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Highlights

Frank Bromley (American 1859 – 1890)

19th Century Fine Art Legacy

“Even picturesque foregrounds aided in forming compositions as lovely as any ever dreamed of by Turner. The old walled town of Conway, with its curious old houses and castle built by Edward I., which was one of the most magnificent of those ancient fortresses, grand even in its ivy-covered ruins, furnished subjects for many interesting sketches. A most inviting prospect for an ambitious young artist, and one that Mr. Bromley seems to fully appreciate and make the most of.” -- Chicago Tribune, November 6, 1881.

Bromley was born in Eureka, Wisconsin in 1859 [1]; however, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1870.[1] In 1873 one of young Bromley’s drawings was accepted for exhibition in the Vienna International Exposition and won a First School Prize.[1] From 1875 to 1877Bromley studied with the well-known “mountain landscape” painter Henry Arthur Elkins [1]. In 1879 he traveled to Lake Geneva in Wisconsin to paint with prominent Chicago artist Frank R.E. Green [3] and in 1880, he was there again with landscape K. Felix Ekblad [3a].

In 1880 Bromley with Henry Elkins and other area artists established a permanent gallery for the exhibition and sale of art, as well as providing accommodations for visiting artists, in the Vincennes Gallery of Fine Arts in Chicago, where Elkins had his studio.[1],[12]

In May of 1881 he closed his Chicago studio to travel to New York, from whence he sailed to Glasgow, Scotland. Bromley sent letters home describing his travels throughout Europe. He wrote that he was so delighted by the Scottish Highlands that after his trips through England, Ireland, and Paris, France, he vowed to return and spend more time there painting.[4] [5], [6].

Bromley’s peripatetic journey took him through Devonshire, where he rambled about sketching and painting with a “jolly party” of English artists. then southward into Cornwall and from there along the southern coast of England, stopping at the Isle of Wight.[8]. Returning northward he journeyed through Wales, where he thought the scenery resembles that of the mountains of New Hampshire. [9] As it was nearing autumn, Bromley spent time in Killarney, Ireland and surrounding area making sketches for commissions he had from patrons. [9]

While in Ireland he spent time in Antrim County, County Cork, and Blarney. In Queenstown he caught a steamer to Liverpool, then onto London. [9] After a brief stay in London, Bromley embarked on his trip to Paris, where he would meet friends and spend the winter in study. [9] When he reached Paris, he began his study under Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier and Edmond Charles Joseph Yon [1]. In 1882, while still in Paris, one of Bromley’s paintings was accepted at the annual Paris Salon. He was one of the youngest American artists to receive that honor.

After spending approximately one year in Paris, it is possible that he returned to the Scottish Highlands that so enchanted him a year earlier and spent some time there to sketch and paint. We know that he did not return to the United States until sometime in 1883. It had been Bromley’s plan to return to the United States via San Francisco and to spend the long sea voyage observing and sketching all the wonders he beheld. Remember, the Panama Canal had not been constructed yet so his trip would have taken him around the southern tip of South America, although he could have taken the existing Panama Railroad across the isthmus instead, and escaped the, lovely, but dangerous waters around Cape Horn and Terra Del Fuego. He could also have taken a land route northward and continued on to San Francisco, rather than by a second sea trip.

Regardless of the route taken, there would have been much beautiful scenery for his artist’s mind to absorb. In fact, his stay in Europe had shown an “entire change in his style,” according to a critic at the Chicago Daily Tribune in September of 1881, and a “decided improvement" after he had observed a painting that Bromley sent to Chicago during his stay in Europe.

In 1883, after his return to Chicago, The Michigan Central Railroad commissioned him to do paintings along their route, which included Niagara Falls. He traveled widely and made a second trip to France in the late 1880s. This would be his last trip to France -- in 1890, while visiting his parents in Toledo, Ohio, he succumbed to tuberculosis, at age 31.

References:

  1. Archives of askART, 2005, Bentley, Edward, 2002, art researcher, Lansing, Michigan.
  2. Gerdts, William H,1990, Art Across America, Vol. 2, Cross River Press, Ltd.
  3. https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-aug-17-1879-p-15/
  4. https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-aug-22-1880-p-17/
  5. https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-apr-24-1881-p-25/
  6. https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-may-15-1881-p-6/
  7. https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-jun-26-1881-p-6/
  8. https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-sep-18-1881-p-6/
  9. https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-nov-06-1881-p-5/

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