Earl H. Brewster 1878-1957
Following his study of art at the Cleveland School of Art, Earl Henry Brewster moved at the age of 20 to New York City. There, he studied at the New York School of Art, with the American Impressionist Frank Vincent Du Mond at the Lyme Art Colony, and at the Art Students League.
Living in Greenwich Village at Washington Square, Brewster soon befriended other artists and writers, including the poet Vachel Lindsay. In 1904, when Lindsay observed that a woman in a magazine cover painted by Earl closely resembled an artist named Achsah Barlow, he introduced Earl to her. They were married in 1910.
After their wedding, the Brewsters traveled to Europe, not returning to the United States until a short visit in 1923. In 1912, Achsah gave birth to their only child: a daughter, Harwood. Until late 1935, the family led a somewhat nomadic life, moving frequently from one place to another, mostly in France and Italy. The Brewsters also traveled to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) and India. They knew personally many of the well-known artists and writers of the time, including D.H. Laurence and Willa Cather, who became good friends of theirs. The couple moved to Almora, India in 1935 and befriended three generations of the Nehru family there.
Brewster exhibtied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, the Boston Art Club, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and in New York City at the Society of American Artists' 28th annual exhibition, the National Academy of Design, and the New York School of Art. During this period, Brewster's painting The Gray Harbor was purchased by the artist William Merritt Chase, and another work of his was acquried by the Hillyer Gallery of Smith College. Later, Brewster exhibited paintings at the Galerie Cheron and the Grand Palais in Paris, and at the Pincio Casino and the Secessione in Rome. In India, he exhibited with his wife, Achsah, at the Tagore Gallery in Calcutta and the Roerich Centre of Art and Culture in Allahabad.
The Brewsters' personal correspondence, as well as Achsah's memoir, The Child, are housed at Drew University Library in Madison, New Jersey.
In 2007, ACA Galleries presented the exhibition Divine Pursuit: The Spiritual Journey of Achsah and Earl Brewster with a catalog.
