Charles Yarnall Abbott (September 23, 1870June 24, 1938) was an American photographer and painter.

Early life

Charles Yarnall Abbott was born on September 23, 1870, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to Sarah (Yarnall) and William Holloway Abbott, an attorney.Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer,
Philadelphia: A History of the City and Its People
' (Clarke, 1912), pp. 134-135. Accessed at Archive.org, 25 July 2014. He grew up in Philadelphia. He originally went to college to study law. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

in 1892. He was a lawyer for ten years before becoming an artist.

Mid-life and career

Abbott became interested in the arts while working as a lawyer. First, he gained interest in photography, followed by an interest for painting. He quit working in law and went to study painting. He studied at the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

, training under

Thomas Anshutz Thomas Pollock Anshutz (October 5, 1851 – June 16, 1912) was an American painter and teacher. Known for his portraiture and genre scenes, Anshutz was a co-founder of The Darby School. One of Thomas Eakins's most prominent students, he succeede ...

. He relocated to Paris, France. He studied at the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

. There, he trained under

Raphael Collin Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composi ...

and

Gustave Courtois Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois, also known as Gustave Courtois (; 18 May 1852 in Pusey, Haute-Saône – 23 November 1923 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French painter, a representative of the academic style of art. Early life and education C ...

. He returned from Paris and moved to

Rose Valley, Pennsylvania Rose Valley is a small, historic borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its area is , and the population was 913 at the 2010 census. The area was settled by Quaker farmers in 1682, and later water mills along Ridley Creek d ...

. He married

Elenore Abbott Elenore Plaisted Abbott (1875–1935) was an American book illustrator, scenic designer, and painter. She illustrated early 20th-century editions of ''Grimm's Fairy Tales,'' ''Robinson Crusoe'', and '' Kidnapped''. Several books were published ...

in 1898. Abbott fathered one child with Elenore, Marjorie (1907-?). Some of Abbott's pictures appeared in ''

Camera Work ''Camera Work'' was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It presented high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world. The goal of the journal was to establi ...

''.Alfred Stieglitz, ''Camera Work. The Complete Photographs'', Köln, Taschen Bibliotheca Universalis, 2015, The couple relocated to Philadelphia in 1913. Abbott also worked in

Rockport, Massachusetts Rockport is a seaside New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,992 in 2020 United States census, 2020. Rockport is located approximately northeast of Boston, at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula. ...

. He co-founded the

Rockport Art Association Rockport Art Association is an art association in the United States. It started as an artist's cooperative and became a gathering place of New England artists of the 20th century. The artists Aldro Hibbard, Antonio Cirino, Paul Strisik, Anthony ...

. Starting in 1916, his work was featured in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Annual Exhibition, until he died.

Later life and legacy

He served as president of the

Philadelphia Sketch Club The Philadelphia Sketch Club, founded on November 20, 1860, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of America's oldest artists' clubs. The club's own web page proclaims it ''the'' oldest. Prominent members have included Joseph Pennell, Thomas Eaki ...

and the

Philadelphia Art Alliance The Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts was a multidisciplinary arts center located in the Rittenhouse Square section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the oldest multidisciplinary arts center in the United States for visual, ...

. His work was exhibited at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

and

Corcoran Gallery The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran ...

. He lectured and wrote about

art appreciation Visual arts education is the area of learning that is based upon the kind of art that one can see, visual arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practic ...

. His work was published in ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

''. Abbott also was a playwright. He died in 1938. His work is held in the collections of the

National Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum ...

, the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

and the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

. Abbott died on June 24, 1938, in Philadelphia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, C. Yarnall 1870 births 1938 deaths 19th-century American painters 19th-century American photographers 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American photographers Académie Colarossi alumni American expatriates in France American male painters Artists from Philadelphia Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni 20th-century American male artists