John Sartain (October 24, 1808 – October 25, 1897) was an English-born American artist who pioneered

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonal ...

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

in the United States.

Biography

John Sartain was born in London, England. He learned

line engraving Line engraving is a term for engraved images printed on paper to be used as prints or illustrations. The term is mainly used in connection with 18th- or 19th-century commercial illustrations for magazines and books or reproductions of painting ...

, and produced several of the plates in William Young Ottley's ''Early Florentine School'' (1826). In 1828, he began to make

s. He studied painting under John Varley and

Henry James Richter Henry James Richter (1772–1857), artist and philosopher, was born in Middlesex, possibly at 40 Great Newport Street, Soho, on 8 March 1772 and baptised at St Anne's Church, Soho, on 5 April at that same year. Family Henry James was the se ...

. In 1830, at the age of 22, he emigrated to the United States and settled in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. There he studied with Joshua Shaw and Manuel J. de Franca. For about ten years after his arrival in the United States, he painted portraits in oil and miniatures on ivory. During the same time, he found employment in making designs for

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

vignettes, and also in drawing on wood for book illustrations. He was a 33 degree Mason. He pioneered mezzotint engraving in the United States. He engraved plates in 1841–48 for ''

Graham's Magazine ''Graham's Magazine'' was a nineteenth-century periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham and published from 1840 to 1858. It was alternatively referred to as ''Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine'' (1841–1842, and Ju ...

'', published by George Rex Graham, and believed his work was responsible for the publication's sudden success. Sartain became editor and proprietor of ''Campbell's Foreign Semi-Monthly Magazine'' in 1843. He had an interest at the same time in the ''Eclectic Museum'', for which, later, when John H. Agnew was alone in charge, he simply engraved the plates. File:Pennsylvania Hall burning.jpg, Pennsylvania Hall burning, 1838. Sartain was an eyewitness. File:John Sartain, Mary, Queen Of Scots, The Evening Before Her Execution.jpg, John Sartain, ''

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

'', The Evening Before Her Execution File:John Sartain, Zachary Taylor.jpg, John Sartain, ''

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...

''Sartain's Magazine''

In 1848, he purchased a half interest in the ''Union Magazine'', a New York-based periodical. He transferred it to Philadelphia, where it was renamed ''Sartain's Union Magazine'', and from 1849–52 he published it with Graham. It became very well known during those four years. During this time, besides his editorial work and the engravings that had to be made regularly for the periodicals with which he was connected, Sartain produced an enormous quantity of plates for book-illustration. File:JohnSartain.jpg, John Sartain File:John Sartain, Edgar Allen Poe.jpg, John Sartain, ''

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

'' Sartain was a colleague and friend of

. Around July 2, 1849, about four months before Poe's death, the author unexpectedly visited Sartain's house in Philadelphia. Looking "pale and haggard" with "a wild and frightened expression in his eyes", Poe told Sartain that he was being pursued and needed protection;Silverman, Kenneth. ''Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance''. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991: 416. . Poe asked for a razor so that he could shave off his mustache to become less recognizable. Sartain offered to cut it off himself using scissors. Poe had said he had overheard people while on the train who were conspiring to murder him. Sartain asked why anyone would want to kill him, Poe answered it was "a woman trouble." However, later when Sartain let Poe stay the night with him at his house, Poe informed him that he may have been hallucinating. This incident was four months before Poe's death. Poe gave Sartain a new poem, '' The Bells'', which was published in ''Sartain's Union Magazine'' in November 1849, a month after Poe's death. ''Sartain's'' also published the first authorized printing of ''

Annabel Lee "Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem composed by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Like many of Poe's poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful woman.Meyers, Jeffrey. ''Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy''. New York: Cooper Sq ...

'', also posthumously.

Years in Philadelphia

After his arrival in Philadelphia, Sartain took an active interest in art matters there. He held various offices in the Artists' Fund Society, the School of Design for Women, and the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appa ...

