George Elmer Browne

American (1871-1946)

American impressionist George Elmer Browne was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1871. After attending public school in Salem, Browne went on to receive his artistic training at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Cowles School of Art in Boston as well as at the Academie Julien in Paris where he studied with Jules Lefevbre and Tony Robert-Fleury. After his time in France, Browne returned to live in New York City. Shortly after his return to the states, he won his first art prize, a bronze medal at the Mechanics Fair in Boston in 1895. Although Browne showed his work in the United States, he remained highly regarded in France where he was named Officer of Public Instruction and Fine Arts and in 1926 named Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. Browne was highly involved in the international art world and held membership in many prestigious organizations including the Salmagundi Club, Allied Artists of America, the National Commission to Advance American Art, the American Watercolor Society, the Century Club, the National Academy of Design, the Paris-American Art Association, the National Art Club, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Browne was also a teacher of art, founding the Browne Art Classes. His works can be found in international public collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Los Angeles Art Museum, the Luxemburg Gallery in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the National Gallery in Washington, DC, and the New York Public Library. In addition, his painting ìBait Sellers of Cape Codî was bought by the French government at a Paris Salon in 1904.