History of Bloomingdale, (Essex County) New York United States of America

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Vincent Colyer, painter, was born in Bloomingdale, N.Y., in 1825. In 1844 he went to New York city where he studied art under the tuition of John R. Smith and at the National academy of design. He made his first exhibition at the academy in 1848. His first works, portraits and ideal heads in crayon, were soon succeeded by portraits in oil. At the outbreak of the civil war he originated the Christian commission and was in active service as head of that charity throughout the war, spending much of his time in the southern states where his work among the freedmen and in the Union camps was arduous and exacting. After the war he made his home at Rowayton, Darien, Conn. He was appointed an Indian commissioner and was elected to the Connecticut legislature. He was made an associate of the National academy in 1844 and was a founder and the first secretary of the Artists' fund society. Among his better known works are: A Loyal Refugee (1863); A Soldier's Widow (1867); Columbia River (1875); Passing Shower (1876); Rainy Day on Connecticut Shore (1881); View near Schiedam (1883); Winter on Connecticut Shore (1884); Home of the Yackamas, Oregon (1885); A Poppy Field in Normandy (1885); French Waiter (1886); Moonlight on the Grand Canal, Venice (1886); A French Village (1886); and Lake Maggiore, Italy (1888). He died on Contentment Island, Darien, Conn., July 12, 1888.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Bloomingdale, (Essex County) New York

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