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Chauncey Foster Ryder

Chauncey Ryder was born in Danbury February 29, 1868 and died May 18, 1949. Soon after his birth, the Ryder family moved to New Haven, where he spent most of his early years. Later he moved to Chicago, where he was married to Mary Dole Keith in 1891. After their marriage, he enrolled in evening classes at the Art Institute. Then in the mid-90s, he spent two years at Smith's Art Academy in Chicago, first as a student and then as an instructor.

In 1901, Ryder and his wife sold their house in order to finance a move to Paris. It was a now-or-never act of desperation. It indicated how important it was for American artists to study in Paris with hopes of becoming a respected painter. Ryder was probably at least ten years older than most students at the Academie Julian when he enrolled. He worked there for two years under Jean-Paul Laurens and Raphael Collin. In 1903 the first work he submitted to the Paris Salon was accepted, and he continued to exhibit there regularly until 1907. To augment his income, he gave art lessons.

Ryder's work was recognized in 1907 by William Macbeth of Macbeth Galleries in New York, and from that point on his career as an artist was launched and success followed. William Macbeth not only ran one of the only two galleries devoted to American art, but he worked hard to promote the artists he represented and to win respect for American art. He even produced, to that end, a serial publication called Art Notes, which remarked on many exhibitions other than his own and often chided American art collectors for "buying European." After he began his association with Macbeth, Ryder maintained studios in both New York and Paris for the next several years.

Ryder exhibited with the Lyme artists' group in both 1910 and 1911. He also stayed in Miss Florence Griswold's house, and painted one of the panels in her dining room. He must have been looked up to by the artists in Old Lyme, because participation in the annual exhibitions was by invitation, and permission to stay in the Griswold House was far from automatic. Most important, to be asked to paint one of the panels was considered a rare privilege.

The summer of 1910 must have been a busy one for Ryder, for besides visiting Old Lyme, he spent time in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and Monhegan, Maine, as well as Wilton, New Hampshire, where he bought a summer studio. From then on Ryder spent most of April through November there, painting the New Hampshire landscape. In 1911, however, he seems to have visited Old Lyme again briefly.

Ryder sold at least one of his paintings in Old Lyme to Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. By this time he had developed a sketch-like style of landscape painting that was unique. A contemporary art critic said, "Ryder paints with a freedom and a facility which is not deterred by quibbling details. He is always lyrical and poetic in his approach, and often achieves a certain luminous quality . . . transforming a whole scene into something of other-worldly loveliness."

His oils with loosely-defined forms, usually small in size, sold well. Some larger, more diverse, compositions were acquired by major museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Ryder received numerous awards and prizes, including a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915; the Salmagundi Club Show Prize in 1926; the National Academy of Design, Obrig Prize in 1933; and a gold medal at the Paris International Exposition in 1937. He was named an associate of the National Academy of Design in 1915 and a full academician in 1920. He was also a member of the Salmagundi Club, the National Arts Club, the Lotos Club, and Allied Artists of America. Although best known for his oil paintings, Ryder was a proficient draftsman, printmaker, and watercolorist.

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

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