John Brewster, Jr.

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John Brewster Jr. (May 30 or May 31, 1766-1854) was a prolific, deaf-mute, itinerant painter who produced many charming portraits of well-off New England families, especially their children. He lived much of the latter half of his life in Buxton, Maine, recording the faces of much of Maine's elite society of his time.

According to the web site of the Fenimore Art Museum: "Brewster was not an artist who incidentally was Deaf but rather a Deaf artist, one in a long tradition that owes many of its features and achievements to the fact that Deaf people are, as scholars have noted, visual people."^[1]

[edit] Family and early life

Brewster's father, Dr. John Brewster Sr. and his stepmother, Ruth Avery Brewster, ca. 1795-1800.

Little is known about Brewster's childhood or youth. He was the third child born in Hampton, Connecticut to, Dr. John and Mary (Durkee) Brewster. His mother died when he was 17. His father remarried Ruth Avery of Brooklyn, Connecticut, and they went on to have four more children.^[2]

John Brewster Sr., a doctor and descendant of William Brewster, the Pilgrim leader, was a member of the Connecticut General Assembly and also active in the local church.^[3]

Unidentified Boy with Book, (1810) by John Brewster, Jr. (From the collection of the Florence Griswold Museum)

One of the younger Brewster's "more touching and polished full-length portraits" is of his father and step-mother, according to Ben Genocchio, who wrote a review of an exhibit of Brewster's portraits in The New York Times. They are shown at home in conventional poses and wearing refined but not opulent dress in a modestly furnished room. His mother sits behind her husband, reading while he is writing. "She stares directly at the viewer, though softly, even submissively, while her husband stares off into the distance as if locked in some deep thought."^[3]

"It seems likely that his early years were spent largely within a close circle of family and friends," according to the Griswold Museum Web site. "Being deaf-mute from birth and growing up long before the development of standardized signing systems for the deaf, Brewster probably could only communicate well with those closest to him."^[2]

A kindly minister taught Brewster to paint, and by the 1790s the young man was traveling through Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and eastern New York State,^[1] taking advantage of his family connections to offer his services to the wealthy merchant class.^[3]

His younger brother, Dr. Royal Brewster, moved to Buxton, Maine in late 1795. The artist either moved up with him or followed shortly afterward and painted likenesses in and around Portland in between trips back to Connecticut.^[2]

[edit] Work as a deaf artist

James Prince and Son, William Henry, (1801) by John Brewster, Jr. Prince was a wealthy merchant from Newburyport, a shipping center in Massachusetts. The painter included numerous expensive luxuries to show Prince as wealthy and a gentleman: curtains and a fine floor indicated wealth; the bookcase with books and the desk suggest learning. The boy is symbolized as entering world of adults by his holding a letter. (From the collection of the Historical Society of Old Newbury)

In connection with an exhibit of Brewster's work, the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut described what being a deaf portraitist would have meant in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the United States: "Brewster probably communicated with the rest of the world through pantomime and a small amount of writing. It is astounding then that Brewster traveled great distances, sometimes in areas that were unfamiliar, negotiated prices, decided poses and artistic ideas with his sitters, as well as living among his sitters of weeks or months at a time."^[2]

Being deaf also may have given Brewster some advantages in portrait painting, according to the Griswold exhibit Web page: "Unable to hear and speak, Brewster focused his energy and ability to capture minute differences in facial expression. He also greatly emphasized the gaze of his sitters, as eye contact was such a critical part of communication among the Deaf. Scientific studies have proven that since Deaf people rely on visual cues for communication can differentiate subtle differences in facial expressions much better than hearing people."^[2]

[edit] Influences

Brewster's early, large portraits show the influence of the work of Ralph Earl (1751-1801), another itinerant painter. Paintings by the two artists (especially in Brewster's early work) show similar scale, costumes, composition and settings, Paul D'Ambrosio has pointed out in a catalog for an exhibition of Brewster's work ("A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr." at the Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme through September 10, 2006; exhibit also shown elsewhere).^[3]

