biography of Margaret Fitzhugh BROWNE (1884-1972)

Birth place: Boston, MA

Death place: Beverly, MA

Addresses: Boston, MA/ Annisquam, MA

Profession: Painter, teacher, writer, lecturer, critic

Studied: Mass. Normal A. Sch. with DeCamp, Richard Andrew, and Albert H. Munsell; BMFA Sch., with Frank Benson

Exhibited: AIC, 1914; Charles E. Cobb Gal., Boston, 1915 (solo); CAFA, 1916-55 (prizes); Newport AA, 1916-1955 (solo, 1950); Doll and Richards, Boston, 1922 (solo), 1938 (solo); North Shore AA, 1923 (prize), 1924, 1925 (prize), 1926-61; Ferargil Gal., NYC, 1924 (solo); CGA, 1924, 1926, 1930 (solo), 1937; PAFA, 1925, 1931; Vose Gal., 1926 (solo); BM, 1928 (prize); All. A. Am.; NAWA, 1936; Boston AC; Corcoran Gal. Biennials, 1923, 1926, 1930, 1937; Corcoran Gal, 1939 (solo); Ogunquit A. Center, 1941 (prize); Soc. for Sanity in Art, Chicago, 1941 (prize); Copley Soc., 1950, 1955 (solo), 1961 (prize); Newport AA, 1950 (solo); Rockport AA, 1952-1961 (prize 1955, 1964); Gld. Boston A., 1953, 1957 (solo); Springfield A. Lg., 1962 (prize); AAPL, 1964 (prize); Salons of Am.

Member: All. A. Am.; NAWA; North Shore AA; Gld. Boston A; Grand Central A. Gal.; Audubon A; Academic A; Rockport AA; Copley Soc.; AAPL.

Work: MIT; Boston Univ.; Harvard Univ.; Bureau Standards, Wash., DC; Powers Sch., Boston; Springfield AA; Buckley Sch., N.Y.; Master Mariners Assn.; Driscoll Sch., Brookline, MA; High Mus. Art, Atlanta; Wesleyan Col., Macon, GA.

Comments: Browne was noted for her expressive psychological portraits. She discussed her philosophy of portrait painting in her 1933 book, Portrait Painting." She also painted many genre subjects and floral still-lifes, maintaining studios in the Fenway Studios in Boston and on Cape Ann. In 1927 she went to Spain on commission to paint King Alphonso XIII, and in the 1930s one of her prominent sitters was Henry Ford.

Sources: WW66; WW47; Pisano, One Hundred Years...the National Association of Women Artists, 35; Tufts, American Women Artists, cat. no. 60."