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Key Artists > Arthur Prince Spear

Arthur Prince Spear

1879-1959 | Browse Artwork

Above: A self portrait by Spear.

Arthur Prince Spear: Drawing Before He Could Read

Before Arthur Spear could read, he was fascinated with drawing pictures of horses. The imagination that burst forth from him as a child carried on to the highly personal and individual underwater world of sea nymphs and sprites that he is today remembered for.

Spear attended the Washington Art Students League and then the Art Students League in New York. It was there that he studied with Howard Chandler Christy, Kenyon Cox, George Bridgeman and Putnam Brindly.

In 1902, he went to Paris to study under Jean Paul Laurens at the Julien Academy, returning to the United States in 1907. Upon his return, he took a studio in the Fenway Studios building in Boston, and began his career as an impressionist painter. In 1915, he hit upon the subject matter that made his name, creating artworks set in a universe of otherworldly sea dwellers, mermaids, satyrs and nymph.

His work was sold primarily at Vose Galleries in Boston, though he was also exhibited at the Rosenbach Gallery, the Carnegie Institute, Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the National Arts Club.

Above: Daydreams Arthur Spear’s most enduring image .

Above: Tear sheet from HEARST’S Magazine august 1920 with one of Arthur Prince Spear’s fanciful creations.

Though his career was mostly in fine art painting, he created one of the most popular impressionist illustrations of the early 20th century, a work titled “Daydreams.” He also worked as a propaganda artist during the First World War, creating at least three posters for the war effort, including two large Liberty Bond canvases which were displayed in department store windows.

Arthur Prince Spear: A Victim of The Great Depression

When the stock market crashed in 1929, the combination of the Depression era cutbacks on luxury purchases and the rise of interest in modernist style decimated the market for his impressionist painting. The lean years had a lasting effect on his passion.

Spear gave up painting in 1944, giving away all of his art supplies and destroying many of his paintings on hand. Arthur Prince Spear died in Waban, MA in 1959.

Arthur Prince Spear

 

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    Arthur Spear artwork at GMG

    The Young Diana November 8, 2014
    Nets of Silver and Gold August 9, 2011
    Moon Flowers June 15, 2007
    Wings of The Morning Study June 11, 2007
    The Young Dianas December 11, 2003
    The Unveiling November 19, 2003
    Sea Weeds November 10, 2003
    Mermaid Sea Dweller November 10, 2003

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