Artists

Herbert Denman

American, 1855–1903

Herbert F. Denman, painter and decorator, was born on June 20, 1855 in Brooklyn, New York and died on October 3, 1903 in Idlewild, California.  Denman is best known for his symbolic, fantasy-like landscapes with nymphs and classical figures dressed in Greco-Roman gowns; and interiors with well dressed socialites playing musical instruments.  Born into a wealthy family, Denman would have been exposed to the types of cultural events he painted.  The Boston Art Club listed address for Denman in 1898 and 1899 is 58 West 57th Street, NYC.

Denman studied at the Art Students League in New York City and with Charles Emile Carolus-Duran (1837-1917) in Paris.  He returned to New York in 1877 and was commissioned to decorate Fred Vanderbilt’s house at Dobbs Ferry, the Manhattan Hotel, and the Waldorf-Astoria ballroom.

He was a member of the Society of American Artists and the American Fine Arts Society, both of New York City.  Denman’s exhibitions include the National Academy of Design in NYC, from 1881 to 1897; the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, The Trio 270; the Paris Salon in 1885 and 1886 (honorable mention); Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts from 1887 to 1897; the Art Institute of Chicago, 1888, 1890, and 1896; the Paris Exposition in 1889 (prize); and the Boston Art Club in 1890, Psyche oil; in 1898, Nymphs and Swans from the ‘Prothalamion’ of Edmund Spencer oil depicting a lyric ode in honor of a bride and bridegroom; and in 1899, A Fountain in Arcadia oil.