Horace Burdick

Horace Robbins Burdick was born in East Killingly, Connecticut in 1844. Burdick went to Boston from Providence, Rhode Island in 1864 and finally settled in Malden, Massachusetts in 1886. Burdick began his art career in Providence in 1863, at the age of 19, where he was engaged in retouching and coloring photographs. Burdick attended the Union Hall School in Providence, The Lowell Institute in Boston, and the Museum School of Fine Arts, Boston.

In Boston to study and continue his art work, Burdick first did still-life paintings and then crayon portraits, finally turning to portraits in oil, for which he became famous. He also did a large number of landscapes in both oil and watercolor. The subjects range from New Hampshire's White Mountains to coastal scenes. He started restoring old pictures as an avocation and became an authority in the field.

Burdick's paintings hang in many public buildings and his articles on art have been printed in various art journals. As the oldest living member of the Boston Art Club, he was honored by the group when his portrait of then President Coolidge was placed on exhibition at the Club in 1927. As an active member of the Boston Art Club, Burdick was a contemporary of numerous artists. The Boston Art Club members mentioned in Burdick's private papers include: John Joseph Enneking, John R. Key, Alfred Ordway, Frank H. Shapleigh, William E. Norton, Scott Leighton, James Wells Champney, R. Swain Gifford, Jean Paul Selinger and William F. Halsall.

Burdick died at his home, 16 Park Avenue, Malden, on September 17, 1942 after an illness of three months.

Source: Charles Vogel