Benjamin F. Nutting

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Portrait of B.F. Nutting

Benjamin Franklin Nutting (c. 1803 – 1887) was an artist in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 19th century. He taught drawing in local schools, published do-it-yourself drawing instruction materials, and showed his artwork in several exhibitions.

Biography[edit]

Nutting graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1816.[1] He began working as an artist in Boston around 1826, painting portraits, and also drawing "on stone for lithographers"[2] such as Pendleton's Lithography (ca.1828-1833);[3][4] Annin & Smith; and B.W. Thayer & Co.[5]

He taught drawing at the Chauncy-Hall School;[6] and the Roxbury Latin School (c. 1876).[7] As a teacher and artist, he was associated with the Boston Artists' Association. He also worked as "an artist, drawing teacher and lithographer" for Francis Oakley in Boston, probably in the 1850s-1860s.[8] In 1880, he taught drawing/painting on West Street.[9]

Nutting showed frequently in art exhibitions. His work appeared at Boston's American Gallery of Fine Arts (1835); and the Boston Art Association (1844)[10] Several of his paintings were displayed in 1851–1852 in the gallery of the New England Art Union.[11] He exhibited 2 oil paintings in the 1847 exhibit of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association; and his watercolor "A New England Farm" was included in the association's 1884 exhibit.[12][13] His watercolor "Apple Branch and Jug" was included in the 1880 exhibition of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.;[14] and his watercolor "A New England Kitchen" was exhibited in the Lydian Gallery, Chicago, in 1880.[15] He also showed works at the Boston Art Club (1873, 1875–1876).[10]

Further reading[edit]

Works by Nutting
  • Initiatory Drawing Cards. Boston: M.J. Whipple. 1848.
  • View in New England: Series of Drawings from Nature, by various artists. Boston. 1849–1852.
  • Pioneer Drawing Cards. Boston: Higgins & Bradley. 1856.
  • Self-Instructing Drawing Lessons. Boston: John D. Brooks. ("This little book contains a series of sketches admirably arranged to aid the young pupil in acquiring the rudiments of the art of drawing, even without a teacher.")[16]
Works about Nutting
  • John Keep Nutting. Nutting genealogy: A record of some of the descendants of John Nutting, of Groton, Mass. Syracuse, NY: C. W. Bardeen, 1908.
  • Jourdan Moore Houston. "M. J. Whipple's New England Scenery From Nature Series: A Yearbook of Tappan & Bradford Artists, 1849-1852." Imprint. Vol. 27, no. 2 (Autumn 2002), 27–44.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Henry Fitch Jenks. Catalogue of the Boston Public Latin School, established in 1635: with an historical sketch. Boston Latin School Association, 1886; p.155.
  2. ^ William Dunlap. A history of the rise and progress of the arts of design in the United States, new ed., v.3. Boston: C.E. Goodspeed & co., 1918; p.321.
  3. ^ Leah Lipton. The Boston Artists' Association, 1841-1851. American Art Journal, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Autumn, 1983), pp. 45-57.
  4. ^ G.B. Barnhill. "Lithography and prints." Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. Gale, 2000.
  5. ^ Boston Athenaeum.
  6. ^ Thomas Cushing. Teachers and schools—sixty years ago: school life in Dorchester and Boston. American journal of education, v.32, 1882; p.190.
  7. ^ Boston almanac and business directory. 1877.
  8. ^ Peter C. Marzio. Lithography as a Democratic Art: A Reappraisal. Leonardo, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Winter, 1971); p.45.
  9. ^ Boston Almanac and Business Directory, 1880.
  10. ^ a b "Smithsonian Institution".
  11. ^ Catalogue of Paintings Now on Free Exhibition at Our Gallery: Prices including Frames. Bulletin of the New England Art Union, No. 1 (1852), pp. 10-11.
  12. ^ 5th exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, 1847. Boston: 1848; p.26.
  13. ^ 15th exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. Boston: Mudge & Son, 1884; p.58.
  14. ^ Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Exhibition of works by living American artists, Nov. 9 to Dec. 20, 1880. Boston: Alfred Mudge and son, 1880; p.23.
  15. ^ Art and Artists: Wayside Notes of Wanderings through Studio And Gallery. Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago); 10-20-1881; p.6.
  16. ^ Massachusetts teacher, Volume 23, no.6, June 1870; p.226.

Images[edit]

External links[edit]