Institute of Chicago
; and Metropolitan Museum of Art
.
Public collections that include Wyant's work can be found in the National Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum
, Metropolitan Museum of Art
, Toledo Museum of Art
, Tennessee State Museum
, the Dayton Art Institute and the Kentucky Art Museum.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
landscape painter. Also known as Alexander Wyant, A. H. Wyant, he was active as an artist in Arkville, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Keene Valley, New York among other places.
Biography
Alexander Wyant was born at Port Washington, OhioPort Washington, Ohio
Port Washington is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 552 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Port Washington is located at , along the Tuscarawas River....
. He started painting beside the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
when he was in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. A landscape painter in the style of George Inness
George Inness
George Inness was an American landscape painter; born in Newburgh, New York; died at Bridge of Allan in Scotland. His work was influenced, in turn, by that of the old masters, the Hudson River school, the Barbizon school, and, finally, by the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose spiritualism...
, whom he later met in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His early paintings followed closely the Hudson River School
Hudson River school
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism...
tradition, while the later—infused with low-key colors, atmospheric features and poetic interpretation—are representative of tonalism
Tonalism
Tonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when American artists began to paint landscape forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often dominated compositions by artists associated with the style...
.
Raised in Defiance, Ohio, Alexander H. Wyant worked during his teens as a sign painter in nearby Port Washington. In 1857 he was impressed with some paintings by George Inness at an exhibition in Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
and soon left for New York to meet Inness. After returning to Cincinnati, Wyant secured the support of Nicholas Longworth and went to study in New York in 1860. He went on a trip that started in Paris in 1860 where he saw Corot and Dupré
Jules Dupré
Jules Dupré , French painter, was one of the chief members of the Barbizon school of landscape painters. If Corot stands for the lyric and Rousseau for the epic aspect of the poetry of nature, Dupré is the exponent of her tragic and dramatic aspects.Dupré exhibited first at the Salon in 1831, and...
's works before moving on to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
After an interlude of two years in Cincinnati, he moved back to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1863. He exhibited for the first time at the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
in 1864 and was elected an associate there in 1868 and an academician in 1869. Wyant went abroad in 1865, studying for a few months with the Norwegian painter Hans Gude
Hans Gude
Hans Fredrik Gude was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters...
in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
and Karlsruhe, Germany, and making brief stops in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
before settling again in New York. After 1866 Wyant gradually shifted toward a more fluid handling of paint, with increasing reliance on a palette emphasizing shades of white, gray, and the earth colors. From 1867 he exhibited his watercolors almost annually and was instrumental in the founding of the American Watercolor Society in 1878.
A partial stroke while on a government expedition to Arizona and New Mexico in 1873 led to paralysis of his right arm. Between 1874 and 1880 he worked in his studio in New York City, teaching himself to paint with his left hand. After his marriage in 1880, he began to spend most of his time in Keene Valley, New York. He moved in 1889 to Arkville, New York (in the Catskills). He frequently painted in the Adirondacks as well as in the Catskills. He died in 1892 in New York City shortly after completing Arkville Autumn Landscape, his last painting. He was only moderately appreciated during his lifetime, though after his death his works were eagerly sought for.
Career
Wyant's signature style was developed slowly and not without several false starts along the way. Special contributions came from his initial contact with Inness shortly after that artist's sojourn in France; the startling revelations disclosed to Wyant by his study of John ConstableJohn Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
and J. M. W. Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
and his stroke in 1873, which accelerated the artist's movement away from the sort of detailed examination of natural facts that one finds, for example, in his well-known, Mohawk Valley, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
. In his later years Wyant's solitary, introspective mood came to blend more closely than ever with his landscapes, especially those from the Arkville area at the Pakatakan Artists Colony
Pakatakan Artists Colony Historic District
Pakatakan Artists Colony Historic District is a national historic district located at Arkville in Delaware County, New York. The district contains 33 contributing buildings and two contributing structures. It consists of a small mountainside collection of studios and residences clustered about the...
, where a kindred spirit, J. F. Murphy, also worked.
He was a member of the Century Association
Century Association
__notoc__The Century Association is a private club in New York City. It evolved out of an earlier organization – the Sketch Club, founded in 1829 by editor and poet William Cullen Bryant and his friends – and was established in 1847 by Bryant and others as a club to promote interest in...
and the National Academy
National academy
A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanities. Typically the country's learned societies in...
.
Exhibitions included the following venues: National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
, 1865–92; Brooklyn Art Association, 1867–92; Boston Art Club
Boston Art Club
The Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, for nearly 157 years, serves as a nexus for Members and non Members to access the world of Fine Art. Currently more than 250 members maintain an active environment for the support and promotion of these works....
, 1877–82; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1879–81; Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
; and Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
.
Public collections that include Wyant's work can be found in the National Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, Toledo Museum of Art
Toledo Museum of Art
The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio, United States. The museum was founded by Toledo glassmaker Edward Drummond Libbey in 1901, and moved to its present location, a Greek revival building designed by Edward B....
, Tennessee State Museum
Tennessee State Museum
Tennessee State Museum is a large museum in Nashville depicting the history of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Starting from pre-colonization and going all the way to the 20th century, the museum describes the American Civil War, the Frontier, and the Age of Jackson. The museum includes an area of...
, the Dayton Art Institute and the Kentucky Art Museum.