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for Christopher Pearse Cranch
American, 1813 - 1892
As the youngest son of William Cranch, Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, Christopher Pearse Cranch grew up in the nation's capital. He received his earliest artistic training from his older brother Edward, who, after briefly working as an artist and teacher, chose a career in the law.
After graduating from Columbian College in Washington in 1831, Cranch attended Harvard Divinity School. From 1835 to 1842 he was a Unitarian minister, serving in New England and the Midwest, then gave up this calling in favor of becoming a landscape painter. In 1843 he married Elizabeth De Windt, who encouraged him in his new profession. They moved to New York in 1844, and Cranch made his public debut as a painter in the National Academy's annual exhibition that year. In 1846 he went abroad, spending three years in Florence and Rome. During this time he joined Jasper F. Cropsey and Thomas Hicks on sketching trips. In 1849 the Cranchs were back in New York, where they remained four years before returning to Europe. This second period abroad lasted a decade, most of which was spent in Paris. Cranch continued working diligently on his landscapes and made frequent sketching trips to Italy and Switzerland. He was among the first American artists to become an advocate of the Barbizon School of landscape painting, extolling its virtues in letters published in the Crayon.
Cranch was once again in America in July 1863. The following spring he was advanced to full membership in the National Academy, for which he had been ineligible when he did not live in New York City. He maintained a Manhattan studio on Broadway and a home in Fishkill, New York, on the Hudson. From 1868 to 1872 he was recording secretary on the Academy Council. In the late 1860s and early 1870s Cranch continued exhibiting regularly at the Academy, as he had while living abroad. He also exhibited with the Artists' Fund Society and the American Society of Painters in Water Color as well as in many exhibitions in other American cities.
In 1873 Cranch and his wife moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where, aside from a brief visit to Europe in 1880, they remained for the rest of their lives. Although Cranch continued painting landscapes, increasingly his primary attention went to writing poetry and articles on art-related topics. Except for submitting paintings, which from their titles appear to have been done long before, to the Academy annuals of 1887, 1888, and 1889 (years when the Academy was observing a policy of dropping members who did not participate in its exhibitions), Cranch's last appearance in an annual was in 1872.
The memorial entered into Academy minutes upon Cranch's death noted:
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Well known and esteemed as he was among the artists, he enjoyed yet greater honors in the field of letters by reason of his rare gifts as a writer of both prose and verse. He was even an acceptable contributor to the Magazines and will be long remembered by his various volumes of dainty verse and by his popular stories . . . and by his rendering of the Aeneid into blank verse.
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After graduating from Columbian College in Washington in 1831, Cranch attended Harvard Divinity School. From 1835 to 1842 he was a Unitarian minister, serving in New England and the Midwest, then gave up this calling in favor of becoming a landscape painter. In 1843 he married Elizabeth De Windt, who encouraged him in his new profession. They moved to New York in 1844, and Cranch made his public debut as a painter in the National Academy's annual exhibition that year. In 1846 he went abroad, spending three years in Florence and Rome. During this time he joined Jasper F. Cropsey and Thomas Hicks on sketching trips. In 1849 the Cranchs were back in New York, where they remained four years before returning to Europe. This second period abroad lasted a decade, most of which was spent in Paris. Cranch continued working diligently on his landscapes and made frequent sketching trips to Italy and Switzerland. He was among the first American artists to become an advocate of the Barbizon School of landscape painting, extolling its virtues in letters published in the Crayon.
Cranch was once again in America in July 1863. The following spring he was advanced to full membership in the National Academy, for which he had been ineligible when he did not live in New York City. He maintained a Manhattan studio on Broadway and a home in Fishkill, New York, on the Hudson. From 1868 to 1872 he was recording secretary on the Academy Council. In the late 1860s and early 1870s Cranch continued exhibiting regularly at the Academy, as he had while living abroad. He also exhibited with the Artists' Fund Society and the American Society of Painters in Water Color as well as in many exhibitions in other American cities.
In 1873 Cranch and his wife moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where, aside from a brief visit to Europe in 1880, they remained for the rest of their lives. Although Cranch continued painting landscapes, increasingly his primary attention went to writing poetry and articles on art-related topics. Except for submitting paintings, which from their titles appear to have been done long before, to the Academy annuals of 1887, 1888, and 1889 (years when the Academy was observing a policy of dropping members who did not participate in its exhibitions), Cranch's last appearance in an annual was in 1872.
The memorial entered into Academy minutes upon Cranch's death noted:
[block quote:]
Well known and esteemed as he was among the artists, he enjoyed yet greater honors in the field of letters by reason of his rare gifts as a writer of both prose and verse. He was even an acceptable contributor to the Magazines and will be long remembered by his various volumes of dainty verse and by his popular stories . . . and by his rendering of the Aeneid into blank verse.
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