Earl Shinn
Earl Shinn
American , 1837 – 1886
An art critic and one of the Tile Club ’ s scribes , Earl Shinn was born in Philadelphia to Orthodox Quaker parents . Despite their wishes for Shinn to pursue a moral career , he chose to devote his life to the arts — a non-essential vocation in the eyes of the Quaker community . In 1859 , he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts ( PAFA ), and in 1864 , he moved to New York and took a position at Frank Leslie ’ s Illustrated Newspaper . Upon the death of his parents in 1865 , he used his inheritance to further pursue his dream of becoming an artist ; the following April , Shinn , and the sculptor Howard Roberts , set out to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris . Unfortunately , the school had suspended enrollment to foreign students , and Shinn would have to wait until the fall . He stayed in Paris , however , and that summer Shinn and Roberts traveled to Pont-Aven with Robert Wylie who was also associated with PAFA . In 1868 , Shinn completed his studies at the École under Jean-Leon Gèrôme and headed back to the States . Despite his training , and perhaps because he was near-sighted and colorblind , Shinn never followed his intent of becoming a professional painter . Instead , he turned to art criticism .
In 1868 , Shinn began writing for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin , and two years later , he moved to New York where became an art critic for the Nation and later art editor from 1874 – 1879 . He also contributed to Lippincott ’ s Magazine , writing about several private art collections in Philadelphia , Scribner ’ s Monthly , the New York Evening Post , and The Art Amateur . Widely published , Shinn is best known for his books on the elevation of public taste and several renowned art collections ; such works include The Art Treasures of America and Mr . Vanderbilt ’ s House and Collection . He also wrote the first two chapters of A Book of the Tile Club , and upon his death , it was completed by Francis Hopkinson Smith . Throughout his career , Shinn never wrote under his given name instead choosing the pseudonym Edward Strahan , perhaps out of respect for his Quaker upbringing .
Napoleon Sarony ( American , b . Canada , 1821 – 1896 ), Earl Shinn , photograph , ca . 1865 , Archives of American Art , Smithsonian Institution , original in Haverford College Library , Quaker Collection .
REFERENCES : Adams , Oscar Fay . A Dictionary of American Authors . Boston and New York : Houghton , Mifflin and Company , 1904 .
Haverford College Library , Haverford , PA , Special Collections , Quaker Collection , Morris-Shinn-Maier Collection , Coll . No . 1191 .
Koppelman , Constance Eleanore . “ Nature in Art and Culture : The Tile Club Artists , 1870 – 1900 .” PhD diss ., State University of New York , Stony Brook , 1985 .
Lenehan , Daniel Timothy . “ Fashioning Taste : Earl Shinn , Art Criticism , and National Identity in Gilded Age America .” Master ’ s thesis , Haverford College , 2005 .
116 THE TILE CLUB : Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting