Charles Warren Eaton
Charles Warren Eaton (born February 22, 1857 in Albany , New York , USA , † 1937 in Montclair , New Jersey , USA) was an American artist who is best known for his tonalistic landscapes. He was nicknamed "the pine tree painter" for his numerous illustrations of Weymouth pines .
life and work
Eaton was born into humble circumstances. He started to work at the age of 9 and as a young adult he worked in a textile store. As a 22-year-old, a friend's amateur painting piqued his interest in art. He moved to New York City in 1879 to work during the day and to attend evening classes at the National Academy of Design , of which he was an Associate Member ( ANA ) from 1901 , and the Art Students League . He also practiced sketching in his spare time.
Eaton's entry into the art world came with a profound change in the predominant art style in America. In the late 1870s, the very realistic and detailed style of the Hudson River School , which had dominated the art scene for more than 40 years, paved the way for a much more relaxed, moody style that younger artists brought with them from Europe. This new style, later to be called tonalism, emphasized restrained colors and tended to depict familiar scenes rather than lofty scenes. Eaton adopted this style and befriended two other tonalist artists, Leonard Ochtman and Ben Foster.
In the early 1880s the professional art scene became aware of him and he was able to realize his first sales. He exhibited his first two paintings at the National Academy of Design in 1882 and continued exhibiting there for the remainder of his career. His paintings in the 1884 exhibit brought him favorable attention from The New York Times . In 1884 he also created an uncharacteristic still life with the newly founded Society of American Artists (otherwise he almost only painted landscapes). In 1886 he gave up his day job and devoted himself exclusively to art.
Eaton particularly appreciated the work of Robert Swain Gifford and George Inness . Eaton and Inness worked in the same building in New York in 1889, and Inness admired one of Eaton's landscapes: the next day he purchased an Eaton painting and they both became friends. Eaton, who had already established himself, was more of an admirer than a student of Inness.
Eaton reached maturity as an artist in the 1890s and 1900s with two different landscape themes. The first, tonalistic in style, was a landscape that typically included grassland, trees, and sometimes smaller bodies of water or a stone wall. The general mood in these paintings is one of familiarity. The second subject, more stately in style, was a landscape with a cluster of tall Weymouth pines, often backlit by a setting sun. He developed this theme into one of his greatest works and was so successful with it that he became known as the "the pine tree painter". Eaton almost never added people or animals to its landscapes.
Eaton mainly worked in oils and watercolors. He was a founding member of the American Watercolor Society . He exhibited in the well-known Macbeth Gallery in New York for over 30 years, in Paris through the famous dealer Paul Durand-Ruel and also at important international exhibitions. He was a juror at numerous exhibitions. For unclear reasons, but possibly political, he never became a full member of the National Academy or the Society for American Artists.
Despite his tonalistic success, he gradually shifted from the shady tonalistic style to more radiant colors, especially after 1910. He was never really an impressionist , but painted in a loosely realistic style. Much of his later works depict European scenes where Eaton regularly traveled as an adult. In particular, he favored the rural surroundings of Bruges as well as Lake Como in Italy, which he painted in a particularly bright palette.
In the 1920s, Eaton's production and creativity declined. The Great Depression destroyed the art market and Eaton's sales plummeted. He moved to Montclair and lived in seclusion with his sister and niece until his death in 1937. His works, like those of many other artists of his generation, were almost forgotten for decades until interest revived in the late 20th century.
Individual evidence
- ↑ nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "E" / Eaton, Charles Warren ANA 1901 ( Memento of the original from August 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on June 20, 2015)
literature
- David A. Cleveland (Ed.): Intimate landscapes. Charles Warren Eaton and the tonalist movement in American art 1880–1920 (exhibition catalog). DeMenil Gallery, Groton, Mass. 2004, ISBN 0-9760374-0-8
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Eaton, Charles Warren |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 22, 1857 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Albany , New York , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1937 |
| Place of death | Montclair , New Jersey , USA |