1858 - 1928
The son of an English banker stationed in Egypt, Henry Siddons was orphaned before the age of five. Adopted by a maternal aunt and her husband, George Mordey Mowbray, an explosives expert, Mowbray moved to Titusville, Pennsylvania, where his uncle worked in oil refining. In 1869, the family settled in North Adams, Massachusetts. Mowbray entered the military academy at West Point in 1875, remaining for less than a year. He then worked briefly in his uncle's chemical business, in North Adams, studying with the landscape artist Alfred Cornelius Howland in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
In 1878, Mowbray left to pursue his artistic education in Paris, where he entered the atelier of Leon Bonnat. In the spring of 1880, the artist tourred Spain with H. Olin Walker. After his return, Mowbray worked irregularly at Bonnat's, while sharing a studio with the genre painter Walter Gay. Mowbray spent the winter of 1884 in Algiers, visiting the French artist Achille Bordes. Mowbray also received advice and criticism from Jean-Leon Gerome during his Parisian years. With Gerome's encouragement, Mowbray developed his interest in figure paintings of oriental subject, which would remain his specialty until the 1890s.
Mowbray had opened a New York studio by 1885, where he continued his oriental subjects, while executing potrait commissions. Although he was affiliated with several schools around the metropolitan area, Mowbray's five year tenure [wrong: taught at the League, 1886-1901 = fifteen years] at the
the Art Students' League beginning in 1886 was his most influential. Bryson Burroughs, F. Luis Mora, Augustus Vincent Tack and Kenneth Miller were among his students.
In 1888, Mowbray married Helen Amelia Millard, a former schoolmate at the Drury Academy. During the 1890s, his illustrations appeared in Harper's, Scribner's and Century magazines.
Mowbray abandonned easel painting to devote himself exclusively to mural painting, after visiting Florence in 1896. His mural works, which used the Italian Renaissance as a model, were commissioned for both public buildings and private residences, often in collaboration with the architect Charles F. McKim. Notable among these commissions were decorations for the New York mansion of Collis P. Huntington, 1892, and the home of F. W. Vanderbilt in Hyde Park, New York, 1897.
In 1902, Mowbray traveled to Rome to study the Borgia apartments in the Vatican on a commission from the New York University Club Library. He served as temporary director of the American Academy in Rome in 1903. His murals for the University Club, 1904, and the New York Morgan Library, 1905-1907 are his best known decorative works.
The artist moved to Washington, Connecticut, in 1907. Three years after the death of his first wife in 1912, Mowbray married Florence Gertrude Millard. In 1921, he was appointed to the National Commission of Fine Arts. Mowbray died as a result of pneumonia.
In 1878, Mowbray left to pursue his artistic education in Paris, where he entered the atelier of Leon Bonnat. In the spring of 1880, the artist tourred Spain with H. Olin Walker. After his return, Mowbray worked irregularly at Bonnat's, while sharing a studio with the genre painter Walter Gay. Mowbray spent the winter of 1884 in Algiers, visiting the French artist Achille Bordes. Mowbray also received advice and criticism from Jean-Leon Gerome during his Parisian years. With Gerome's encouragement, Mowbray developed his interest in figure paintings of oriental subject, which would remain his specialty until the 1890s.
Mowbray had opened a New York studio by 1885, where he continued his oriental subjects, while executing potrait commissions. Although he was affiliated with several schools around the metropolitan area, Mowbray's five year tenure [wrong: taught at the League, 1886-1901 = fifteen years] at the
the Art Students' League beginning in 1886 was his most influential. Bryson Burroughs, F. Luis Mora, Augustus Vincent Tack and Kenneth Miller were among his students.
In 1888, Mowbray married Helen Amelia Millard, a former schoolmate at the Drury Academy. During the 1890s, his illustrations appeared in Harper's, Scribner's and Century magazines.
Mowbray abandonned easel painting to devote himself exclusively to mural painting, after visiting Florence in 1896. His mural works, which used the Italian Renaissance as a model, were commissioned for both public buildings and private residences, often in collaboration with the architect Charles F. McKim. Notable among these commissions were decorations for the New York mansion of Collis P. Huntington, 1892, and the home of F. W. Vanderbilt in Hyde Park, New York, 1897.
In 1902, Mowbray traveled to Rome to study the Borgia apartments in the Vatican on a commission from the New York University Club Library. He served as temporary director of the American Academy in Rome in 1903. His murals for the University Club, 1904, and the New York Morgan Library, 1905-1907 are his best known decorative works.
The artist moved to Washington, Connecticut, in 1907. Three years after the death of his first wife in 1912, Mowbray married Florence Gertrude Millard. In 1921, he was appointed to the National Commission of Fine Arts. Mowbray died as a result of pneumonia.
