SOLD WORKS
A painter and art teacher, Peleg Franklin Brownell was credited with introducing more brilliant colour into Canadian painting early in the twentieth century. Brownell’s paintings showed a combination of impressionism and realism; A.H. Robson described his work as “his canvases have a shimmering radiance of light, a subtle feeling for values and sound capable craftsmanship”. Brownell painted a variety of subjects including portraits, floral still lifes, landscapes, genre, and marine subjects.
Brownell was born in New Bedford Massachusetts on July 27, 1857. He began his formal art training in Boston at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts under T.W. Dewing and continued his training by studying under Tony Robert Fleury and William Bouguereau at the Academie Julian in Paris. Following his studies he moved to Ottawa in 1886 to take up the position of Headmaster at the Ottawa Art School where he stayed until 1900, when he was awarded a bronze medal at the Paris exposition. It was in this same year he took a new position as a teacher at the Women’s Art Association in Ottawa, which later became the Art Association of Ottawa, where he continued to teach until 1937.
Brownell first visited the Caribbean around 1911, and by 1915 had made several trips to the area and painted approximately forty canvases, watercolours and pastels. Eric Brown, the first director of the National Gallery, was an advocate of Brownell’s work and accompanied him to the West Indies on at least one occasion. It is recognized that his style underwent a significant change after these visits as he was enchanted by the brilliant tropical light and world of exotic textiles. This small body of work is known to be some of his best and most sought after, many being housed in major Canadian institutions.
An active member of the Canadian art scene, Brownell was a member of the ARCA, RCA, OSA, and a founding member of the CAC. He also received a retrospective exhibition of his work at the National Gallery of Canada in 1922. This was a rare honour for an artist.
Brownell died in Ottawa on March 13, 1946.