Ralph Wormeley Curtis

Ralph Wormeley Curtis (August 28, 1854 – February 4, 1922) was an American painter and graphic artist in the Impressionist style. He spent most of his life in Europe, where he was a close associate of his distant cousin, John Singer Sargent, and James McNeill Whistler. He painted in a variety of genres, but was known mostly for landscapes and urban scenes; especially of Venice.

Not to be confused with Ralph Luxmore Curtis, the British World War I flying ace.
Ralph Wormeley Curtis
Portrait of Curtis by Frank Duveneck, c. 1878
BornAugust 28, 1854
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedFebruary 4, 1922
Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France
NationalityAmerican
EducationHarvard University
Académie Julian
Spouse(s)
Lisa de Wolfe Colt
(
m. after 1897)
Parent(s)Daniel Sargent Curtis
Ariana Randolph Wormeley

Early life
Mrs. Ralph Curtis (Lisa de Wolfe Colt), John Singer Sargent, 1898

Curtis was born in Boston on August 28, 1854. His father was the prominent lawyer and banker, Daniel Sargent Curtis and his mother was Ariana Randolph Wormeley (1834-1922), a sister of Elizabeth Wormeley Latimer, both descendants of John Randolph (1727–1784).[1]

His maternal grandfather, Ralph Randolph Wormeley, born in Virginia to loyalist parents, was raised in London and joined the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of admiral, while his grandmother, Caroline Preble, was from a venerable Boston family. His mother was therefore born and raised in London[2] and returned to the United States in 1848.[3]

He spent much of his childhood in the affluent village of Chestnut Hill. After attending some preparatory academies, including G. W. C. Noble's school in Boston, he studied law at Harvard University where, in 1876, he was a member of Hasty Pudding Club[4] and one of the co-founders of The Harvard Lampoon.[5][6]

Career

Upon graduating, he convinced his parents to let him study art. He began at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he studied with Gustave Boulanger, Jules-Joseph Lefebvre and the history painter, Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury. Upon completing his work there, he found a position in the studios of Carolus-Duran.[7] It was there he first met John Singer Sargent, who would not only become a close friend, but also have a significant influence on his style.[8]

In 1878, his parents moved to Europe; spending some time in Rome, where he paid them a visit and took more painting lessons. Eventually, they would settle in Venice; buying the Palazzo Barbaro, which would become a cultural meeting place. One of their frequent guests was James McNeill Whistler, who would also become Curtis' friend and influence his style. Meanwhile, he opened his own studio in Paris. In 1880, he and Sargent visited the Netherlands to copy the works of Frans Hals and mingled with the art colony in Scheveningen.[7]

From 1881 through 1893, he was a regular exhibitor at the Salon and, in 1889, received Honorable Mention at the Exposition Universelle.[7] He also had showings at the Royal Academy of Arts, the Grosvenor Gallery and the Manchester Art Gallery. He apparently made little money from his paintings, however; relying on his family's wealth for support.

Personal life

On June 6, 1897, he married Lisa de Wolfe (née Colt) Rotch (1871–1933) of Providence. Lisa, a daughter of George D'Wolf Colt, who was related to the Colt firearms family.[6] Together, they were the parents of:

  • Sylvia Curtis (1899–1981),[9] married Alexander Steinert Jr. of Boston.[10] They divorced and in 1947 she married Schuyler Owen (a descendant of signer of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Stockton).[11]
  • Ralph Wormely Curtis (1908–1973), who married Cesarine Amelia Marie Harjes (1899–1949), the eldest surviving daughter of banker Henry Herman Harjes (a partner of J.P. Morgan in Paris), in 1930.[12]

After the birth of their daughter, Sylvia, they moved to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, a seaside village on the French Riviera between Nice and Monaco, where they had two more children.[13]

Curtis died at Beaulieu-sur-Mer on February 4, 1922.[14]

Selected paintings
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References
  1. Bellet, Louise Pecquet du (1907). Some Prominent Virginia Families. Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 9780806307220. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  2. Adelson, Warren (2006). Sargent's Venice. Yale University Press. pp. 205–206. ISBN 0300117175. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  3. Preble, George Henry (1868). Genealogical Sketch of the First Three Generations of Prebles in America: With an Account of Abraham Preble the Emigrant, Their Common Ancestor, and of His Grandson Brigadier General Jedediah Preble, and His Descendants. Family Circulation, D. Clapp and Son. p. 159. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  4. Club, Hasty Pudding (1902). Catalogue of the Members and Library of the Hasty Pudding Club in Harvard University. Cambridge Press: Metcalf, Torry, & Ballou. p. 267. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  5. Wormeley, Katharine Prescott (1879). Recollections of Ralph Randolph Wormeley. Priv. print., Nation Press. p. 3. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  6. Thayer, William Roscoe; Castle, William Richards; Howe, Mark Antony De Wolfe; Pier, Arthur Stanwood; Voto, Bernard Augustine De; Morrison, Theodore (1922). The Harvard Graduates' Magazine. Harvard Graduates' Magazine Association. pp. 410–411. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  7. Biographical notes Archived 2016-05-07 at the Wayback Machine @ the John Singer Sargent Gallery.
  8. Weinberg, Helene Barbara; Barratt, Carrie Rebora (2009). American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765-1915. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 124. ISBN 9781588393364. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  9. "Sylvia M. Owen, 82 | Was a breeder of show dogs". The Boston Globe. 17 July 1981. p. 33. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  10. "Villa Sylvia, Saint Jean-sur-mer | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum". www.gardnermuseum.org. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  11. "MRS. SYLVIA CURTIS BECOMES ENGAGED; Daughter of Late R. W. Curtis Will Be Wed to Schuyler Owen, Former AAF Major". The New York Times. 7 March 1947. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  12. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (24 January 1930). "MISS MARIE HARJES WED TO R.W. CURTIS; Daughter of Late Partner of J.P. Morgan in French Firm Married in Paris Cathedral" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  13. Ormond, Richard; Kilmurray, Elaine (2009). John Singer Sargent: Venetian figures and landscapes, 1898-1913. Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. p. 235. ISBN 9780300141405. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  14. "DIED. Curtis". The New York Times. 9 February 1922. Retrieved 21 December 2017.

Further reading
  • Elizabeth Anne McCauley: Gondola Days, Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston 2004, ISBN 0-914660-21-7.
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