biography of Harry FENN (1845-1911)

Birth place: Richmond, England

Death place: Upper Montcair, NJ

Addresses: Montcair, NJ

Profession: Painter, illustrator, educator, engraver

Studied: Italy

Exhibited: NAD, 1864, 1886, 1890; Brooklyn AA, 1864-85; Boston AC, 1882-1905; AIC; Columbian Expo, Chicago, 1893 (medal); PAFA, 1893-98; NOAA, 1904, 1905

Member: NYWCC; SI; SC; Am. WC Soc. (founder)

Work: AIC, Boston Mus. FA; Kahn Collection; Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley; Oakland Mus.

Comments: Fenn was trained as a wood engraver before he began painting. He came to the U.S. (ca. 1864) ostensibly to see Niagara Falls, but remained for six years. He then went to Italy to study. Shortly after his return to the U.S. he illustrated his first book, Whittier's Snow Bound, which was soon followed by the Ballads of New England. These were the first illustrated gift books produced in this country, and they marked an era in the history of book making. In 1870 he made an extended tour of the U.S. to gather material for his landmark book, Picturesque America, visiting also Long Island, NY. He went to Europe in 1873 to make sketches for Picturesque Europe and subsequently spent two winters in the Orient for the last of the trio, Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt. The publication of these books won him fame. He returned to the U.S. in 1881. About 1900, he went to New Orleans to illustrate in color Maurice Thompson's My Winter Garden.

Sources: Encyclopaedia of New Orleans Artists, 132; Campbell, New Hampshire Scenery, 56-57; Hughes, Artists of California, 179; P&H Samuels, 167-68; East Hampton: The 19th Century Artists' Paradise; Falk, Exh. Record Series.