Charles Curran was born in 1861. He studied art extensively; at the Cincinnati School of Design, Art Students League, National Academy of Design and Academie Julian from 1888-90. His years spent in Paris influenced his use of light and form. Curran is truly responsible for the rebirth of the genre painting tradition of the late 19th century. His first exhibit was held at the age of 23, at the National Academy of Design. Curran was the leader of the Cragsmoor Art Colony in upstate New York, along with his wife who co-edited an art student publication. Curran is perhaps best known for his combination of sweeping vistas with whimsical, delicate female figures, such as "Two Women in a Landscape" (1916). Curran was a prolific painter who won many awards for his figurative works. Curran died in 1942.

Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell

Charles Courtney Curran, a prolific and popular painter all his life, was among the artists responsible for the rebirth of the genre tradition in late nineteenth century American art. Born in 1861 in Hartford, Kentucky, Curran spent his formative years in Sandusky, Ohio, where his family had moved in 1881. Curran studied briefly at the Cincinnati School of Design.

The following year, Curran moved to New York City. There he enrolled in the National Academy of Design, worked under the tutelage of Walter Satterlee, and later attended the Art Students League. Curran achieved early artistic recognition. He had his first exhibit at age 23 at the National Academy of Design. Five years later, the Academy awarded him Third Hallgarten Prize for A Breezy Day (date and location unknown), designated most "meritorious painting in oil." Curran's two years of study at the Academie Julien in Paris, from 1889 to 1891, likely influenced the impressionistic use of form and light in his subsequent works.

He spent the remainder of his life dividing his time between New York City and his house and studio in the Cragsmoor region of New York State. Curran died in l942.

In addition to teaching art and painting, Curran was a leader of the Cragsmoor Art Colony. For several years, he and his wife co-edited the art student publication Palette and Brush.

During his life, Curran received much recognition for his figure paintings, but his style was not limited exclusively to that genre. The widely traveled artist also painted landscapes, portraits and a series of views of the Imperial Temples of Peking.

He is perhaps best known for those works which combine sweeping vistas of the Cragsmoor area with the almost whimsical delicacy of the female form, as in Two Women in a Landscape (1916, location unknown).

Memberships:
Allied Art Association
American Water Color Society
National Academy of Design
Lotos Club
MacDowell Club
National Arts Club
New York Water Color Club
Salmagundi Club
Society of American Artists

Public Collections:
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Art Association of Richmond, Indiana
Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts
Fort Worth Art Museum, Texas
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio
Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton