Charles DeWolf Brownell (1822-1909)

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Charles DeWolf Brownell (1822-1909)

Charles DeWolf Brownell (1822-1909)

Charles DeWolf Brownell was born in Providence, RI on February 2, 1822.

The Brownell family moved to East Hartford, CT, when Charles was two years old. He studied and practiced law in Hartford from 1850 to 1853, when, at age 31, he turned his attention to the arts, never returning to law. He studied under Joseph Ropes and Julius Theodore Busch and did many paintings of Cuba, where he spent seven winters. He lived in Europe from 1866 to 1872. For many years he kept a strange diary in English words written in the Greek alphabet.

Brownell was in the White Mountains in August 1860 and did a number of watercolors with titles “Mt. Washington Aug 5”, “From Fernald’s Hill Aug 9 5:30 PM”, White Mountains from Fernald’s Hill Aug 9″, “Fernald’s Hill, Sunset Aug 11”, “Mount Washington Aug 16 AM”, “Rock Study, White Mountains Aug 17th”, “Humphries [sic] Ledge & Moat Mountain Aug 27″, Cedar Ledge and Mount Kearsarge Aug 23”. White Mountain oils from 1861 and 1862 were “Waterfall” 1861, “The Pinkham Notch, White Mountains” 1862, Crystal Cascade, White Mountains” 1862, and a large painting of the Moat Range and North Conway Saco River Intervale from a high spot in Bartlett NH, 1862.

Brownell died in Bristol, RI on June 6, 1909. Brownell is buried in Juniper Hill Cemetery, Bristol, RI.

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References
New Hampshire Scenery
Charles De Wolf Brownell Explorer of the American Landscape, Kennedy Galleries Inc. March 1991
Charles De Wolf Brownell a Decade of Travel, 1856-66, Hirschel & Adler Galleries Inc. November 18 – December 31, 2004