Amanda Brewster Sewell

Lydia Amanda Brewster Sewell (February 24, 1859 - November 15, 1926) was a 19th-century American painter of portraits and genre scenes. Lydia Amanda Brewster studied art in the United States and in Paris before marrying her husband, fellow artist Robert Van Vorst Sewell. She won a bronze medal for her mural Arcadia at The World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. She continued to win medals at expositions and was the first woman to win a major prize at the National Academy of Design, where she was made an Associate Academian in 1903. She was vice president of the Woman's Art Club of New York by 1906. Her works are in several public collections.

Early life Lydia Amanda Brewster, the daughter of Benjamin T. Brewster and Julia Ann Washburn Brewster, was born in North Elba, New York on February 24, 1859. Sewell painted William Brewster, a Mayflower passenger and one of her ancestors, when she was a young girl.

Education In 1876, Sewell studied in the antique class of the National Academy of Design. In Paris, she studied under Tony Robert-Fleury and William-Adolphe Bouguereau at the Académie Julian; The couple lived on Long Island, New York in the Fleetwood House in Oyster Bay. They were on the Social Register in 1918. One of their sons, William Joyce Sewell, married Marion Brown, the daughter of artist Bolton Brown.

Career After having completed her studies in Paris, Sewell opened a studio in New York. She painted portraits, including Mrs. Peter Cooper Hewitt, Mrs. Helen Jennings Ranger (wife of Henry Ward Ranger), Mrs. Flora Bigelow Dodge (wife of Charles Stuart Dodge, mother of Lucie Bigelow Rosen and Johnnie Dodge), and her husband, Robert Van Vorst Sewell. She was also a decorative painter. Sewell exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts and the Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. She was awarded a bronze medal for was Arcadia, a side mural for the Hall of Honor of the Woman's Building. Kirsten Swinth says that "Amanda Brewster Sewell's Arcadia displayed her ability to paint the human figure, develop complex compositions, and manage the subject matter of history painting." Other works exhibited include Pleasures of the Past, Sylvan Festival, Mother and Son and By the River.

Sewell exhibited A Pastoral, A Sylvan Festival, and Pleasures of the Past at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts exhibition between December 21, 1896 – February 22, 1897. She won a bronze medal at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, a silver medal at the 1902 Charleston Exposition in South Carolina, a bronze medal at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, The painting, called an "important" work by The Independent, depicts dancing Greek maidens and children leading a procession of cattle to the sacrifice. Harper's Weekly commented, "These joyous figures, moving in a leafy glade into which the sunlight filters, are charming in color and rhythmic movement, and as a piece of admirably conceived and executed decorative painting it stands alone in the collection." She was the first woman to earn a major prize at the National Academy.

Her self-portrait was an Associate National Academian (ANA) diploma presentation on March 7, 1904; It was also exhibited with in the National Academy of Design Portraits exhibition held by the National Arts Club in 1916.

Death Sewell died in 1926 in Florence, Italy. Her husband, Robert Van Vorst Sewell died in 1924, also in Florence.

Collections Columbia University William Robert Ware (1832 - 1915), 1902 Farnsworth Art Museum Portrait of Julie and Jackie, National Academy of Design Robert Van Vorst Sewell (1860 - 1924), Self-portrait, 1904 University of the South, University Art Gallery Portrait of Mrs. Louise Claiborne-Armstrong, 1921 Williams College Museum of Art William Dwight Whitney (1827-1894), 1895 Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts/Rosen House Flora (Bigelow) Dodge, 1901 Lucie Bigelow Dodge, 1901

Awards