Charles Cromwell Ingham (1796 or 1797 – 10 December 1863) was an Irish-American portrait painter and later a founder of the New York

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, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

Life

Ingham was a descendant of a man who went to Ireland as an officer in

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

's army (hence his middle name). He was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1796 or 1797, studying art from 1809 to 1813 at The Dublin Institution with

William Cuming William Cuming (1769–1852) was an Irish portrait painter, a president of the Royal Hibernian Academy. Life Cuming was born in 1769 the youngest of the four sons of William Cuming. He became a pupil in the Dublin Society's Schools in 1785, ...

. It was the influence of Cuming that led to Ingham specialising in female portraiture, and he was also influenced by

Martin Archer Shee Sir Martin Archer Shee (23 December 1769 – 13 August 1850) was an Irish portrait painter. He also served as the president of the Royal Academy. Early life He was born in Dublin, of an old Irish Roman Catholic family, the son of Martin Shee ...

. In 1810 and 1811, Ingham won prizes with the Dublin Society, and a premium from the Irish Institution in 1815 for this painting, "The death of Cleopatra", which is now lost. Ingham immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1816. He died in New York on 10 December 1863.

Career

WLA metmuseum Charles Cromwell Ingham The Flower Girl 1846

When he arrived in New York, Ingham exhibited his "The death of Cleopatra" at the opening of the American Academy of Fine Arts in 1816. Remaining in New York, he distinguished himself by his

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

, but also in

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

, a standard medium for miniature portraits since the 18th century. His work in oil is marked by a high finish achieved by successive glazings, showing the influence of

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( ; ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

. He initially joined the American Academy of the Fine Arts. Ingham continued to exhibit in Ireland, with the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the Royal Irish Academy, the academy retained the word "Royal" after mo ...

in 1829 and 1842. He was a founding member of the National Academy of Design in 1825, and he served as its vice president for a number of years until his death. When the academy acquired the Browere stables on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in 1848, Ingham served as the chairman of the building committee. He designed the grand staircase, known as "Ingham's stairs". He also founded the Sketch Club, serving as its first president, and of the

Century Association The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinctio ...

. Ingham occupied a front rank with his brother as a portrait painter known for his paintings of young women of New York's upper class, painting over 200 portraits between 1826 and 1845, such as those including portraits as ''Flower Girl'' (1846), ''Day Dream'', and ''Portrait of a Child''. He also occasionally painted landscapes and history paintings. Ingham accompanied the New York State geologist while on a survey trip, leading Ingham to make some of the first sketches of the Adirondack area. He exhibited in Albany,

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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 ...

, and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. He lived in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

for the winter of 1842 to 1843.

References

Bibliography

*Webb, Alfred. ''A Compendium of Irish Biography: Comprising Sketches of Distinguished Irishmen and of Eminent Persons Connected with Ireland by Office or by Their Writings'', New York: Lemma Publishing Corporation, 1970.

External links

Art and the empire city: New York, 1825-1861
an exhibition catalogue from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Ingham (see index) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingham, Charles Cromwell 1790s births 1863 deaths 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Painters from Dublin (city) Irish emigrants to the United States 19th-century Irish male artists 19th-century American male artists 19th-century American painters American male painters Irish portrait painters American portrait painters American portrait miniaturists