A Life Rooted in New England
Alfred Cornelius Howland was born into a deep history of New Englanders, with roots stretching back to an ancestor who arrived as an indentured servant on the Mayflower. He grew up in Walpole, New Hampshire, in a Greek Revival house built by his father. His early years were shaped by the quiet rhythms of this landscape, and he eventually graduated from Walpole Academy in 1855.
Before finding his way to the canvas, Howland worked with his hands in ways that required a sharp eye for detail. In Boston, he found employment as an engraver, and later moved to New York to work as a lithographer. These early roles in Boston and New York provided him with a technical foundation in line and form that would stay with him throughout his career.
Training Across Europe
The pursuit of art eventually led Howland away from the United States and toward the established academies of Europe. In 1859, he began a period of intense study at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in Germany. He spent time under the guidance of Andreas Müller and later worked in the studio of Albert Flamm . This German training introduced him to a structured approach to composition and light.
His path then took him to Paris, where he immersed himself in the atmosphere of the French art scene. During these years, he studied with Emile Lambinet and found connection with the painters of the Barbizon School . He worked alongside Jean-François Millet and Théodore Rousseau , and even met Camille Corot. These encounters helped him adopt a way of looking at nature that favored soft light and quiet, rural scenes.
The Language of the Landscape
When Howland returned to America in 1865, he brought these European influences back to his own surroundings. He lived and worked in New York and Williamstown, Massachusetts, often returning to spend summers in the latter. His paintings frequently focused on the rustic New England countryside, capturing the simple life of its inhabitants.
His work often featured specific subjects that felt familiar to those who knew the region:
Farmers and people in old-fashioned clothing during Fourth of July parades.
Bucolic scenes of cows in streams or resting by rivers.
The quiet movement of people on country paths and roads.
Local buildings and landmarks, sometimes rearranged to match his childhood memories.
Through the use of Tonalism and elements of the Barbizon style, he painted light-filled, storytelling landscapes. Whether working in oil on canvas or through lithography and engraving , he sought to depict a peaceful, pastoral reality. His later years took him to California, where he passed away in Pasadena.
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