Horace Thompson Carpenter
Encyclopedia
Horace Thompson Carpenter, an illustrator, artist and art writer of the late 19th and early 20th century United States, was born in 1857 in Monroe, Michigan
, and died in 1947 in Bala (now part of Bala Cynwyd), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
.
), the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art and the New York Art Students League.
, a close associate of William Penn
, the founder of Pennsylvania
. He married on September 28, 1886 in Wilmington, Delaware
to Mary Cowgill Conwell, who was born June 10, 1863 in Delaware and died February 12, 1929.
. In December 1892, he was appointed manager of The Literary Northwest magazine published in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1892-1893. In 1920, his primary occupation as annotated in the census was "artist." His work as an artist was primarily in illustration and oil painting. Among his earliest attributed works are illustrations of books published in the early 1890s and magazines such as Cosmopolitan
and the 1897 issue of The Chap-Book
. He illustrated several books of note, including Hamlin Garland
's Main-Travelled Roads, Being Six Stories of the Mississippi Valley (Chicago: Stone & Kimball, 1893) and Prairie Songs, Being Chants Rhymed and Unrhymed of the Level Lands of the Great West (Chicago: Stone & Kimball, 1893); Mary Harriott Norris' The Grapes of Wrath: a Tale of North and South (Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1901); Francis Marion Crawford
's Whosoever Shall Offend (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904) and Fair Margaret: A Portrait (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1905); William Johnston
's and Paul West
's The Innocent Murderers (New York: Duffield & Company, 1910); Alice Brown
's Robin Hood's Barn (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913); and John Jakob Raskob's The Raskob-Green Record Book (Claymont, Del.: privately published, 1921). In 1904, he was a guest of American novelist Francis Marion Crawford
in Rome
, where he became acquainted with Italian sculptor Gaetano Chiaromonte
and American artist Elihu Vedder
among others, and filled several sketchbooks with drawings of local scenes. As an independent artist in Philadelphia, he painted derivative works of notable officials of Dickinson College
in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
, and historical paintings for private clients and patrons in New York and Delaware. The Society of Independent Artists
lists four of his paintings exhibited at Independence Hall, A Summer Shower and The Bird Bath in 1917, and Horta, the Azores and Building Castles in 1919. The Library of Congress
Copyright Office in 1919 lists a painting by Carpenter portraying Caesar Rodney
meeting Delegate Thomas McKean
on the steps of the State House in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 with Benjamin Franklin
, Thomas Jefferson
and George Read
standing inside the door. From 1899 to 1912, he was a member of The Players Club in New York City
, founded in 1888 by Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth
, brother of John Wilkes Booth
, a gathering place for actors and eminent men in other professions. He served as superintendent and then curator of Independence Hall
(now Independence National Historical Park
) in Philadelphia from 1916 to 1946.
Monroe, Michigan
Monroe is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,733 at the 2010 census. It is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but both are politically independent. The city is located approximately 14 miles ...
, and died in 1947 in Bala (now part of Bala Cynwyd), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 799,874, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania . The county seat is Norristown.The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part...
.
Education
Carpenter was educated at the Episcopal Academy of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (studying under Thomas EakinsThomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...
), the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art and the New York Art Students League.
Personal
Carpenter was a descendant of Samuel CarpenterSamuel Carpenter
Samuel Carpenter was a Deputy Governor of colonial Pennsylvania. He signed the historic document "The Declaration of Fealty, Christian Belief and Test" dated 10 September 1695; the original is in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania...
, a close associate of William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
, the founder of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. He married on September 28, 1886 in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
to Mary Cowgill Conwell, who was born June 10, 1863 in Delaware and died February 12, 1929.
Works
At the time of his marriage, Carpenter was the secretary of a corporation in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. In December 1892, he was appointed manager of The Literary Northwest magazine published in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1892-1893. In 1920, his primary occupation as annotated in the census was "artist." His work as an artist was primarily in illustration and oil painting. Among his earliest attributed works are illustrations of books published in the early 1890s and magazines such as Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
and the 1897 issue of The Chap-Book
The Chap-Book
The Chap-Book was an American literary magazine between 1894 and 1898. It is often classified as one of the "little magazines" of the 1890s....
