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259:(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 (2005) for a traveling exhibition of Brewster's work,"A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr."
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Brewster "created hauntingly beautiful images of
American life during the formative period of the nation," according to a page at the Fenimore Art Museum website devoted to a 2005–2006 exhibition of the artist's work. "Working in a style that emphasized simpler settings , along with broad, flat areas
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A more positive view of the portrait comes from the Web page about the 2006 exhibit at the
Florence Griswold Museum website: "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
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Typical of
Brewster's portraits is "Francis O. Watts with Bird" (1805), 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
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The same writer 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
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Brewster probably communicated with others using pantomime and a small amount of writing. In this way, Brewster managed the business of arranging poses along with negotiating prices and artistic ideas with his sitters. As an itinerant portraitist working in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in
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Being Deaf from birth, and growing up in a time when no standardized sign language for the Deaf existed, the young
Brewster probably interacted with few people outside of the circle of his family and friends, with whom he would have learned to communicate. A kindly minister taught him to paint, and
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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
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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
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According to the anonymous writer of the
Florence Griswold Museum's web page about the same exhibit, "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
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The
Fenimore website also says, "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.
587:"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, Connecticut, June 3 through September 10, 2006 (Florence Griswold Museum exhibition sponsored in connection with
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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.
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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."
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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.
227:. 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.
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349:"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."
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dwarfs distant mountains. He looks like a giant," Genocchio has written. 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.
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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."
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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."
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95:(May 30 or May 31, 1766 – August 13, 1854) was a prolific, Deaf 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
110:, "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."
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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).
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One of the younger Brewster's "more touching and polished full-length portraits" is of his father and stepmother, according to Ben Genocchio, who wrote a review of an exhibition of Brewster's portraits in the
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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.
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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
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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.
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since Deaf people rely on visual cues for communication can differentiate subtle differences in facial expressions much better than hearing people."
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ULAN Full Record Display for John Brewster. Getty Vocabulary Program, Getty Research Institute. Los Angeles, California.
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of color, and soft, expressive facial features, Brewster achieved a directness and intensity of vision rarely equaled."
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762:, exhibition info page: "A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster, Jr.," accessed February 28, 2007.
817:, exhibition info page: "A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr.," accessed February 28, 2007
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From 1817 to 1820, Brewster interrupted his career to learn sign language at the newly opened Connecticut Asylum in
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landscape he inhabits—modern viewers often feel a palpable sense of the silence that was Brewster's world.
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After the 1830s, little is known of Brewster's work—or of Brewster. He died in Buxton on August 13, 1854.
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861:, Sunday, July 29, 2006, "Connecticut and the Region" section, page CT 10, accessed August 7, 2006
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The website says Brewster left "an invaluable record of his era and a priceless artistic legacy."
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In the years just before 1817, Brewster traveled farther for clients as his career flourished.
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Brewster's father, Dr. John Brewster Sr., and his stepmother, Ruth Avery Brewster, c. 1795–1800
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His deafness may have given Brewster some advantages in portrait painting, according to the
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547:(unidentified subject ) (c. 1805) (Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York, collection)
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elite, documenting through the portraits details of the life of Maine’s federal elite."
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739:"Fenimore Art Museum - A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster, Jr"
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D'Ambrosio, Paul S. "A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr."
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Little is known about Brewster's childhood or youth. He was the third child born in
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Genocchio, Ben. "Art Review: Portraits in the Grand Style, Just a Little Skewed."
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audio and video versions of a 2004 lecture by Brewster biographer Harlan Lane
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99:, USA, recording the faces of much of Maine's elite society of his time.
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484:(from the collection of the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York)
851:"Art Review: Portraits in the Grand Style, Just a Little Skewed," by
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Brewster's early, large portraits show the influence of the work of
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364:(c. 1810–1815). Quinby was a successful lawyer from Stroudwater,
219:(1801) by John Brewster, Jr. Prince was a wealthy merchant from
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A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr.
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John Brewster’s paintings are written about at some length in
229:(from the collection of the Historical Society of Old Newbury)
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368:. He was probably painted when Brewster was traveling in
541:(1801) (Historical Society of Old Newbury collection)
903:"John Brewster Jr.: An Artist for the Needleworker"
714:, vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 332.
