This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Jervis McEntee was a landscape painter, born in 1828 in the Hudson
River Valley in Rondout, New York. It was said that 'Nostalgia
may well have been McEntee's middle name", and that he, always attempting to stir emotions in his viewers, often attached
poetry to his paintings when exhibiting them. At a time when the
Civil War and its after effects caused great disruption in America,
McEntee's work may have provided a visual escape for the more
educated. His works are rich with the colors of autumn and
winter, and he, who often painted in the Catskill Mountains, preferred smaller views rather than panoramas. Usually
detailed and simple, his works often reflect a sense of loneliness.
As
a youngster, McEntee would play in his parents attic, pretending it was
an art studio. An unsuccessful attempt at business led McEntee back
into the art profession where he studied in New York City under the
influence of Frederic E. Church, master of the Hudson River Style, and
soon had a showing of his own in the famous Tenth Street Studio
Building by 1855.
In about 1858, Mr. and Mrs. McEntee hired
English architect Calvert Vaux to build a studio next to McEntee's
fathers house in Rondout. There Jervis would spend most of his
summers, painting the nearby Catskill Mountains, and returning to the
city during the winter. At the outbreak of the Civil War, McEntee
enlisted in the Union Army.
Sanford Robinson Gifford and
Worthington Whittredge were among his friends. He exhibited at
the Royal Academy in London, at the Paris Exposition of 1867, and at
the Boston Art Club during the period 1873 to 1891. He was elected an
associate member of the National Academy in 1860.
McEntee's work has been preserved at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Peabody Institute.
Source:
Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art
Matthew Baigell, Dictionary of American Art
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Biography from The Caldwell Gallery - I:
| Jervis McEntee studied art under Frederick Church in New York City from 1850-51 and was a member of the Hudson River School. In 1858 he opened his own studio in NYC.
His works are typically small and detailed and would occasionally include passages of poetry when exhibited. His landscapes of rural New York, particularly the Catskill Mountains, were painted in colors of autumn and winter with a melancholy mood. However, his style did change a little to include some Impressionistic techniques.
McEntee was elected an associate member of the National Academy in 1860 and became a full member the following year. He died in 1891.
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Jervis McEntee is also mentioned in these AskART essays:
Hudson River School Painters
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