Earl was influenced by the 18th century English "Grand Manner" style of painting, with its dramatic, grand, very rhetorical style (exemplified in many portraits by Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Earl and Brewster refashioned the style, changng it from lofty and grand to more humble and casual settings.^[3]

[edit] Career

Mother with Son (Lucy Knapp Mygatt and Son, George, of Danbury, Connecticut), 1799

In the early 19th century, Brewster habitually painted half-length portraits which saved him labor, saved his patrons money and "were better suited to his limited abilities," according to Genocchio. Some of the paintings are almost identical, down to the same clothes and furniture, with only the heads setting them apart.^[3]

In 1805 his brother, Dr. Royal Brewster, finished construction of his Federal style house in Buxton, and John Brewster moved in. For the rest of his life, he lived in the home with his brother’s family.^[2]

By about 1805, Brewster had his own style of portraying children in full length, with skimpy garments or nightclothes, soft, downy hair and big, cute eyes for a sweet, appealing affect. But the perspective problems remained, with the figures seeming out of scale with their environment.^[3]

At about this time the artist also began to sign and date his paintings more frequently. He also moved away from the large-format Grand Manner-influenced style and turned to smaller, more intimate portraits in which he focused more attention on the faces of his subjects.^[2]

In the years just before 1817, Brewster traveled farther for clients as his career flourished.^[2]

[edit] "Francis O. Watts with Bird"

Francis O. Watts with Bird (1805) by John Brewster, Jr.

Typical of Brewster's portraits is "Francis O. Watts with Bird" (1805; Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York), showing "an innocent looking boy with manly features" wearing a nightslip and holding a bird on his finger and with a string. The surrounding landscape is "strangely low and wildly out of scale -- the young boy towers over trees and dwarfs distant mountains. He looks like a giant," Genocchio commented.^[3] Or he looks as if the viewer must be lying down, looking up at the child from the ground. Brewster always struggled with the relationship of his figures to the background, Genocchio wrote.^[3]

A more positive view of the portrait comes from the Web page about the 2006 exhibit at the Frances Griswold Museum Web site: "Brewster’s serene and ethereal portrait of Francis O. Watts is one of his most compelling portraits of a child. In this work—particularly Francis’ white dress and the peaceful landscape he inhabits—modern viewers often feel a palpable sense of the silence that was Brewster’s world.

"The bird on the string symbolizes mortality because only after the child’s death could the bird go free, just like the child’s soul. Infant mortality was high during Brewster’s time and artists employed this image often in association with children."^[2]

[edit] In school

Moses Quinby, ca. 1810-1815. Quinby was a successful lawyer from Stroudwater, Maine. He was probably painted when Brewster was traveling in Maine.

From 1817 to 1820, Brewster interrupted his career to learn sign language, a newly developed help for the deaf, at the Connecticut Asylum in Hartford, now known as the American School for the Deaf.^[3]

Brewster, at age 51, was by far the oldest in a class of seven students, the average age of which was 19. It was the first class that attended the school and witnessed the birth of American Sign Language (ASL).^[2]

[edit] Later life

When Brewster returned to Buxton and to his portraits, "he seems to have taken more care when painting the faces of his subjects," Genocchio wrote," resulting in portraits that show an increased sensitivity to the characters of his subjects."^[3]

After the 1830s, little of Brewster's work -- or of Brewster -- is known.

[edit] Assessments of his artistry

Reverend Daniel Marrett (1831) An example of a Brewster portraits from his late career, many of which show great depth and strength of characterization. Marrett’s furrowed brow and chisled features convey the seriousness of his convictions. The paper he holds quotes Amos 4:12, "Prepare to meet thy God." (From the collection of Historic New England/SPNEA)

Brewster "created hauntingly beautiful images of American life during the formative period of the nation," according to a Web page at the Fenimore Art Museum Web site devoted to a 2005-2006 exhibition of the artist's work.^[1] "Working in a style that emphasized simpler settings [than the "Grand Manner" style], along with broad, flat areas of color, and soft, expressive facial features, Brewster achieved a directness and intensity of vision rarely equaled."

