With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
George Hand Wright
Illustration, Painting/Drawing, Printmaking
1872 – 1951
During the 1920s Wright was considered the top illustrator in the nation. His presence in Westport drew other artists to town and he would become known as the Dean of the Westport Art Colony. Artist visitors often joined him in his studio to explore and discuss techniques and experiences.
- Biography/Description of Work
George Hand Wright was born to a Quaker family in Fox Chase, PA. His parents died when he was very young and he was raised by his aunt and uncle in Camden, NJ. His aunt Mary was an artist and she introduced Wright to Eugene Headson, an English artist and musician, who gave the young man his first instruction and criticism. At Headson’s urging Wright enrolled in the Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia where he learned lithography. The school taught working class boys skill in engineering, industrial design and architecture, and Wright’s classmates included Everett Shinn and John Sloan, later members of the Ashcan School of realism. He also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts with two more artists who would be of the Ashcan School, Robert Henri and William Glackens. Wright moved to New York City, and his pen and ink illustrations began to appear regularly in a variety of magazines, from Scribner’s to The Saturday Evening Post. He married in 1906 and moved to a small farm in Westport in 1907. He converted an outbuilding into his studio. Here he began to add watercolors, pastels and etchings to his portfolio.
- Sources view
- Jensen, Kirsten M. "George Hand Wright: An Artist's Life Examined" (PEN Press, 2007)
Uconn database, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hand_Wright, http://www.askart.com/askart/w/george_hand_wright/george_hand_wright.aspx, http://giam.typepad.com/100_years_of_illustration/george_wright_18721951/, http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/MABIEART.html, http://www.fada.com/browse_by_artist.html?gallery_no=10&artist=4238&bio=1, http://06880danwoog.com/tag/george-hand-wright/
George H. Wright - New York Times - 1951-3-15
Bryant, Tod, Sturges-Wright House National Register Nomination, 2013
Tarrant, Dorothy and John, A Community of Artists: Westport-Weston 1900-1985, Westport Arts Council, Westport, 1985 - Associated Resource(s)