Bridgeman, Arthur Frederick 1847 - 1928There are 14 products.

Hugh Henry Breckenridge was born in Leesburg, VA on October 6, 1870 to Susan and Alexander Breckenridge. At the age of ten, he enjoyed the Saturday art classes that he attended with the ladies of Leesburg. Even though it was a class dedicated mainly to learning the finer points of decorating fans and china, Breckenridge learned techniques that would catapult him to have a major influence in the art world. In addition to his decorating class, Breckenridge drew regularly. His love of art became so prominent that he forsook his studies and quit school as a teenager. By the age of fifteen, Breckenridge acquired the unseemly reputation of a “boy gone bad.” It was Breckenridge’s clear artistic potential that ultimately convinced his father to send him to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. The following spring, Breckenridge opened a studio in Leesburg in order to earn a portion of his tuition. The next fall, Breckenridge enrolled in the Academy and began a symbiotic relationship with the institution that would last for over fifty years.

In Breckenridge’s second and third years at the Academy he and fellow student William Edmondson (1870-1951) opened a studio where they produced portraits, colored slides, and retouched photographic negatives. Breckenridge assumed the role of the salesman and advertiser for the studio; it was his ability to network with patrons and artists in Philadelphia that would later make a successful artist. At this time, Edmondson and Breckenridge entered their works in the Academy’s annual competition. The pair placed First and Second Place, with Breckenridge taking the Charles Toppan prize and its two hundred dollar prize.

The following summer Breckenridge and Edmondson left on an adventure to Winchester, MA, where they were exposed to the town’s romantic charm and repertoire of visiting artists. The pair parted ways for the remainder of the summer and planned to reunite in the fall; however, Breckenridge became ill and was not able to attend. It was not until he made a full recovery that he could save enough for tuition and re-enter the Academy. He earned income producing portraits in Leesburg. While he did not especially enjoy the work, he later admitted that it was his portraits that supplied steady revenue for his artistic endeavor.

In 1892, Breckenridge was awarded a scholarship, which enabled him to study in Paris with famed artists Adolphe William Bouguereau (1825-1905), Louis Ferrier (1850-1912), and Jacques Doucet (1853-1929). He spent his time in Paris visiting the Louvre, befriending young artists, and absorbing the foreign atmosphere that consequently influenced and inspired future works. Upon his return to Pennsylvania, he was in need of income, and accepted a teaching position at Mrs. Comiges’ school for young ladies. To supplement his earnings, he also took a position at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts as instructor of the antique class the following year.

In 1895, Breckenridge married his sweetheart of four years Roxanne Grace Holme. Her exquisite beauty, poise and charm inspired many portraits that Breckenridge painted. Roxanne and Breckenridge had two children: Grace, who died of dysentery at a young age, and Margaret. Shortly thereafter, Breckenridge opened the Darby School of Painting with Thomas Anshutz (1851-1912), which he later moved to Fort Washington, PA. Around this period in his life, a pattern emerged. During the fall, winter and spring, Breckenridge painted around his teaching positions at Mrs. Comiges’ School and The Academy. During the summer, he would instruct classes at the Darby School. When Roxanne later died, Breckenridge married Dorthy Dozier one of his students. She was the executor of his estate until her death.

As quickly as his teaching career took off, his painting career also became extremely successful. He showed at the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition, the Panama-American Exhibition, St Botlph’s and several times at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, as well as many other shows. He joined several prominent art clubs including the Philadelphia Sketch Club, the Art Alliance and the Arts Club of Philadelphia. He was never the stereotypical “starving artist.” His accomplishments as a painter helped promote him as a jury member of several exhibits, expand his popularity as a portraitist, and attain teaching position as an advanced painting instructor.

In 1919, he received the Gold Medal of Honor from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art for 25 years of service and exemplary painting. Shortly after, he accepted a position as the Director of the Department of Fine Art at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore. In 1920, Breckenridge opened the Breckenridge School of Art in Gloucester, MA. He thought of Gloucester very fondly. Its landscape and harbor were typical subjects in his paintings. Breckenridge’s life focused on his passion to paint. His enjoyment and skill paid off as he was bestowed with several teaching positions, awards and prizes, memberships, jury nominations, and popularity. The “boy gone bad” was one of the most influential and successful painters in the Pennsylvania area.