. He illustrated several books of note, including Hamlin Garland
Hamlin Garland
Hannibal Hamlin Garland was an American novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his fiction involving hard-working Midwestern farmers.- Biography :...
's Main-Travelled Roads, Being Six Stories of the Mississippi Valley (Chicago: Stone & Kimball, 1893) and Prairie Songs, Being Chants Rhymed and Unrhymed of the Level Lands of the Great West (Chicago: Stone & Kimball, 1893); Mary Harriott Norris' The Grapes of Wrath: a Tale of North and South (Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1901); Francis Marion Crawford
Francis Marion Crawford
Francis Marion Crawford was an American writer noted for his many novels, especially those set in Italy, and for his classic weird and fantastic stories.-Life:...
's Whosoever Shall Offend (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904) and Fair Margaret: A Portrait (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1905); William Johnston
William Johnston
William Johnston may refer to:*William Johnston , U.S. Representative from Ohio*William Johnston , Irish politician and Orangeman...
's and Paul West
Paul West
Paul West may refer to:*Paul West , English soccer player*Paul West , British-born American writer*Paul West, pseudonym of Stephen Clarke...
's The Innocent Murderers (New York: Duffield & Company, 1910); Alice Brown
Alice Brown
Alice Brown may refer to:*Alice Brown , American sprinter*Alice Brown , Canadian politician*Alice Brown , American novelist, poet and playwright...
's Robin Hood's Barn (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913); and John Jakob Raskob's The Raskob-Green Record Book (Claymont, Del.: privately published, 1921). In 1904, he was a guest of American novelist Francis Marion Crawford
Francis Marion Crawford
Francis Marion Crawford was an American writer noted for his many novels, especially those set in Italy, and for his classic weird and fantastic stories.-Life:...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where he became acquainted with Italian sculptor Gaetano Chiaromonte
Chiaromonte
Chiaromonte is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata....
and American artist Elihu Vedder
Elihu Vedder
Elihu Vedder was an American symbolist painter, book illustrator, and poet, born in New York City....
among others, and filled several sketchbooks with drawings of local scenes. As an independent artist in Philadelphia, he painted derivative works of notable officials of Dickinson College
Dickinson College
Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...
in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
, and historical paintings for private clients and patrons in New York and Delaware. The Society of Independent Artists
Society of Independent Artists
Society of Independent Artists was an association of American artists founded in 1916 and based in New York.Based on the French Société des Artistes Indépendants, the goal of the society was to hold annual exhibitions by avant-garde artists. Exhibitions were to be open to anyone who wanted to...
lists four of his paintings exhibited at Independence Hall, A Summer Shower and The Bird Bath in 1917, and Horta, the Azores and Building Castles in 1919. The Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
Copyright Office in 1919 lists a painting by Carpenter portraying Caesar Rodney
Caesar Rodney
Caesar Rodney was an American lawyer and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, east of Dover...
meeting Delegate Thomas McKean
Thomas McKean
Thomas McKean was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the American Revolution he was a delegate to the Continental Congress where he signed the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of...
on the steps of the State House in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 with Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and George Read
George Read
George Read is the name of:* George Read , lawyer, signer of Declaration of Independence and U.S. Senator from Delaware* George Read , politician and former leader of the Alberta Green Party...
standing inside the door. From 1899 to 1912, he was a member of The Players Club 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...
, founded in 1888 by Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth
Edwin Booth
Edwin Thomas Booth was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded Booth's Theatre in New York, a spectacular theatre that was quite modern for its time...
, brother of John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
, a gathering place for actors and eminent men in other professions. He served as superintendent and then curator of Independence Hall
Independence Hall
Independence Hall is the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets...
(now Independence National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Philadelphia that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National Park Service, the park comprises much of the downtown historic...
) in Philadelphia from 1916 to 1946.