Boughton, NA, RA, George Henry
(1833-1905)
“Young Girl with Roses”

Artist Biography

George Henry Boughton, NA, RA (1833-1905)

Born/lived: Norwich, England in 1833 and lived in London for the second half of his life, Boughton’s formative years as a self-taught artist began in Albany, New York, where his family settled in the 1830’s.

Known: as a leading landscape and genre painter in the United States and abroad, George Henry Boughton had the ability to express sentiments and pathos on canvas. He illustrated editions of Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle and History of New York and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter. In his landscapes, he painted scenes of England, Brittany and the Netherlands. Boughton established a studio in London in 1861. Though now living in England, he focused on subjects of American Colonial history. If ever there were a painter who could tell a story with genuine sentiment, using soft tones and colors, it was Boughton. A London critic once declared that he “has learnt the secret of putting natural feelings into rustic figures, which has been almost entirely wanting to English painters.” The New England history of the Puritans became the subject of his most famous painting, Pilgrims Going to Church (Early Puritans of New England Going to Church), completed in 1867, now at the New York Historical Society.

Studied: In 1860, he traveled to Paris where he studied under Edouard Frere and Edouard May. The French influences were subsequently reflected in his style.

Member: Honorary Member and Professional of the National Academy. New York from 1859 – 1860
Member of the Water Color Society at the National Academy
Full Member of the National Academy from 1871 – 1905
Elected Associate of the Royal Academy in London – 1879
Elected Full Member of the Royal Academy – 1896

Exhibited: The American Art-Union purchased one of his early pictures. This institution encouraged him by exhibiting his work and enabling him to study in England for six months; at the Washington Art Association, and from 1859 to 1860 he worked in New York City. Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Royal Academy of the Arts, England, Washington Art Association, Maryland Historical Society, American Watercolor Society, Painters in Watercolor, Brooklyn Art Association, Boston Art Club and National Academy of Design, New York and Art Institute of Chicago. He was a member of the Tile Club, American Watercolor Society, Painters in Watercolor, Brooklyn Art Association and was elected to the National Academy in 1871 and the Royal Academy of the Arts, England in 1896.
American Art Union – 1852
National Academy – 1853 and from 1856 – 1876
Washington Art Association – 1857
Maryland Historical Society – 1868

Work: Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut – Faithful 1870
Daughter of the Knickerbocker 1880
Boston Museum of Fine Art – Sea Breeze
New York Historical Society – Pilgrims Going to Church (Early
Puritans of New England Going to Church) – 1867
Tate Gallery, London – Weeding the Pavement
Liverpool – Le Chemin de Camelot – Lady of Shalott
Manchester – Evening Prayer
Sheffield – The Disembarkment of the Pilgrims

Publications: illustrated editions of Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle and History of New York and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter.