Daniel Ridgway Knight

{"Id":138,"Name":"Daniel Ridgway Knight","Biography":"\u003Ccenter\u003Eby Howard L. Rehs\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.rehsgalleries.com/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERehs Galleries, Inc., New York City\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/center\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EDaniel Ridgway Knight\u0026rsquo;s works represent so many aspects of Nineteenth Century painting, including history, genre, landscape, portrait, and floral themes. In each work, all that is aesthetic is recorded with fine detail and skill.In order to faithfully record the scenery, Knight studied the different phases of the day and their effects on the environment. Knight built a glass studio outside of his home, enabling him to paint outdoors, even in the dead of winter. Whether he was concentrating on the evening with the glow of moonlight upon the Seine River or on a young woman in a brightly colored flower garden at midday, each scene is depicted with great detail and with specific attention to a realistic portrayal of the landscape.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EDaniel Ridgway Knight was born on March 15,1839 in Pennsylvania. He studied and exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, were he was a classmate of Mary Cassatt and Thomas Eakins. In 1861, he went to Paris to study at l\u0026rsquo;Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Cabanel, and to apprentice in the atelier of Charles-Gabriel-Gleyere.He returned to Philadelphia in 1863 to serve in the Union Army. During the war, Knight practiced sketching facial expressions and capturing human emotion in his work. He sketched battle scenes, recording the war for history. He founded the Philadelphia Sketch Club, where he showed works that dealt with the Civil War, mythology, and scenes from opera. In 1871 Knight married Rebecca Morris Webster and after the wedding he began working as a portrait painter in order to make enough money to return to France.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIn 1872, once settled in France, Knight befriended Renoir, Sisley, and Wordsworth, all of whose influences can be seen in his work. He also enjoyed a close relationship with Meissonier. In 1875 he painted a painting called \u003Ci\u003EWash Day\u003C/i\u003E (35.5 \u0026rdquo; x 51.25 \u0026rdquo;) after a sketch by Meissonier for which he received critical acclaim. Knight was also strongly effected by the works of Jean-Francois Millet. In 1874 while painting in Barbizon, Knight went to visit Millet and found his view of peasant life to be too fatalistic. As opposed to Millet, Knight focused on depicting the rural classes during their happier moments. Other important influences were Bastien-Lepage, with whom he is most often compared and Jules Breton for his plein-air style.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EKnight\u0026rsquo;s works during the 1870\u0026rsquo;s and 1880\u0026rsquo;s focused on the peasant at work in the field\u0026rsquo;s or doing the day\u0026rsquo;s chores - collecting water or washing clothes at the riverside. His painting \u003Ci\u003EHailing the Ferry\u003C/i\u003E, painted in 1888 and currently in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, depicts two peasant girls calling for the ferryman on the other side of the river. This work, considered one of the artist\u0026rsquo;s masterpieces, captures all the elements of his pre-Rolleboise period - the subdued light and color, the finely detailed figures and the artist\u0026rsquo;s acute attention to detail.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EBy the late 1890\u0026rsquo;s, Knight established a home in Rolleboise, some forty miles west of Paris. Here he began to paint the scenes that were to make his work so sought after by contemporary collectors - views of his garden. His home had a beautiful garden terrace that overlooked the Seine - a view he often used in his paintings. Collectors from across the globe vied for these works, which featured pretty local girls in his garden. Works from this period include \u003Ci\u003EThe Roses\u003C/i\u003E currently in the collection of the J.B. Speed Museum and \u003Ci\u003EThe Letter\u003C/i\u003E in the Joslyn Art Museum - both of which feature pretty young women surrounded by lush flora.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EKnight received a third class medal at the Salon in 1888 for \u003Ci\u003EHailing the Ferry\u003C/i\u003E and a Gold Medal at the Munich Exhibition that same year. In 1889 he was awarded a Silver Medal at the Paris Exposition and was knighted in the Legion of Honor, becoming an officer in 1914. In 1896 he received the Grand Medal of Honor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Daniel R. Knight died in Paris on March 9, 1924.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ESelected works by Daniel Ridgway Knight in U.S. public collections:\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThe Burning of Chambersburg\u003C/i\u003E, Pennsylvania (1867) - The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, MD.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EScene from Faust\u003C/i\u003E - Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EPeasants Lunching in a Field\u003C/i\u003E (1875) - Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EMarket at Poissy\u003C/i\u003E (1876) - The Museum at Drexel University, Phil., PA.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EAt the Well\u003C/i\u003E (1880) - Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EWaiting for the Ferry\u003C/i\u003E (1885) - Heckscher Museum, Huntington, NY\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003ENoonday Meal\u003C/i\u003E (1887) - Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EHailing the Ferry\u003C/i\u003E (1888) - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Phil., PA.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThe Water Carriers\u003C/i\u003E (1892) - Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThe Shepherdess\u003C/i\u003E (1896) - Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThe Trysting Place\u003C/i\u003E (n.d.) - Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003ESpringtime\u003C/i\u003E (n.d.) - Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThe Gossips\u003C/i\u003E (n.d.) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, PA.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003ENoonday Meal\u003C/i\u003E (n.d.) - Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003ELife is Sweet\u003C/i\u003E (n.d.) - Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ETo learn more about the upcoming Daniel Ridgway Knight catalogue raisonn\u0026eacute; visit this address: \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.danielridgwayknight.com\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehttp://www.danielridgwayknight.com\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E[This essay is copyrighted by Rehs Galleries, Inc. and may not be reproduced or transmitted without written permission from Rehs Galleries, Inc.]\u003Cp\u003E","BiographicalImageUrl":null,"Awards":null,"HasAlbums":false,"HasPortraits":true,"HasRelationships":true,"HasArticles":false,"HasDepictedPlaces":true,"HasLetters":false,"HasLibraryItems":true,"HasProducts":false,"HasSignatures":false,"HasVideos":false,"HasMapLocations":true,"TotalArtworks":87}