JAMES RENWICK BREVOORT (1832-1918)

Born in Yonkers, NY, James Renwick Brevoort, NA (1832-1918) earned a degree in architecture under the instruction of his cousin, architect James Renwick, Jr. (1818-1895) -- designer of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Brevoort later pursued a career as an artist, studying under painter Thomas Cummings (1804-1894). In 1861, he was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design (NAD), later earning full membership in 1863. He became recognized for his landscapes of rural New York, which are often painted with realistic detail and dramatic lighting, much in the popular style of the Hudson River School.

Following the death of his first wife, he auctioned off his entire collection of paintings and relocated to Europe with his new bride, Marie Louise Bascom-- a talented artist herself, who won the first medal ever awarded by the NAD. Once in Europe, Brevoort adopted a looser brushstroke and a lighter color palette similar to the Barbizon School. Before settling in Florence, he and his wife made several sketching trips to England and the Netherlands. Once in Italy, Brevoort became a member of the Royal Academy in Urbino. In 1880, the couple returned to Yonkers, where Brevoort lived until his death at the age of 86. Today, the Hudson River Museum in the artist’s hometown of Yonkers owns an impressive collection of his work.