Dewey, Charles Melville

Charles Melville Dewey

  (Am. 1849-1937)

Born in Lowville, New York, Charles Dewey was known primarily for his landscape paintings, especially of rural scenes. With half-light, often luminosity*, and color gradations ranging from effects of subdued mornings to evenings, his work is typical of Tonalism*. Most of his landscapes were of American scenery, but he also painting scenes from the English countryside, where he toured for several summers. As an adolescent from ages twelve to seventeen, he was confined to bed from a hip disease, and with plenty of time for contemplation “formed the poetic conception of nature, which appears in his pictures.” (Wikipedia) Melville studied at the National Academy of Design* in New York City for several years, 1869-1871, 1873-1875, and 1881-1882. In 1876, he went to Paris for two years where he was a student in the atelier of Emile Carolus-Duran, whom he helped with decorations in the Louvre. He also worked in the Gobelins* tapestry studios. Returning to the United States, he opened a studio in New York in 1878 and gave painting lessons. He exhibited regularly at the Academy from 1878 to 1893, then from 1904 until his death in 1937. Memberships included the Society of American Artists* and the National Academy of Design. Sources: Mary Lublin, “Charles Melville Dewey”, Paintings and Sculpture in the Academy of the National Academy of Design, David Dearinger, Editor.