Arthur Quartley

Arthur Quartley
Early Moonlight Naragansett Bay1877. Source: Collection of C. Michael Hogan, Sonoma Valley, Ca.
Born	(1839-05-24)May 24, 1839 Paris, France
Died	May 19, 1886(1886-05-19)(aged 46)
Nationality	American
Known for	Painting

Arthur Quartley(May 24, 1839 – May 19, 1886) was an American painter known for his marine seascapes.

Biography

Quartley was born in Paris and lived there to the age of twelve, when his family moved toBaltimore, Maryland.He studied drawing with his fatherFrederick William Quartley,who was an Englishengraver.His father was reputed to have demanded two drawings per week from the young lad. At age 17, Arthur was apprenticed to a sign painter in Baltimore.

In 1852 Quartley and his family left Paris for New York City and in 1862, founded a design firm in Baltimore. The firm Emmart & Quartley was regarded as the best decorating company in the city (Dictionary of American Biography); however, young Quartley began painting marine seascapes ofChesapeake Bay,and progressively spent more and more time in that pursuit. He held a successful show of marine paintings at the studio of Norval H. Busey in Baltimore. ScholarElizabeth Johnsremarked that Quartley's work reveals familiarity with theDutch Mastersmarine tradition of composition in treatment of light and color.

To pursue his painting more seriously, Quartley moved to New York City in 1875. New York at that time had become a premier center for notable painters. From there he painted seascapes ofLong Islandbays,New York Harbor,the New HampshireIsle of Shoals,andNaragansett BayinRhode Island.

TheHudson River Schoolwas waning at this point, so that other groups were forming, among them theTilers,of whom Quartley was a founding member. The Tilers was a group of artists and writers, that includedWinslow Homer,William Merritt Chase,andAugustus Saint Gaudens.They met frequently to exchange ideas and decorate ceramic tiles in promotion of their works. They also took excursions for painting, such as the 1878 pilgrimage to Eastern Long Island by Quartley and ten others. On that trip Quartley paintedSeascapeand also a blue painted tile of an introspective girl at the beach. The journalist and philanthropistJohn W. McCoypromoted the careers of Quartley and of his friend, the sculptorWilliam H. Rinehart.

In the year 1876 Quartley was elected to theNational Academy.Quartley's prominence during his lifetime is illustrated by his inclusion as one of 68 painters in the publicationAmerican Painters(1880). Some of his noteworthy canvases are:Early Moonlight, Naragansett Bay(1877);Afternoon in August, Coast of Maine(1878); andLow Country on the North Shore of Long Island(1881).

References

• American Painters,D. Appleton, New York (1880)
• Benjamin, S.G.W.,Our American Artists,New York, London, Garland Publishing Inc. (1879)
• Encyclopedia Americana,New York, Chicago (1919)
• Harrison, Helen,Hamptons Bohemia: Two Centuries of Artists and WritersChronicle Books, San Francisco (2002)ISBN0-8118-3376-3