Artist Biography
Alfred F. Bellows gained recognition in the mid-nineteenth century as a painter of New England landscapes and a pioneer in the watercolor medium. Born in Boston, Bellows began his career as the principal of the New England School of Design and left for Europe in 1856, studying art in Paris and at the Royal Academy of Antwerp. Upon his return, he became a leading authority on watercolor painting, helping to found the American Watercolor Society and writing a famous treatise, “Water Color Painting: Some Facts and Authorities in Relation to its Durability” (1868). His idyllic pastoral landscapes grew quite
Alfred F. Bellows gained recognition in the mid-nineteenth century as a painter of New England landscapes and a pioneer in the watercolor medium. Born in Boston, Bellows began his career as the principal of the New England School of Design and left for Europe in 1856, studying art in Paris and at the Royal Academy of Antwerp. Upon his return, he became a leading authority on watercolor painting, helping to found the American Watercolor Society and writing a famous treatise, “Water Color Painting: Some Facts and Authorities in Relation to its Durability” (1868). His idyllic pastoral landscapes grew quite popular, and Bellows regularly exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Association, the Boston Art Club, the Boston Athenaeum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He was admitted as an honorary member to the Royal Belgian Society of Painters in Water Color and was named an Academician at the National Academy of Design. His work is now featured in The Brooklyn Museum of Art, the New York Historical Society, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Museum of Quebec.
Alfred F. Bellows gained recognition in the mid-nineteenth century as a painter of New England landscapes and a pioneer in the watercolor medium. Born in Boston, Bellows began his career as the principal of the New England School of Design and left for Europe in 1856, studying art in Paris and at the Royal Academy of Antwerp. Upon his return, he became a leading authority on watercolor painting, helping to found the American Watercolor Society and writing a famous treatise, “Water Color Painting: Some Facts and Authorities in Relation to its Durability” (1868). His idyllic pastoral landscapes grew quite popular, and Bellows regularly exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Association, the Boston Art Club, the Boston Athenaeum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He was admitted as an honorary member to the Royal Belgian Society of Painters in Water Color and was named an Academician at the National Academy of Design. His work is now featured in The Brooklyn Museum of Art, the New York Historical Society, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Museum of Quebec.
