Arts & Leisure
Captivating images of privileged early Americans through the eyes of John Brewster (1766-1854)
By Rose Safran
"One Shoe Off," 1807, John Brewster, Jr., Collection of the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y.
Attentively, through intelligent, blue-gray eyes, she looks directly at you, her cherubic mouth surrounded by delicate pink-tinted cheeks. Her white dress, suggesting her innocence, appears to be of a soft organdy or voile, its simple lines broken only by intricate lace edging on its abbreviated sleeves. In her hands, a black lace string supports a dangling red shoe; look down and note a bare foot with perfect toe nails and on the other foot the red shoe's companion - its neatly tied black bow subtly mimicking the pattern of the rug on which the child stands.
One senses that this charming folk art depiction represents a ready-to-please, privileged child, quietly cooperating with and looking very directly at the deaf artist who probably communicated to her via pantomime and animated gestures, perhaps even directing the holding of the shoe. Of course, this "perfect" angel may not have been so perfect - and the artist, in having her suspend the shoe, introduced his individuality. There's some red under the bare foot; we don't know if the child wanted the shoe off or the artist decided that this was a fine touch. Generally, portraits include status/occupation symbols - a flower, fruit, toy, pet, hobby artifact or book. Perhaps too, such an image reflects the smooth relationship Brewster, who traveled the countryside, often on foot, had with the families who commissioned his portraits. After all, most wealthy families would have preferred their children painted with two shoes on their feet!
While the young sitter in this oil-on-canvas, which is appropriately entitled, "One Shoe Off," is unknown, most sitters featured in the Brewster portraits are identified as to person and place with the result that this exhibition reads like a "Who was Who in New England" in Federal America.
There is considerable emphasis on Maine, where Brewster settled and died, and Connecticut, where the artist was born, as well as Massachusetts, where he traveled.
Maine residents interested in American genealogy and, in particular, those with backgrounds that can be traced to some of the families represented here, will revel in John Brewster's world. Here are some of the names of his sitters: Eldredge, Bourne, Perkins, Deane, Pearson, Cutts, McClellan, Lord, Wallingford, Quinby and Sayward.
The first gallery sets the stage for this exhibition. To the left of its entrance is a large, early (1802) painting, a three-quarter length portrait of Deacon Eliphaz Thayer and his wife Deliverance, overlapping, he a little in front of her. It is believed to have been painted in Connecticut or Massachusetts, quite possibly in Boston, where Brewster advertised. The artist's ability to capture the essence of his sitters is evident in these clear-eyed Yankee faces reflecting firmness, determination, modesty. These are people who know, always have known, who they are. The artist's ability with detail is revealed through the careful treatment of the lace in the bonnet on Deliverance's head, the trim in her dress.
On another wall are two full-length early portraits, painted about 1795, of Mrs. James Eldredge (Lucy Gallup) and Mr. James Eldredge, which are among Brewster's earliest known works, painted after only five years training with the artist Rev. Joseph Steward. The sitters were Connecticut residents believed to have been introduced to Brewster through his family. It's a wonderful pair of folk art paintings, each sitter shown seated by a table, a window to the side revealing a view of the countryside beyond. They're considered to reflect the English Grand Manner style of painting, adapted by the noted painter Ralph Earl (1751-1801), who included "windows" to the outside in many of his paintings.
Also in this gallery are full-length portraits of two arresting children. They are Brewster's half sisters, whom he painted in 1800. In a blue dress, with a bird perched on one finger and a rose in another against a vague horizon, is Sophia Brewster; in a white dress, holding a twig with strawberries in one hand and a basket filled with them, her cat at her side, and against a lovely verdant landscape, is Betsey Avery Brewster.
John Brewster, Jr., descended from one of New England's oldest Puritan families. Around 1790, he learned to paint from Steward. Beginning in the 1790s he traveled throughout New England, obtaining commissions, producing miniatures in watercolor on ivory (examples are in this exhibit) as well as oil paintings on canvas. In 1795, he moved with his brother to Buxton and, by 1800, he was established as an itinerant artist, producing his charming portraits of children, mostly full-length. The Cutts and Prince families were frequent patrons. A little later, he began producing a half-length format.
In 1817, Brewster, became a student at America's first school for the Deaf - the Connecticut Asylum in Hartford - where sign language (first adapted abroad) was recognized in America as the language for the deaf. He was 51 years old at the time, the oldest of the school's seven original students. After three years of study there, he returned to the hearing life and to his family in Maine, continued painting and accepting commissions, his style reflecting more somber tones. His 1824 half-length portrait in oil of Henry Sayward of Alfred, for example, depicts a very serious youngster with a small toy in hand, here in a brown suit, set against a dark background. In all his works, one notes the steady gaze of the sitter. It is believed that Brewster's deafness worked to his advantage; sitters had to pay attention to grasp how he wanted them to be portrayed.
Additionally, his was a quiet, soundless world; there is peace transmitted in these wonderful works of art - truly bits and pieces of American history, portraits of the early merchant and leadership class of proud New Englanders.
The exhibit broadens knowledge about the deaf community in exploring the dawn of deaf culture through examples of related objects: portable kerchiefs containing "home signs," books by Abbe Sicard, who developed a systematic method of sign language in France that was adopted by Thomas Gallaudet who founded the Hartford school that Brewster attended, and a remarkable 1803 vocabulary chart. Children from the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf prepared informative cards with American Sign Language words related to details in Brewster paintings. Also on view are books with marbleized covers similar to ones the artist may have used in the paintings, as well as advertisements Brewster placed in papers, asking for commissions. There is a gallery indicating how the artist might have worked, including a map showing Maine towns to which he traveled, and an interactive instruction center for children.
The exhibit "A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster, Jr." will remain on view at the Portland Museum of Art through March 25.
