biography of Gilbert Stuart NEWTON (1794-1835)

Birth place: Halifax, N.S.

Death place: Chelsea, England

Addresses: London and Chelsea, England, 1817-35

Profession: Historical and portrait painter

Studied: with his uncle, Gilbert Stuart, Boston, before 1817

Exhibited: NAD 1827-32; PAFA; Boston AC, 1881, 1876

Comments: Nephew of Gilbert Stuart. After Newton's father's death in 1803, he was brought to Cambridge (MA). He lived in that city and Boston until 1817, when he visited Italy and met Charles R. Leslie, with whom he traveled to London. In England Newton became a very popular painter of historical and literary subjects, and also painted some portraits. Newton returned briefly to Boston in 1832 to be married, but after his return to England he became mentally ill and reportedly went insane.

Sources: G&W; DNB; Gentleman's Magazine (Oct. 1835), 438-39; Morgan, Gilbert Stuart and His Pupils; Swan, BA; Rutledge, MHS; Cowdrey, AA & AAU; Cowdrey, NAD; repros.: Antiques (Aug. 1943), 52, and American Collector (Oct. 1947), 8; Dunlap, History; Flexner, The Light of Distant Skies.