Hamilton Easter Field

Hamilton Easter Field
Hamilton Easter Field, Self Portrait, about 1898, oil on panel, 12 in. x 18 in.
Born	(1873-04-21)April 21, 1873 Irvington, New Jersey
Died	April 9, 1922(1922-04-09) (aged 48) Brooklyn, New York
Nationality	American
Known for	Artist, art teacher, author, editor, collector

Hamilton Easter Field (1873–1922) was an American artist, art patron, connoisseur, and teacher, as well as critic, publisher, and dealer. Highly regarded for his knowledge of Japanese prints and his passion for American folk art and crafts, he was also praised for his devotion to contemporary American art, for his defense of non-juried art exhibitions, and for the support he gave to talented artists. At his death, the painter Wood Gaylor said of him: "Mr. Field was one of those rare personalities that come to the front once in a century or so. A combination of painter, critic, teacher and editor, he gave all his time and genius to the furtherance of American art...."

Field was educated at Brooklyn Friends School whose advanced curriculum included classes in drawing. Initially aiming at a career in architecture he attended the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn from 1888 to 1892 and in 1893 enrolled in the Columbia School of Mines, Engineering and Chemistry. He left Columbia in 1894 to study at Harvard University but left after only a few months in order to travel to Paris where, influenced by wealthy and cultured members of his mother's family, he decided to devote his life to art. In Paris he studied under Gustave Courtois and Raphaël Collin at Académie Colarossi. He also received informal instruction from Jean-Léon Gérôme and subsequently studied privately under Lucien Simon and Henri Fantin-Latour. These artists were all traditional academicians and, under their guidance, he adopted a style that had little in common with the avant-guarde artists with whom he later associated. In 1898 Field went to Concarneau in Brittany where Théophile Deyrolle and Alfred Guillou had founded an art colony. There he met eight-year-old Robert Laurent and his parents. Field recognized and nurtured Laurent's talent as an artist, eventually bringing him (at age twelve) to live in his home in Brooklyn and thereafter remaining his close associate for the rest of his life.