Highlights

Charles grant Beauregard (American 1856 – 1919)

19th Century Fine Art Legacy

Not much is written of Charles Grant Beauregard. It’s a shame, really. He was a quite good artist. If one would have to assign him to a particular “school” of landscape painting, I suppose that it would be the Hudson River School. Perhaps, in the manner of George Inness (American, 1825 – 1874)? But I shouldn’t like to pigeon-hole him into a particular “school” because some of his paintings with sheep put one in mind of those of “The Sheep Painter,” Scalp Level School artist, A. Bryan Wall (American, 1861 – 1935) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So, it’s probably fair to say that he had a style that incorporated his personal artistic aesthetic with whatever training he had (presently unknown, but likely included portraiture), skill, and his exposure to the work of other artists in his sphere.
Charles Grant Beauregard was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but found himself in Troy, New York in 1872. He apparently found the area to his liking and remained there until his death in 1919, with only a brief return to Montreal circa 1876 to 1880.

Although Beauregard initially specialized in portraiture; as Troy is located on the Hudson River, he was no doubt inspired by the natural beauty of the Hudson River valley. Most of his landscapes are bucolic views of the countryside, most often with sheep, but sometimes dogs or horses. His sunset lighting in some, do have an “Inness-like” atmospheric feel to them. Beauregard also painted exquisitely rendered a rare still- life and genre scene, but by and large Beauregard’s oeuvre was landscape.

Although Beauregard emulated the style of the Hudson River School in in many of his landscapes, others have an unmistakable hint of Impressionism and Tonalism, perhaps the influence of the Barbizon-inspired Inness. He signed his larger oil paintings with "C. G. Beauregard", while his smallest paintings, usually on board were sign with only his initials.

Beauregard paintings are held mostly in private collections and not often seen coming onto the market.

References:

  1. Danly, S., 1998, For beauty and for truth: the William and Abigail Gerdts collection of American still life catalogue, Mead Art Museum, Amherst College; Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, N.Y.
  2. Falk, Peter, ed., 1999, Who Was Who in American Art, Sound View Press, Madison, CT.
  3. Bedfordfineartgallery.com, Charles Grant Beauregard biography by Joan Hawk.

Back to Highlights