biography of Robert Loftin NEWMAN (1827-1912)

Birth place: Richmond, VA

Death place: NYC

Addresses: NYC

Profession: Painter

Studied: Thomas Couture, Paris, 1850

Exhibited: BMFA, 1894 (solo); Knoedler, NYC, 1894 (solo); SAA, 1899 (when one of his paintings was submitted by Daniel Chester French); PAFA Ann., 1900; there have been a number of posthumous shows, including the Rehn Gal., NYC, 1924; VMFA, 1942; WMAA, 1935; Natl. Collection of Fine Arts (now NMAA), 1974

Work: BMFA; BM; MMA; NMAA; VMFA; Hopkins Ctr. Art Gal., Dartmouth Col.; New Britain (Conn.) Mus. of American Art

Comments: Called the "American Diaz," his moody, romantic paintings have been compared to A.P. Ryder. Like Ryder, Newman's subject matter often consisted of literary and religious themes and in particular included scenes of the Madonna and Child and of Christ. Newman grew up in Virginia, moving in 1839 to Clarksville, TN. In 1846, he wrote to Asher B. Durand, asking the artist to take him on as a pupil (this did not materialize and no response from Durand has been located). Newman studied on his own until he was able to go to Europe in 1850, visiting Paris where he entered Couture's studio for five months and met William Morris Hunt. Newman returned to Clarksville that same year but made a second trip to Paris in 1854, traveling to Barbizon twice, first with Hunt to visit Millet and again with William P. Babcock. After returning to the U.S., Newman remained in Clarksville, painting portraits and advertising his services as a teacher, until 1864 when he joined the Confederate Army. After the Civil War he briefly returned to Clarksville before moving to New York City and establishing a studio. Except for brief periods spent in Nashville, TN (during the winter of 1872-73, when Newman attempted to establish an art academy), Clarksville (1881), and three more trips to Europe in 1882, 1908, and 1909, New York was Newman's home for the remainder of his life. Although he did not submit his works to the annual academy exhibitions nor try to sell them through dealers, Newman's work was known to a small circle of artists and patrons who helped support him. For a time he produced designs for stained glass for Francis Lathrop, who also bought at least nine of his paintings. Other supporter/patrons included the poet Richard Watson Gilder and editor Alexander W. Drake (both had served as editors at Century Magazine), and prominent collectors John Gellatly, Thomas B. Clarke, and William T. Evans, as well as a group of artists headed by Daniel Chester French. He did not receive public recognition until 1894 when a group of his friends organized a Newman exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Sources: G&W; Sherman, "Robert Loftin Newman;" Sherman, "Robert Loftin Newman: An American Colorist;" Art Annual, X, obit.; Marchal Landgren, "Robert Loftin Newman," American Magazine of Art vol. 28 (March, 1935): 134-40; Marchal Landgen, Robert Loftin Newman, 1827-1912 (exh. cat. with cat. raisonne, Wash., DC: Smithsonian Inst. Press for Natl. Collection of Fine Arts, 1974); Baigell, Dictionary; Falk, Exh. Record Series.