Creator Record

Metadata

Name

Fenn, Harry

Dates & places of birth and death

Born, 1845; Surrey, England
Died, 1911

Nationality

British born, American

Occupation

illustrator, landscape painter, etcher, and engraver

Notes

Fenn started as a wood engraver, but soon turned to pencil drawings. In 1864 he made a trip to the U.S. in order to see the Niagara Falls, but after a study tour of Italy, decided to return to the U.S.
Fenn is best known for the engravings he contributed to "Picturesque Europe", "Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt" (1881–84) and "Picturesque America" (edited by William Cullen Bryant, 1872). "Picturesque America" followed an extended tour of the country to gather material. He illustrated a number of books as well, including John Greenleaf Whittier's Snowbound (1868) and Ballads of New England (1870). Later in life he also painted some watercolors. He returned to the U.S. in 1881 and kept a studio in New York City.
Toward the end of his career Fenn concentrated on watercolor paintings. He was a member of the New York Watercolor Club, the Society of Illustrators, the Salmagundi Club, and was a founder of the American Watercolor Society. He exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1864 and at the Brooklyn Art Association between 1864 and 1885. He exhibited at the Columbian Expo in Chicago in 1893 where he was awarded a medal.
His White Mountain scenes include "Evening in New Hampshire", "Evening on Mount Washington", "Mount Washington and Adams", "Mount Washington under Three Feet of Snow", and "Mount Washington, North Conway".