1775-1803: Early Training in America and Paris

John Vanderlyn was born October 15, 1775, in Kingston, New York. His father, Nicholas Vanderlyn was a successful house and sign painter who owned a large, two-story stone house and barn in the middle of town. The coming of the Revolution, however, turned the prosperous Vanderlyn household upside down. The advance of the British up the Hudson in 1777 and their subsequent burning of Kingston rendered the Vanderlyn family homeless. With only the kitchen annex to his fine home remaining, Nicholas set about building a frame addition. It was in these modest and cramped quarters that John Vanderlyn was to pass a relatively happy childhood.

At age eleven, he was enrolled at the Kingston Academy, a prestigious institution to which sons of many of New York's distinguished families were sent during the Revolution. Following his graduation at the age of 16, Vanderlyn went to New York City where he worked as a shop assistant to Thomas Barrow, an importer of engravings. In New York, Vanderlyn not only met many notable American artists, but also enrolled as a student of Alexander and Archibald Robertson at the Columbian School of Painting. There he learned the basics of drawing and design as well as the technique of miniature painting.

Severyn Bruyn (1787-1856) Oil on canvas. 1795-96

It was his copies of Gilbert Stuart's portraits, however, that brought him to the attention of U.S. Senator Aaron Burr. Burr first learned of the youth's work through Congressman Peter Van Gaasbeek, who had grown up in Kingston's Senate House and had purchased the Burr portrait. Impressed by Vanderlyn's ability, Burr directed and supported the artist's training over the next twenty years. It was Burr who sent Vanderlyn to Philadelphia to study with Gilbert Stuart and abroad to France to continue his studies. That Vanderlyn went to France rather than England was a departure from the tradition of 18th-century American artists.

The art world of Paris that Vanderlyn encountered as a student was exciting. He studied at the French Academy under Francois-Andre Vincent, who taught him the rudiments of historical painting in the neo-classical tradition. Vincent's classes provided Vanderlyn with training in life drawing and anatomy. He was also taught how to work out his compositions from sketches and how to draw from nature. Among the many Americans Vanderlyn met in Paris was Robert Fulton who, in an effort to raise funds to support research for his inventions, had exhibited the first panoramic painting in Paris. Fulton's success in this venture was to make a lasting impression on Vanderlyn.

In 1799, Vanderlyn's funds from Burr were temporarily suspended, due either to Burr's economic or political difficulties. Vanderlyn, however, remained in Paris for two more years earning his living painting portraits until Burr sent money for his return passage in 1800.

A View of the Westerly Branch of the Falls of Niagra Aquatint with etched lines - 1804

Vanderlyn spent the next three years in America, seeking portrait commissions and making sketches of Niagara Falls for a set of engravings. With Niagara Falls, he hoped to attain international recognition, for few Americans had actually made the difficult journey to view this natural wonder. Vanderlyn's reputation as the first artist to train in France, together with his association with Aaron Burr, recently inaugurated as Vice-President, provided him entre into New York and Washington society and brought him numerous commissions during this period. Among them were portaits of Aaron Burr, Burr's daughter, Theodosia, Mr. and Mrs. John R. Livingston , and pencil drawings of President Jefferson and Mrs. and Mrs. James Madison.

(Next: 1803-1815: European Experience, Again!).