Philip Little
Philip Little (born 1857 in Swampscott , Massachusetts ; died 1942 ) was an American portrait and landscape painter .
life and work
Philip Little was born in 1857 at Little's Point in Swampscott, Massachusetts. He worked in his father's cotton and wool business as a young man and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until he had to quit due to illness. After working for his father for a short time, he decided to pursue a career in design and enrolled at the Lowell Institute . After his training there and a one-year training in lithography in a company in Boston , he began his further studies in 1880 at the art school of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts , where he stayed until 1882. Here he met the artist Frank Weston Benson from Salem , Massachusetts. After completing his education, Little also moved to Salem with his wife Lucretia Jackson and shared a studio with Benson at 2 Chestnut Street.
Little was known both as an artist and as an administrative officer and was considered a generous supporter of the city. He was active in the council of elders and in the city government, but also took care of the city's school and health system as a council member and military affairs in the city committee. He was also active in the Massachusetts Army for several years and held the rank of major at the end of his service . In addition to his artistic career as a painter, he was also a curator at Salem's Essex Institute.
Little worked as both a landscape painter and a portrait painter. The New England coast in particular was a frequent subject of his work and he regularly traveled to MacMahan Island in Maine in the summer and then returned from the coast in the fall with numerous impressionistic scenes. He also regularly painted landscape impressions from the Salem area. He has exhibited his works since his time at the museum school and has also won numerous exhibition awards. He was also a member of numerous artist associations such as the National Art Club , the American Society of Etchers and the Portland Society of Artists in Maine. He was a founding member of the Guild of Boston Artists.
From 1914 until his death in 1942 Little worked in a new, small studio on Daniels Street in Salem Harbor, which he also made available to other artists. Philip Kappel used it frequently between 1920 and 1930, and Richard V. Ellery rented it for the time he was selected by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to paint murals for Salem and his hometown of Marblehead . In 1938 Little donated a group of oil paintings to the Salem Young Men's Christian Association in memory of his late first wife. He donated more pictures to the city, which were hung in public buildings such as the library, the town hall and Salem High School. There is still a small mural on the wall of the Eastern Bank on Washington Street.
Philip Little died in 1942, leaving behind his second wife, born Caroline King, and son Philip, Jr.
supporting documents
- ^ A b "Little, Philip." Entry in Mantle Fielding: Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers. Modern Books and Crafts 1926, enlarged version 1974; P. 218; ISBN 0-913274-03-8
- ^ A b c d e Artist portrait on the City of Salem, Massachusetts website; Retrieved March 3, 2016.
literature
- "Little, Philip." Entry in Mantle Fielding: Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers. Modern Books and Crafts 1926, enlarged version 1974; P. 218; ISBN 0-913274-03-8
Web links
- Artist portrait on the City of Salem, Massachusetts website
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Little, Philip |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1857 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Swampscott , Massachusetts |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1942 |