Newell grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and graudated from Albion College in 1880. After painting for a number of years in the Grand Rapids area, he moved to New York where he studied at Teachers College, Columbia University with William H. Howe and William S. Robinson and received a degree in 1899. He also took classes at the National Academy of Design (1894-1897) with Francis C. Jones, and other studies with F. C. Courier.
Newell travelled through Europe in 1900, but returned home to exhibit 45 works in the exhibition of the Country Sketch Club at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1901. The Country Sketch Club was made up of Academy students who, under the leadership of Van Dearing Perrine and Maurice Sterne, painted "en plein air" in Ridgefield, NJ.
Newell moved to the country where he purchased a farm in Dover Plains, NY near the home of his former teacher William Howe. He raised cattle and led a pastoral life which he depicted in his landscapes which more often than not included cattle. The nostalgia for a disappearing way of life evoked in these works found an audience in urban areas.
Newell's mural works include The Crossing for the post office at Crawford, Nebraska (1940); and Daydreams for the post office at Wallace, North Carolina (1941).
Exhibitions of Newell's works were held at the Buffalo Academy (1908) and at the Grand Rapids Art Gallery (1929). His awards include: first prize, Salmagundi Club, 1906; Speyer Prize, National Academy of Design, 1923; gold medal, Allied Artists of America, 1927. Newell was a member of the American Water Color Society and the National Arts Club and served as president of Allied Artists of America and the New York Society of Painters (1924-30).
