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Ad Code: 3
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from Auction House Records.
Portrait of a Little Girl in a Blue Dress
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  George Washington Conarroe
Born October 20, 1802, New Castle Hundred, Delaware
Died April 9, 1882, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Portraiture
Biography by Kate Nearpass Ogden, Stockton College, New Jersey:
The portrait painter George Washington Conarroe (pronounced “Cuh-NAIR-oh”) was born on October 20, 1802. He was probably born in New Castle Hundred, Delaware, where his parents, Antrim and Margaret Mecum Conarroe, lived at the time of the 1800 census. The family is thought to have moved from Delaware to Salem, New Jersey around 1816.
In 1826 Conarroe began working as a cabinetmaker with William G. Beesley, a noted chair maker in Salem. He learned the art of painting signs and furniture during his time with Beesley and subsequently transferred his skills to portraiture. A list of paintings compiled by the artist gives 21 portrait titles for 1828 and 31 for 1829. Conarroe exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for the first time in 1829, and moved to Philadelphia the following year.
The artist probably met his future wife, Charlotte Biddle West, while painting a portrait of her brother George Spencer West in the late 1820s. The Wests lived at the Catawba Plantation, an estate four miles south of Mays Landing, New Jersey, in what is now Atlantic County. Conarroe and his bride were married on February 23, 1831. Charlotte is said to have brought with her a dowry of $10,000, giving them more security than most beginning artists. The artist and his wife had eight children, three of whom – George Mecum, Maria, and Ellen Mecum – lived to adulthood.
Conarroe painted the notable citizens of Salem, New Jersey before and after his move to Philadelphia. He also painted many Philadelphia citizens over a career spanning the years 1830 to 1869, exhibiting nearly every year at the Pennsylvania Academy. Early in his career the artist traveled occasionally to paint in other cities. He went to Baltimore, Maryland in April 1830; to Savannah, Georgia in late 1836 and early 1837; to Wilmington, Delaware in August 1837; and to Baltimore again in November 1841.
Only a few of the artist’s canvases are signed and dated; most attributions of his work are based on style, provenance, and family tradition. He supplemented his earnings as an artist by investing in real estate.
Conarroe was as an active participant in Philadelphia’s artistic and cultural circles. He often served on committees at the Pennsylvania Academy, where he had been elected a professional member or Academician. Conarroe was a member and frequently an officer of the Artists’ Fund Society and the Art Union of Philadelphia. A life member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, he also served on the Board of Managers of The Franklin Institute from 1851 to 1863.
Conarroe died in Philadelphia on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1882, and was buried in the cemetery of Saint James-the-Less, a little gothic church overlooking the Schuylkill River.
Sources:
Kate Nearpass Ogden, “George Washington Conarroe, Portrait Painter of Salem,” Quarterly Newletter, Salem County Historical Society (December 2010).
George Baxter Fisher, “George Washington Conarroe Paintings,” Salem County Historical Society Quarterly (September 1983), pp. 4-5.
Palettes of the Past: Salem County Art and Artists (Exhibition catalogue, Salem County Historical Society, March-December 2010).
Scott Lannon Wands, William G. Beesley (1797-1842), Windsor Chairmaker, Colourman, and Decorative Painter of Salem, New Jersey (Master’s Thesis, University of Delaware/UMI Reprints, 2003).
Hugh P. Brinton, “Life of George Washington Conarroe,” photocopy of typescript, Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, PA.
George Washington Conarroe, “List of Portraits Painted Since my Coming from Salem,” photocopy of manuscript, Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, PA.
“Cabinet Furniture,” Salem Messenger and Public Adviser (May 3, 1826).
“Obituary Notes,” The New York Times (April 13, 1882), accessed online June 15, 2010.
“Death of a Former Salem Countian,” National Standard (Salem, New Jersey, April 12, 1882).
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  The following is from Cynthia Mason Purdie, researcher for The Atlantic County New Jersey Cultural and Heritage Office.
She writes that she was looking for information about this artist on the web because of his association to local historical figures here. He married the sister of a Joseph West and West's other sister Maria, married Daniel Estell. (Estellville is located in Atlantic County.) Conarroe completed a portrait of Estell which the descendants own.
She found a reference to Conarroe that he hailed from Salem, New Jersey and began exhibiting in Philadelphia in 1829.
Online are two portraits by Conarroe, available for viewing online, in the collection of Maryland Historical society www.marylandartsource.com/collections.
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| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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