The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-10-24
LETTER FROM MASSACHUSETTS.
Tho Artist Champney.H Oh
OLD'DEEnFIEIp, Mass. !

h has heard of the old historic town o.
Deerfield, the birthplace of many dis
\ tinguished men, as well as the scene o.
the bloody Indian encounters so familiar
/ to every student of history. But surely
| no visitor here in this mild October
weather would ever fancy that the quiet
of the beautiful old town could ever
. have been broken by all Indian wal
/ whoop, or disturbed by more than the
, twitter of birds in the grand old trees
, Yet tits easy enough to account for the
presence here of men who. are lovers
of nature, whether naturalist or artist
Such men often resort here in summer
. the late; Prof Agassizi was among the
number.i Strolling ont upon aIittlG
hill top, tho other day, we came across
well-kRown artist working cheerily
, lon rare study, of brilliant October fo-
liage, interlacing boughs and trunks oi
trees, u II is of this gbnial artist that we
would give some, slightiaccounti an this
communication, ireserving historic and
other matters for later date. The life
of James Wells Champney--or as he is
best known, of "ChampD-has been
full, thus far, of too much novel expert
ence to, allow of details, or anything
more than ILLUSION. lie was Bostoii
born in 1643. His career was begun at
sixteen as an apprentice to a wood en1
grayer. He enlisted in the us army
in, 1863 and served as volunteer in the
rank, and filer Returning, broken in
health, he sought the aid OF Nova Scotiaj
an experiment repeated in later years,
where be. did good service with pencil
and brush. Always fond of art; he de-
termined on his real career as an artist
at twenty-three,, and ,in 1866 went to
Europe to begin it. lie. remained
abroad four years, in France under the
instruction OF Edward Frere and in the
Louvre; in Antwerp, the city of Ru-
bens, and i'm Rome. In Paris he painted
his first signed picture, signed" Champ"
and it was sold the same year, '69, to
Goupil. His only picture signed in full
was for the Paris Salon of 1876. There
the full signature was required, and he
signedas j. w. 4" Champ ney. The ad-
mission of his work to the Salon was it.
self a great compliment. On his return
home, he made his studio in Boston, in
the Studio Building. He soon returned
to Europe, and was in Paris during the
last of the Commune, and left it with
disturbances still rife and blood in the
streets. Visiting Strasbnrg, Baden, the
Rhine, and Antwerp, he continually
made studies in painting Seeing the
Passion Play during this trip, Inc gave
a lecture on the subject, when he re-
turned, before the Art Club of Boston,
q, lecture which has often been repeated.
In '72 he returned to Europe, visiting
Warwick and Avon, and painting pic
tures which have been well sold, going
back to Franco finally, and into the old
haunt of Ecouen with Frere. Begin
ming the winter of, 1872 in Boston, nhe
was driven ont by the fire, and was en-.
gagged by the. Scribners to furnish the
illustrations for Mr.. Edward Kings ar
ticles on e The Great South" in Scrib-
ner's Magazine. This trip covered over
twenty thousand miles of travel and "a
years time, during which he made four
or five hundred sketches. "a $40 @
/ In Kansas, he married Mrs. Champ
ney, whom he had not seen for seven
years, q lady well and favorably known
to readers as an anthoress of promise.
On the compilation of his work the
Scribners presented him with O finely
inscribed gold watch Us testimonial to
the artist of the "Great South" These
illustrations ARE well remembered, and
added much to Mr.. Ohampney's note as
an illustrator. ui.' .li44tl fi ifir3iaff
But q year of American life seems
usually to have been offset by him with
a year in Europe; accordingly VIC find
him next abroad introducing Mrs.
Champney to French society andHlife,
whence she drew the material for those
charming, little French stories which
have. appeared in the various magazines.
Indeed; the scene of " Bourbon Lilies,'
i 50 delightful, was laid in Ecouen, where
Mr.. Champney had worked with Frere.
During this trip also, Mr.. Champney, in
company with the brave reporter, Nc
Gahan, who followed the Russian
campaign ON the Oxns, went over into
Spain to SEQ something of life with tho
Carlists, breakfasting with Don Carlos
on one occasion, and always making
sketches. Some account of his sojburn
in Northern Spain and among the Pyr-
enees aappearediin Appleton's journal
Spain he went back to Paris and was
there commissioned by ILLUSTRATION to
prepare sketches Of American life and
character for that paper, work which
was executed with great spirit and sue
~
College as Professor. of Art, and con-
tinues in that capacity, giving lectures
each year, Together with practical teach
ing. The department Of Art at Smith
College under his guidance has pro-
gressed rapidly, and is as hopeful as
the art department in any American
College, and SO far as practical accom-
plishment is concerned, it surpasses all,
In the same, year that Mr.. Ghampney
was called to Smith College, we find
him also illustrating Charles Dudley
Warmers /" Being a Boy.", .
In the summer of the next year he
made a delightful excursion, for five
hundred miles up the Amazon, accom-
panying Mr.. Herbert Smith, the illus
trations for whose articles by Mr..
Champney have already appeared in
Scribncr's, and will soon appear in
book form. In fact, our artist has had
many and varied experiences Of travel
both at home and abroad, and has made
them all conduce to his own growth in
art. On his return from Brazil in 1879,
he was called TO take charge of the So
cicty of Decorative Art in Hartford, o
position which he accepted and accepta-
bly, fiffed. His studio winters, IS in
New York, bnt his summers are largely
lspeht in Deerfield, where he has q
studio, much visited by those in the VI
cinity interested in art, or curious to
see an artists workshop; or personally
interested In the companionable subject
of this sketch. Il 7.1 NJ i.fii o. -i1it
Mr.. Cbampney belongs to- the Water
Color Society and is a member Of the
Century Club OF New York, the Bos-
ton Art Club, aud the Salmaguhdih or
Designers Club of New York. He be-
; longs to the genre school Of painting,
and paints everyday subjects OF life,
character and Landscape. Ills aim has
world rather than TO itsintellettual stf-
/, ferings,'p We'ean truthfully say that he
has done considerable for art III Amer
lea, and yet in early life has d career OF
!, xyider pr,omisei oyoen bfsfn,S,S him ~ He