Charles Webster Hawthorne (1872-1930)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Charles Webster Hawthorne grew up in Maine and moved to New York City at the age of eighteen to attend the Art Students League. In 1896, he began studying under William Merritt Chase at the summer school that Chase had formed on eastern Long Island in the town of Shinnecock Hills. The following year, he became Chase's studio assistant and helped his teacher establish the Chase School of Art in New York City. Hawthorne replicated his master's model by founding his own summer art program in 1899 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. When he was not teaching, Hawthorne traveled extensively in Europe. Like Chase, he was particularly attracted to the work of Frans Hals and Dutch working-class subjects. He remained in Provincetown for over 30 years, teaching students to paint outdoors and search for subjects in their common surroundings. Hawthorne became one of the leading painters in the famed artists’ colony, known particularly for his portraits of the fishermen along Cape Cod. His realistic style and depiction of lower classes are associated with the early 20th-century naturalism of the Ashcan School.

Adapted from
  • William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Label copy (2006.26), June 2007.
  • William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Acquisition proposal (2006.26), September 2006.

NOTES
Added artist geographies to TMS- June 2016.
Artist born (geography)
(raised) Richmond, Maine
Artist active (geography)
Provincetown, MA
(studied, exhibited) New York City
(studied) Paris
(trained) Shinnecock, NY
(studied) Holland, Netherlands
(studied) Italy
IMAGE ASSETS 
265931659: UMO. [Caption] Portrait of Charles Webster Hawthorne seated in a chair in 1910. Source: Smithsonian Institution, Wikimedia Commons, accessed July 15, 2016. 

WEB RESOURCES 

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES 

FUN FACTS 
  • When Hawthorne arrived in New York City as an art student, he supported himself by day-time work as a dockhand. This early employment experience may explain his later artistic fascinations with fisherman and their families. As a young man, he also worked as an office-boy in a stained glass factory to earn  money to pay for his training. 
  • Many students of the Cape Cod School of Art went on to achieve prominent careers. One of Hawthorne's most famous students was Norman Rockwell, who spent a summer studying in Provincetown.

TEACHING IDEAS 

RULES
apply to constituents where id equals 685
Apply to objects where constituent_id equals 685

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General Description
Charles Webster Hawthorne grew up in Maine and moved to New York City at the age of eighteen to attend the Art Students League. In 1896, he began studying under William Merritt Chase at the summer school that Chase had formed on eastern Long Island in the town of Shinnecock Hills. The following year, he became Chase's studio assistant and helped his teacher establish the Chase School of Art in New York City. Hawthorne replicated his master's model by founding his own summer art program in 1899 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. When he was not teaching, Hawthorne traveled extensively in Europe. Like Chase, he was particularly attracted to the work of Frans Hals and Dutch working-class subjects. He remained in Provincetown for over 30 years, teaching students to paint outdoors and search for subjects in their common surroundings. Hawthorne became one of the leading painters in the famed artists’ colony, known particularly for his portraits of the fishermen along Cape Cod. His realistic style and depiction of lower classes are associated with the early 20th-century naturalism of the Ashcan School.

Adapted from
  • William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Label copy (2006.26), June 2007.
  • William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Acquisition proposal (2006.26), September 2006.

Fun Facts
 
  • When Hawthorne arrived in New York City as an art student, he supported himself by day-time work as a dockhand. This early employment experience may explain his later artistic fascinations with fisherman and their families. As a young man, he also worked as an office-boy in a stained glass factory to earn  money to pay for his training. 
  • Many students of the Cape Cod School of Art went on to achieve prominent careers. One of Hawthorne's most famous students was Norman Rockwell, who spent a summer studying in Provincetown.

Archival Resources
 

Web Resources
 

Notes
Added artist geographies to TMS- June 2016.
Artist born (geography)
(raised) Richmond, Maine
Artist active (geography)
Provincetown, MA
(studied, exhibited) New York City
(studied) Paris
(trained) Shinnecock, NY
(studied) Holland, Netherlands
(studied) Italy

rules
Apply To
Constituents
id
Equals
685
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
@Schiller
*American Art
%PictionMW
Chase_William Merritt: ULAN: 500115356
New York (New York/United States): TGN: 7007567
realism (artistic concept): AAT: 300056550
teachers (educators): AAT: 300025529
Ashcan School: AAT: 300120324
school (institutions): AAT: 300266108
Art Students' League: ULAN: 500303709
portrait: AAT: 300015637
fisherman (people): AAT: 300025608
working class: AAT: 300055485
Hals_Frans: ULAN: 500027794
studios (work spaces): AAT: 300007725
Hawthorne_Charles Webster: ULAN: 500008988
Shinnecock Hills (New York/United States): TGN: 2072271
Provincetown (Massachusetts/United States): TGN: 7015018
artists' colonies: AAT: 300008503
265931659: UMO
source file
artists_and_designers-0124.xml.nores