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Willard Metcalf
1858–1925
BirthplaceLowell, Massachusetts, United States of America
Death placeNew York, New York, United States of America
BiographyOnce called the "poet laureate of the New England hills," painter Willard Leroy Metcalf was instrumental in "Americanizing" impressionism, the painting of everyday subjects with broken brushwork and bright color. Metcalf was a native of Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of mill workers, and grew up in the Boston area. As a teenager he was apprenticed to a wood engraver and studied drawing at the Massachusetts Normal Art School. He also trained at the Lowell Institute in Boston and worked with landscape painter George Loring Brown (1814–89). In 1876 a full scholarship enabled Metcalf to enroll in the newly established School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He began painting landscapes in various locales in New England. An assignment from the magazine Century to illustrate articles on the Zuni Indians took Metcalf to New Mexico in 1881–82. In 1882, on the proceeds from this project, Metcalf departed for Europe.
Along with many of his compatriots, Metcalf studied in Paris at the Académie Julian and spent holidays painting in rural artists' colonies in France and England. He was one of the first Americans to visit the Normandy village of Giverny, which soon became a center of impressionist painting. Metcalf spent extended periods in Giverny in the late 1880s, associating with several American artists who would quickly emerge as fellow leaders in introducing impressionism to the United States. He also toured North Africa, where the harsh light may have encouraged his later interest in the effects of sunlight.
In 1888, Metcalf settled in New York to work as an illustrator, teacher, and painter of commissioned portraits. He was active in numerous artists' organizations. In 1897, he was a founding member of the group of artists who broke from the once-revolutionary Society of American Artists to form a new exhibition organization known as Ten American Painters. Many of "The Ten" were impressionists; Metcalf, however, did not wholly commit himself to the mode until around 1904. In that year, while trying to overcome alcoholism, the artist spent nearly a year painting in comparative isolation at his parents' home in Maine. During what he called his personal "Renaissance," Metcalf turned to the New England landscape as his primary subject.
Between about 1904 and 1920, Metcalf worked in a succession of artists' colonies, notably Old Lyme, Connecticut, and Cornish, New Hampshire. There, he painted landscapes with varying degrees of impressionist technique but always with a decided sense of place, as in his "portraits" of historic buildings in the area around Old Lyme. Later, Metcalf withdrew from artists' colonies: based in Chester, in southern Vermont, he specialized in the winter scenes for which he had established a reputation a decade earlier. In the last decades of his life his work met with considerable favor.
Along with many of his compatriots, Metcalf studied in Paris at the Académie Julian and spent holidays painting in rural artists' colonies in France and England. He was one of the first Americans to visit the Normandy village of Giverny, which soon became a center of impressionist painting. Metcalf spent extended periods in Giverny in the late 1880s, associating with several American artists who would quickly emerge as fellow leaders in introducing impressionism to the United States. He also toured North Africa, where the harsh light may have encouraged his later interest in the effects of sunlight.
In 1888, Metcalf settled in New York to work as an illustrator, teacher, and painter of commissioned portraits. He was active in numerous artists' organizations. In 1897, he was a founding member of the group of artists who broke from the once-revolutionary Society of American Artists to form a new exhibition organization known as Ten American Painters. Many of "The Ten" were impressionists; Metcalf, however, did not wholly commit himself to the mode until around 1904. In that year, while trying to overcome alcoholism, the artist spent nearly a year painting in comparative isolation at his parents' home in Maine. During what he called his personal "Renaissance," Metcalf turned to the New England landscape as his primary subject.
Between about 1904 and 1920, Metcalf worked in a succession of artists' colonies, notably Old Lyme, Connecticut, and Cornish, New Hampshire. There, he painted landscapes with varying degrees of impressionist technique but always with a decided sense of place, as in his "portraits" of historic buildings in the area around Old Lyme. Later, Metcalf withdrew from artists' colonies: based in Chester, in southern Vermont, he specialized in the winter scenes for which he had established a reputation a decade earlier. In the last decades of his life his work met with considerable favor.