The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Fuller, George

FULLER, George, American artist: b. Deerfield, Mass., 1822; d. Brookline, Mass., 21 March 1884. He went to Illinois in 1836, and, having developed a taste for painting, studied in 1842 under Henry Kirke Brown, at Albany, N. Y. After working in Boston for a few years, he went to New York, where in 1857 his portrait of his former teacher, Mr. Brown, the first of his works to attract notice, gained him an election as associate of the National Academy. He spent eight months in European study and travel in 1859 and then retired to his farm at Deerfield, using his art only for recreation, till financial reverses in 1873 forced him to take it up again as a profession. About 1876 his pictures began to be noticed for their peculiar handling, richness of tone and a dreaminess of conception which, when admired at all, was admired very thoroughly. A memorial exhibition of his works was held at the Boston Museum of the Fine Arts in 1884. His contributions to the National Academy exhibitions include ‘The Turkey-Pasture, Kentucky’ (1878); ‘The Dandelion Girl’; ‘The Romany Girl’ (1879); ‘The Quadroon’ (1880). To the exhibitions of the Society of American Artists he sent ‘Priscilla Fauntleroy’ (1882); ‘Nydia’ (1883). Other works of his are ‘Cupid’ (1854); ‘Negro Nurse, with a Child’ (1861); ‘At the Bars’ (1865); ‘Shearing the Donkey’ (1879); ‘And She was a Witch’ (1879); ‘The Gatherer of Simples’ (1880); ‘Winifred Dysart’ (1881); ‘Psyche’ (1882); ‘November’ (1884); ‘Fedalma’ (1884); ‘Arethusa’ (1884) and numerous portraits. He left an unfinished picture representing a trial for witchcraft in the early days of New England. Consult Isham, ‘History of American Painting’ (New York 1905) and the biography by Millet (Boston 1886).