Franklin Brownell (Peleg Franklin Brownell)

1856-1946

Franklin Brownell was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A. At around 1879, he studied  at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts under T.W. Dewing. In 1880, he went to Paris where he studied at the Académie Julian under Tony Robert-Fleury, William Bouguereau and Léon Bonnat. He came to Canada in 1885 and initially settled in Montreal. Brownell then moved to Ottawa in 1887, where he took up the position of Headmaster of the Ottawa Art School until 1900. He then took up a similar position at the Women’s Art Association, which later became the Art Association of Ottawa, until his retirement in 1937.

In 1893, he participated at the World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago. In 1889, on the year he got married, he exhibited at the Royal Canadian Academy and did so almost annually until 1918. That same year he also participated at the Spring Exhibition of the Art Association of Montreal which he would do again on occasion until 1917. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1894 and made a full-member the following year. He was a member of the Ontario Society of Artists from 1899 to 1907.

In1900, he participated at the Exposition Universelle de Paris and was awarded the Bronze medal for a work he did for his RCA diploma, The Photographer, which his now part of the National Gallery of Canada’s collection. In 1904, he also exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. Three years later, he was a founding member of the Canadian Art Club whose members included, among others, James W. Morrice, Horatio Walker and William Henry Clapp.

Over the years, Brownell became a close friend of Eric Brown, then the Director of the National Gallery of Canada. Together they went on painting trips in the West Indies in 1913 and 1914. During the 1920’s and the early 1930’s, Brownell exhibited regularly at James Wilson and Company in Ottawa and had numerous sold-out shows. In 1922, Brownell had a retrospective show of his works at the National Gallery of Canada, a rare honour for a living artist. Two years later he took part at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, England. In 1937, he participated at an exhibition held at the Art Gallery of Toronto featuring the senior Painters of Canada, and received high acclaim along with Maurice Cullen and M.-A. Suzor-Coté.

While he painted mainly around his hometown of Ottawa, he also painted in the Gatineau area with younger artist Frank Hennessy, in the Gaspé region and in Algonquin Park. As a teacher, he taught many young artists who later became well-established such as Henri Masson, Pegi Nicol MacLoed and Robert Tait McKenzie. Besides his landscapes, he produced portraits, flower studies, marine and genre scenes in oil, watercolour and pastel. He died in Ottawa at the age of 90.

Collections:

- National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montreal, QC)
- Musée d’Art de Joliette (Joliette, QC)
- Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, ON)
- Art Gallery of Hamilton (Hamilton, ON)
- Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Victoria, BC)
- Edmonton Art Gallery (Edmonton, AB)
- The Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg, MN)
- Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Kingston, ON)
- Library and Archives Canada (Ottawa, ON)
- Power Corporation of Canada (Montreal, QC)

Affiliations:

- Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy (1894)
- Royal Canadian Academy (1895)
- Ontario Society of Artists (1899-1907)
- Canadian Art Club (1907-1916)