Brown, NA, J.G.
(1831-1913)
“His Only Love”

Artist Biography

Born in England, John George Brown, NA (1831-1913) was one of the most popular genre painters in America after the Civil War. He was best known for realistic paintings of “street urchins”, shoe shine boys, newspaper boys, and street musicians. He painted and loved these boys because he was like them as a child. He spent summers in rural New York and Vermont. There he painted local farmers and their families, and fishermen at Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada.

Born/lived: Durham, England/Brooklyn, NY, summers in rural New York and Vermont.

Known: one of the most popular genre painters in America after the Civil War in the late 19th century. He was best known for realistic paintings of “street urchins”, shoe shine boys, newspaper boys, and street musicians. He painted and loved these boys because he was like them as a child. He spent summers in rural New York and Vermont. There he painted local farmers and their families, and fishermen at Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada.

Studied: Was an apprentice as a glass cutter and studied art at night. He studied at Newcastle under William Bell Scott; in Edinburgh at the Drawing Academy under Robert Scott Lauder. When he moved to New York he worked as a glass artisan and portrait painter. There he had a studio and studied under miniature painter Thomas Seir Cummings.

Member: Elected to the National Academy of Design in 1863 and was vice president from 1899-1903. He was very active in the American Watercolor Society.

Exhibited: National Academy of Design; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Boston Athenaeum; Art Institute of Chicago; Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, DC.

Position: President of the National Academy of Design from1899 -1903.

Work: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, DC; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the National Museum of Fine Art, Washington, DC; the Peabody Institute, Baltimore.