Henry Farrer
Encyclopedia
Henry Farrer was an English-born American artist known for his tonalist
watercolor
landscapes
and etching
s.
, the younger brother of artist Thomas Charles Farrer. Thomas had studied under John Ruskin
and Dante Gabriel Rossetti
, members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
in England. Henry was self-taught, and may have aligned his style with that of his older brother.
Farrer emigrated to America in 1863 and opened a studio in New York. As a newcomer to the American art world, he became a member of the Society for the Advancement of Truth in Art, a short-lived organization co-founded by his brother and centered on the Pre-Raphaelite tradition of truthful and highly realistic artistic depictions. In his first years as a professional artist in the 1860s, Farrer painted Pre-Raphaelite still lives
, some landscapes and marine works, and also began his first efforts at etching.
In the 1870s, Farrer's landscape work shifted to the tonalist
style for which he is best remembered. He co-founded the American Watercolor Society and, unlike most artists of the time, painted in watercolor almost exclusively. His tonalist landscapes, which he continued to create into the 1890s, typically depict a misty or cloudy landscape with a marsh or small pond in the foreground. The sun is often setting in a Farrer painting, and the overall feeling one of stillness. His use of subdued, earthy colors gives his works a meditative mood.
During the same period, Farrer became a driving force in the Etching Revival
in America. He was a founding member of the New York Etching Club
in 1877, and active in the promotion of etching as a creative medium rather than a reproductive one. Farrer's best known etchings depict New York. He etched a series of street scenes in the 1860s, and another series of New York Harbor scenes in the late 1870s and 1880s.
Farrer is buried in Brompton Cemetery
, London.
Tonalism
Tonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when American artists began to paint landscape forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often dominated compositions by artists associated with the style...
watercolor
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
landscapes
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
and etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
s.
Life
Farrer was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the younger brother of artist Thomas Charles Farrer. Thomas had studied under John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
and Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
, members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti...
in England. Henry was self-taught, and may have aligned his style with that of his older brother.
Farrer emigrated to America in 1863 and opened a studio in New York. As a newcomer to the American art world, he became a member of the Society for the Advancement of Truth in Art, a short-lived organization co-founded by his brother and centered on the Pre-Raphaelite tradition of truthful and highly realistic artistic depictions. In his first years as a professional artist in the 1860s, Farrer painted Pre-Raphaelite still lives
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
, some landscapes and marine works, and also began his first efforts at etching.
Tonalism
Tonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when American artists began to paint landscape forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often dominated compositions by artists associated with the style...
style for which he is best remembered. He co-founded the American Watercolor Society and, unlike most artists of the time, painted in watercolor almost exclusively. His tonalist landscapes, which he continued to create into the 1890s, typically depict a misty or cloudy landscape with a marsh or small pond in the foreground. The sun is often setting in a Farrer painting, and the overall feeling one of stillness. His use of subdued, earthy colors gives his works a meditative mood.
During the same period, Farrer became a driving force in the Etching Revival
Etching revival
The Etching Revival is the name given by at the time, and by art historians, to the renaissance of etching as an original form of printmaking during a period of time stretching approximately from 1850 to 1930.-Historical outline:...
in America. He was a founding member of the New York Etching Club
New York Etching Club
The New York Etching Club was the first professional organization in America devoted to the medium of etching. Its founders were inspired by the Etching revival that had blossomed in France and England in the middle 19th century...
in 1877, and active in the promotion of etching as a creative medium rather than a reproductive one. Farrer's best known etchings depict New York. He etched a series of street scenes in the 1860s, and another series of New York Harbor scenes in the late 1870s and 1880s.
Farrer is buried in Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery is located near Earl's Court in South West London, England . It is managed by The Royal Parks and is one of the Magnificent Seven...
, London.