LA FIDELIA SERIES

In 1883, she took a break from painting and accepted an offer to serve as a nanny to Mark Twain’s three daughters while their governess was in Europe.īy 1890 she was living in Stratford, Connecticut, where the marshes and meadows along the Housatonic River inspired her. This lack of exhibitions kept her from achieving the stature of other artists. She continued to design Christmas cards until 1899.įidelia did not enjoy exhibiting her art but preferred to sell to a small circle of patrons such as Prang and Mark Twain. In 1881 she entered Prang’s Annual Christmas card design contest and was chosen as a designer.

In 1876 she sold paintings to Louis Prang, who reproduced them as part of a book of months enhancing Fidelia’s reputation. He also sold some of her paintings to his patrons. Richards’ Pre-Raphaelite Approach focused on detail, which was a major influence on Fidelia’s art. Through Anne Whitney, Fidelia became personal friends with Richards and his family and accompanied them on painting vacations.

LA FIDELIA SERIES

In 1860 Fidelia attended a series of lectures by William Trost Richards, who was well-known for his realistic paintings of the White Mountains. While continuing to care for the growing Brown family, Fidelia also pursued her art and produced several oil paintings. In 1854 Brown moved his family and Fidelia to Brooklyn, New York the Bridges siblings followed her. Whitney encouraged Fidelia to pursue her art.Īs Fidelia’s health improved, she worked as a mother’s helper to the children of William Augustus Brown, a successful ship owner and merchant. Fidelia befriended Whitney, who would become an acclaimed artist who designed the sculpture of Samuel Adams in Boston’s Dock Square. Deeply affected by the family tragedy, Fidelia fell ill and during her recovery spent her time in bed drawing.ĭuring the late 1840s Anne Whitney, who later became a noted sculptor, opened an art school in Salem. Eliza, the oldest at the age of twenty-four, supported her younger brother and sisters by working as a schoolteacher. Siblings Eliza, Elizabeth, Fidelia and Henry were left as orphans they auctioned off the family furniture and moved to a smaller house.

News traveled slowly in those days and knowledge of his death reached his family three hours after the death of their mother. When Fidelia was 15, her father died while overseas. The family lived at 100 Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts, now known as the Fidelia Bridges Guest House. This style of dress is called the Bloomer costume, named for its designer, feminist Amelia Bloomer.įidelia Bridges was born May 19, 1834, the daughter of sea captain Henry Gardiner Bridges and Eliza Chadwick Bridges. Note the shorter dress with pants underneath. Selected with the guidance of an international team of expert advisors, these primary sources are invaluable for a wide range of academic disciplines and areas of study, providing never before possible research opportunities for one of the most studied historical periods.She wore black in the winter, gray linen in the summer. These invaluable, sometimes previously unknown works are of particular interest to scholars and researchers.Įuropean Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection includes: The collection thus contains everything from novels and short stories to belles lettres and more populist works, and includes many exceedingly rare works not available in any other collection from the period. The Corvey library was built during the last half of the 19th century by Victor and his wife Elise, both bibliophiles with varied interests. The Corvey Collection comprises one of the most important collections of Romantic era writing in existence anywhere - including fiction, short prose, dramatic works, poetry, and more - with a focus on especially difficult-to-find works by lesser-known, historically neglected writers. The collection is sourced from the remarkable library of Victor Amadeus, whose Castle Corvey collection was one of the most spectacular discoveries of the late 1970s. Nineteenth Century Collections Online: European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection includes the full-text of more than 9,500 English, French and German titles.

La fidelia