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200:His younger brother, Dr. Royal Brewster, moved to
660:Hollander, Stacy C., and Brooke Davis Anderson.
591:). The show, with some augmentation, was at the
535:of the Pennsylvania State University collection)
897:Union List of Artist Names, Getty Vocabularies.
134:, and they went on to have four more children.
137:John Brewster Sr., a doctor and descendant of
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892:The lecture is sign language interpreted.
884:American Folk Art Museum official website
879:Florence Griswold Museum official website
519:Dr. John Brewster and Ruth Avery Brewster
450:Genocchio, reviewing the exhibit for the
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599:, from October 2006 to January 7, 2007.
285:(Lucy Knapp Mygatt and Son, George, of
145:and also active in the local church.
712:The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art
662:American Anthem: Masterworks from the
181:by the 1790s he was traveling through
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874:Fenimore Art Museum official website
539:James Prince and Son, William Henry
217:James Prince and Son, William Henry
988:American artists with disabilities
973:18th-century American male artists
404:Assessments of Brewster's artistry
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706:Kornhauser, Elizabeth M. (2011).
480:Unidentified Woman in a Landscape
415:(1831). An example of a Brewster
933:People from Hampton, Connecticut
589:The American School for the Deaf
102:According to the website of the
905:by Davida Tenenbaum Deutsch in
978:19th-century American painters
968:18th-century American painters
794:"The Florence Griswold Museum"
493:(1810); unidentified subject (
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657:31, no. 3 (fall 2006): 38–49.
571:Elizabeth Abigail Wallingford
326:(1805) by John Brewster, Jr.
155:(1810) by John Brewster, Jr.
382:American School for the Deaf
328:(from the collection of the
157:(from the collection of the
143:Connecticut General Assembly
16:American artist (1766–1854)
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948:American portrait painters
505:Francis O. Watts with Bird
324:Francis O. Watts with Bird
314:Francis O. Watts with Bird
294:heads setting them apart.
153:Unidentified Boy with Book
983:19th-century male artists
953:People from Buxton, Maine
943:Painters from Connecticut
557:Museum of Art collection)
811:Florence Griswold Museum
670:American Folk Art Museum
664:American Folk Art Museum
593:American Folk Art Museum
561:Reverend Daniel Marrett,
495:Florence Griswold Museum
422:(from the collection of
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244:Florence Griswold Museum
159:Florence Griswold Museum
413:Reverend Daniel Marrett
223:, a shipping center in
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523:Old Sturbridge Village
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815:Old Lyme, Connecticut
760:Cooperstown, New York
708:"Brewster, John, Jr."
674:Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
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513:Cooperstown, New York
499:Old Lyme, Connecticut
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471:Some individual works
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208:Work as a deaf artist
163:Old Lyme, Connecticut
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132:Brooklyn, Connecticut
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114:Family and early life
108:Cooperstown, New York
963:American deaf people
672:in association with
615:Colonel Thomas Cutts
565:Historic New England
545:Woman in a Landscape
533:Palmer Museum of Art
424:Historic New England
287:Danbury, Connecticut
128:Hampton, Connecticut
43:Hampton, Connecticut
958:Painters from Maine
756:Fenimore Art Museum
509:Fenimore Art Museum
380:, now known as the
330:Fenimore Art Museum
268:Sir Joshua Reynolds
264:Thomas Gainsborough
104:Fenimore Art Museum
853:Benjamin Genocchio
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575:Brick Store Museum
567:/SPNEA collection)
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602:The Saco Museum
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688:Beacon Press
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577:collection)
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221:Newburyport
183:Connecticut
71:Nationality
917:Categories
804:2006-08-07
749:2006-08-07
668:New York:
573:(c.1808) (
482:(c. 1805)
392:Later life
257:Ralph Earl
251:Influences
57:1854-08-14
611:portraits
465:Open City
463:’s novel
461:Teju Cole
353:In school
655:Folk Art
582:Exhibits
507:(1805) (
417:portrait
378:Hartford
85:Painting
75:American
690:, 2004.
676:, 2001.
426:/SPNEA)
289:), 1799
55: (
34: (
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684:Boston
637:, 1799
563:1831 (
274:Career
695:Notes
370:Maine
366:Maine
187:Maine
716:ISBN
617:and
266:and
235:the
50:Died
36:1766
32:1766
29:Born
605:in
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