Daughter and Father: Anna Mary Richards Brewster and William Trost Richards
Anna Mary Richards Brewster(1870–1952) was the precocious daughter of seascapist William Trost Richards (1833–1905). Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, Brewster spent her formative years sketching and painting under the tutelage of her father. She exhibited at the National Academy of Design when she was just fourteen years old. Her painting entitled The Wild Horses of the Sea, a depiction of waves, was a testament to her father’s influence. She went on to study at the Cowles School of Art in Boston, the Art Students League in New York, in Paris at the Académie Julian, and with John Lafarge and William Merritt Chase. In 1895, she moved to England to works as a professional artist and remained there for nearly a decade. A life-long student of her father, the two artists traveled together on sketching tours of England, Ireland, and Norway.
Brewster was a member of the National Association of Women Artists, a member of the Scarsdale Art Association, Scarsdale Women’s Club, and American Watercolor Society. She exhibited at the National Academy (1884–1932; prize, 1890), London’s Royal Academy, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Art Institute of Chicago, and the Salons of America. Today her work is in the collections of the Butler Institute of American Art, New Britain Museum of Art, Lyman Allyn Museum of Art, Georgia Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University, Stanford University, and Barnard College.
![William Trost Richards Country Lane [Oldmixon Farm, Chester County, PA] c. 1886](https://static.livebooks.com/a8b805842d124ed6bae8629e30926996/i/faf375338b9a405d8ac82ee23b30fd08/2/4SoifmQp7LJ6yDtMkMcLt/Richards_WT_Country%20Lane.jpg "William Trost Richards (1833-1905) Country Lane [Oldmixon Farm, Chester County, PA] c. 1886 Oil on panel 10 x 20 inches Signed lower left")