The Fenimore Web site also said: "His extant portraits show his ability to produce delicate and sensitive likenesses in full-size or miniature, and in oil on canvas or ivory. He was especially successful in capturing childhood innocence in his signature full-length likenesses of young children.^[1]

The Web site said Brewster left "an invaluable record of his era and a priceless artistic legacy."

The Florence Griswold Museum, on its Web page about the same exhibit, said: "Brewster’s deafness may also have shaped his mature portrait style, which centers on his emphasis on the face of his sitters, particularly the gaze. He managed to achieve a penetrating grasp of personality in likenesses that engage the viewer directly. Brewster combined a muted palette that highlights flesh tones with excellent draftsmanship to draw attention to the eyes of his sitters. The importance of direct eye contact to a deaf person cannot be overstated."^[2]

The anonymous writer of the Griswold exhibition Web page also says: "Brewster was one of the greatest folk painters in American history as one of the key figures in the Connecticut style of American Folk Portraiture. In addition, Brewster’s paintings serve as a key part of Maine history. Brewster was the most prolific painter of the Maine elite, documenting through the portraits details of the life of Maine’s federal elite."

Genocchio, reviewing the exhibit for The New York Times took a dimmer view, noting Brewster's difficulty with painting backgrounds but admiring his "sweetly appealing" paintings of children.^[3]

[edit] Some individual works

Unidentified Woman in a Landscape ca. 1805 (From the collection of the Fenimore Art Museum)

• Boy with Book, 1810; unidentified subject (Florence Griswold Museum collection)
• Francis O. Watts with Bird, 1805 (Fenimore Art Museum collection)
• Dr. John Brewster and Ruth Avery Brewster, ca. 1795-1800 (Old Sturbridge Village collection)
• Mother with Son (Lucy Knapp Mygatt and Son, George), 1799 (Palmer Museum of Art of the Pennsylvania State University collection)
• James Prince and Son, William Henry, 1801 (Historical Society of Old Newbury

collection)

• Woman in a Landscape, ca. 1805; unidentified subject (Fenimore Art Museum collection)
• Moses Quinby, ca. 1810-1815 (Bowdoin College Museum of Art collection)
• Reverend Daniel Marrett, 1831 (Historic New England/SPNEA collection)

[edit] Exhibits

• "A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr.," Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York, April 1 to December 31, 2005; Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, June 3 through September 10, 2006 (Griswold exhibit sponsored in connection with The American School for the Deaf). The exhibit, with some augmentation is at New York's American Folk Art Museum from October 2006 to January 7, 2007.

• The Saco Museum [4] in Saco, Maine is believed to hold the largest collection of John Brewster, Jr. paintings, including the only known full-length (74 5/8 inches long) adult portraits, "Colonel Thomas Cutts" and "Mrs. Thomas Cutts."

[edit] Bibliography

• [5] "Art Review: Portraits in the Grand Style, Just a Little Skewed," by Ben Genocchio, The New York Times, Sunday, July 29, 2006, "Connecticut and the Region" section, page CT 10, accessed August 7, 2006
• Paul D'Ambrosio, catalog for the exhibit "A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr." (catalog referred to in Genocchio's art review in The New York Times)
• Lane, Harlan Deaf Artist: The World of John Brewster Jr. Beacon Press (2004} ISBN 0-8070-6616-8

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} [1]Web site of the Fenimore Art Museum, Web page has same title as exhibit: "A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster, Jr.," accessed August 7, 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} [2] Web page titled, "A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr." at Florence Griswold Museum Web site, accessed August 7, 2006
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} [3]"Art Review: Portraits in the Grand Style, Just a Little Skewed," by Ben Genocchio, The New York Times, Sunday, July 29, 2006, "Connecticut and the Region" section, page CT 10, accessed August 7, 2006

[edit] External links

• Fenimore Art Museum Web site
• Florence Griswold Museum Web site
• Audio and video versions of a 2004 lecture by Harlan Lane (author of a biography on Brewster) about the artist "The lecture is sign language interpreted."