William Robert Ware was a New York-based architect, former student of Richard Morris Hunt, and friend of Henry Ogden Avery. Ware founded Columbia’s School of Architecture in 1881, making it the fourth oldest architecture school in the United States. This portrait was commissioned and painted in 1902, one year before Ware’s retirement. The artist Amanda Brewster Sewell (Mrs. Robert Van Vorst Sewell) was born and raised in New York City. She studied in Paris at the Académie Julian with William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and in New York at the National Academy of Design with William Merritt Chase.
Accession Number
C00.0258
Subjects
Ware, William R. (William Robert), 1832-1915
Format
paintings
Culture
American (North American)
Genre
portraits
Origin Information
United States
Date
1902
Physical Description
1 painting ; 45 x 38 in. (104.3 x 96.5 cm), with frame: 57 3/16 x 50 1/2 in. (145.3 x 128.4 cm)
Note (Medium/support)
Oil on canvas
Note (Inscriptions/signatures)
Signed and dated lower right: Brewster Sewell 1902
Note (Ownership)
Donated by Friends and Former Pupils, 1902
Note
Plaque on frame: William Robert Ware / 1832-1915 / Professor of Architecture / 1881-1903 / Painted by / Mrs. R.V.V. Sewall