, and was actively connected with other educational institutions in the city. He had visited Europe several times, and on the occasion of his second visit in 1862 he was elected a member of the society "Artis et Amicitiæ" in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Sartain had charge of the art department of the

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

in Philadelphia, in 1876. In recognition of his services there, the king of Italy conferred on him the title of cavaliere of the Order of the Crown of Italy. His architectural knowledge was frequently requisitioned: he took a prominent part in the work of the committee on the Washington Memorial by Rudolf Siemering in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, and he designed medallions for the monument to

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

and

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

erected in 1869 in

Monument Cemetery Monument Cemetery was a rural cemetery located at the current day intersection of Broad and Berks Street in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1837 to 1956. It was the second rural cemetery in Philadelphia after Laurel Hill Cemetery. It was ...

, Philadelphia. His ''Reminiscences of a Very Old Man'' (New York, 1899) are of unusual interest. File:John Sartain, William Henry Harrison.jpg, John Sartain, ''

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

'' File:John Sartain, Alexander Pope.jpg, John Sartain, ''

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

'' File:John Sartain, Cinque (The Amistad Case).jpg, John Sartain, ''Cinque ( The Amistad Case)'' Upon his death in 1897, the 89-year-old Sartain was buried in Monument Cemetery. Shortly before his death, The

Philadelphia School of Design for Women Philadelphia School of Design for Women (1848–1932) was an art school for women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Housed in the former Edwin Forrest House at 1346 North Broad Street, under the directorship of Emily Sartain (1886–1920), ...

created the John Sartain Fellowship in recognition of his 28 year tenure as Director. In 1956 the cemetery was condemned by the city and given to

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

which cleared it for a parking lot. Sartain's body was not claimed and he and approximately 20,000 other unclaimed bodies were re-interred in a large mass grave at Lawnview Cemetery. The tombstones, including the cemetery's 70 feet high central monument to

and General Lafayette and his family monument (all designed by Sartain) were dumped into the Delaware River to serve as the foundations for the

Betsy Ross Bridge The Betsy Ross Bridge, also known as the Ross Memorial Bridge, is a continuous steel truss bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Pennsauken, New Jersey. It was built from 1969 to 1974, and opened in April 1976, du ...

Family

John Sartain married Susannah Longmate Swaine and they had eight children. Samuel (1830-1906), who was an engraver; Henry (1833-1895);

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

(1843-1925); and

Emily Sartain Emily Sartain (March 17, 1841 – June 17, 1927) was an American painter and engraver. She was the first woman in Europe and the United States to practice the art of mezzotint engraving, and the only woman to win a gold medal at the 1876 World F ...

pursued careers as artists. Emily Sartain first practised art as an engraver under her father. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy under Christian Schussele, and then, until 1875, with Évariste Vital Luminais in Paris. In 1886, she became principal of the

. William Sartain engraved under his father's supervision until he was about 24. From 1867 to 1868, he studied under Christian Schussele and at the Pennsylvania Academy. He then went to Paris, where he studied with

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in M ...

. In 1877, he returned to the United States, settling in New York, where he was elected an associate of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

in 1880. He was one of the founders of the Society of American Artists. He painted both landscape and figure subjects. File:Emily Sartain 001.jpg, ''

'', 1876 plate File:William Sartain in his studio, circa 1900.jpg, William Sartain in his studio, circa 1900

Notes

References

* *, Wilson and Fiske

External links

Sartain Images
Link to some John Sartain engravings at Old Book Art.

Overview of an archival collection on John Sartain.
''Sartain's Union Magazine''
at

Google Book Search Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

John Sartain's The reminiscences of a very old man, 1808–1897, publ. 1899, D. Appleton, NY"Sartain family papers, 1795–1944"
''Archives of American Art''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sartain, John 1808 births 1897 deaths 19th-century American memoirists History of Philadelphia American printmakers Members of the American Philosophical Society English emigrants to the United States Burials at Lawnview Memorial Park Burials at Monument Cemetery Artists from London