(1831-1915) Harrison B. Brown was born in Portland, Maine and won wide acclaim for his paintings of Maine and the White Mountains. He is also known as Henry Box Brown, and is thought to have changed his name in the early 1850s, though there is some disagreement as to whether the two names represent separate individuals. Brown began his career as an apprentice to a sign painter and with the house- and ship-painting firm of Forbes and Wilson. He later opened his own shop, advertising himself as a "banner and ornamental painter." Brown was in San Francisco by 1852, working for engraver Harrison Eastman and making survey drawings for John Bartlett. By 1860 he had returned to Maine, where he and his contemporary John Bradley Hudson were the two primary exponents of the Hudson River School realist landscape tradition. Brown was one of the first artists to paint Monhegan Island, and he frequently painted in the Casco Bay area and Grand Manan Island off the coast of New Brunswick. By the end of the century he was the best-known native Maine painter of his time; his work was owned by philosopher-poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and John Greenleaf Whittier and by the eminent Portland art patron John Bundy Brown. H.B. Brown was elected president of the Portland Society of Art in 1892 but later that year moved to England to be near his only surviving child. He spent the rest of his life there, continuing to paint until his death in London in 1915.

Biography courtesy of Roger King Gallery of Fine Art, www.antiquesandfineart.com/rking

Harrison Bird Brown began his career as a modest beginning as a sign painter. He later turned to painting and established himself as one of the most celebrated landscape painters in Maine during the second half of the nineteenth century. Brown spent the greatest portion of his life in Maine, and his works often depicted the wholesome outdoor environment of his home state.

Brown was born in Portland, Maine in 1831 and died in London in 1915. He was fortunate to have been born during a period when landscape painting enjoyed immense popularity, due mainly to the earlier influence of Charles Codman (1800-1842). Codman's paintings were widely collected for their keenly romantic sentiments. It is likely that Brown, as an apprentice sign and banner painter, saw examples of Codman's poetic landscape paintings.

By the time he was 21, Brown had completed an apprenticeship with Forbes and Wilson, a firm of house and ship painters located on Fore Street near Portland's harbor. He immediately opened his own sign and banner establishment.

By 1858, having become a skilled commercial painter. Brown discarded his business to concentrate solely on fine art. His decision proved fruitful; between 1858 and 1860, the National Academy of Design in New York City exhibited six of his landscapes (five of which were borrowed from owners for the exhibition).

Oakland (1860, Portland Museum of Art) and Autumn in the White Mountains (1870, Portland Museum of Art are two of Brown's popular works depicting the scenic beauty of Maine. His best-known paintings were of the Casco Bay, Maine area. Brown's sensitive handling of thin color produces effects of light and atmosphere reminiscent of John Frederick Kensett's technique.

Brown's election to the presidency of the Portland Society of Art in 1892 indicated his stature among his contemporaries in the New England art world. He moved to London in 1892, when he continued to paint, living there until his death in 1915.

MEMBERSHIPS
Portland Society of Art
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Portland Museum of Art, Maine

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton

Born in Portland, Maine, Brown became one of the most celebrated painters of the New England landscape. Striking for their rich colors and bold light, his landscapes and seascapes express a highly romantic view of nature. Brown exhibited at the National Academy of Design, the Boston Athenaeum, the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, and the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. He was elected president of the Portland Society of Art in 1892 and counted Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as a collector. Today, his work is on view at museums including the Portland Museum of Art, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the Georgia Museum of Art.

Biography courtesy of Questroyal Fine Art LLC, www.antiquesandfineart.com/questroyal