John Nelson Arnold Explained

John Nelson Arnold
Birth Date:	4 June 1834
Birth Place:	Masonville, Windham County, Connecticut, US
Death Place:	Providence, Rhode Island, US
Occupation:	Portrait painter
Notable Works:	Art and Artists in Rhode Island (1905)

John Nelson Arnold (June 4, 1834 – May 31, 1909) was an American portrait painter.

He was born on June 4, 1834, in Masonville, Windham County, Connecticut.^[1] He was the son of Benjamin Arnold and Thirza Whitford, and was descended from Roger Williams.

His portraits of governors are located in the Rhode Island State House and other portraits are in the Brown University Portrait Collection.^[2] Arnold painted portraits of John Russell Bartlett, John Brown Francis, Reuben Guild, John Hay, John Pitman, Barnas Sears, Leonard Swain, James Mitchell Varnum, Sarah Helen Whitman, and Alva Woods, among others.

He published Art and Artists in Rhode Island in 1905.^{[3] [4]} Arnold was also a member of the Providence Art Club from its founding in 1880 to his death in 1909.^[5]

He married his student, Clara L. Maxfield in 1908. At the time, he was 73 and she was 27.^[6] He died on May 31, 1909.

External links

• Portraits by John Nelson Arnold at the Brown University Portrait Collection
• Portraits by John Nelson Arnold at Wikimedia Commons

Notes and References

1. Web site: John Nelson Arnold - Artist Biography. askART. February 13, 2019.
2. Web site: Portraits by John Nelson Arnold. Brown University Office of the Curator. Brown University. February 13, 2019.
3. Web site: Rhode Island Art History. Traditional Fine Arts Organization. February 13, 2019.
4. Art and Artists in Rhode Island, By John Nelson Arnold, Rhode Island Citizens Historical Association. Published by Chronicle Printing Co., 1905. 47 pages
5. Web site: 1880 – John N. Arnold. Providence Art Club. February 13, 2019.
6. News: ARTIST, 73, TO WED PUPIL, 27.; John Nelson Arnold, Portrait Painter, to Take Miss Maxfield as Bride.. February 7, 1908. The New York Times. February 13, 2019.