Albert Fitch Bellows
1829 -1883
Albert Fitch Bellows, or A.F. Bellows as he usually signed his name, was a painter who was part of the first etching movement in the United States and whose skill in that printmaking technique was also honored in England.
Bellows was initially in business as an architect, but transferred his interest to painting. He taught for four years in Boston at the New England School of Design. In 1858, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Design.
He traveled to Europe to study in Paris, Antwerp, and London. On returning to the United States he decided to make New York his permanent home.
Bellows was closely attached to the Hudson River School of Painting through friendship with members of that group but, unlike them, used watercolors as well as oil paint. He kept a separate studio for each medium. He was an early member of the American Watercolor Society and an honorary member the Royal Belgian Society of Watercolorists.
He began etching late in his career as etching gained adherents among painters on the East Coast. Bellows became a member of the N.Y. Etching Club, the Philadelphia Society of Etchers, and the Royal Society of Painters Etchers, and Engravers in London, England. Many of his etchings were published in the American Art Review (see Peter Moran bio for more information on American Art Review)
“Mill Pond, Windsor, CT.”
etching
1879
published in American Art Review
signed in the plate as was the practice in the19th century
image size 6 ¾” x 3 ½”
sheet size 12” x 9”