Albert Prentice Button (1868-1931)

He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on November 18, 1868. He died in Boston, Massachusetts on October 30, 1931. Albert Prentice Button is buried in Section F Plot 8156 at the Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan, Massachusetts. (Mattapan is a section of Boston.) His gravestone is quite small and plain; it simply reads: Albert P. Button 1868 - 1931. No one else is buried there.

This information was gleaned from official Massachusetts records, and from a visit to the grave site.

Sources:
Information provided by John Quinn, who obtained a copy of the death certificate from the City of Boston. (Such a copy can also be obtained at the Massachusetts Bureau of Vital Statistics in Dorchester, Mass.)

The precise information regarding Albert Prentice Button's birth and birthplace comes from Microfilm Number 31 Births 1868 Volume 206 Pg. 187. [This microfilm reproduces as photographic imagery the actual birth record pages from the Lowell, Massachusetts birth registry ledger for 1868.] This record was personally examined by John Quinn at the Massachusetts Archives located at Columbia Point in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The Archives' next door neighbor is President JFK's library.

Albert Prentice Button was a painter and illustrator, known for his portrayals of figures in realistic, historically accurate settings. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1872 and studied in various Boston art schools, becoming a realistic painter who concentrated on the human figure, landscapes and seascapes.

He was a member of the New York Water Color Club, the Boston Society of Water Color Painters and the Providence Water Color Club. Working in the arts and crafts style, Button usually painted on small canvas boards and paper.

Reference: Who Was Who in American Art, vol. I, page 529

The following is from Peter Kostoulakos, ISA ˜ Fine Art Consultant
www.pkart.com

Albert Prentice Button — painter and illustrator in oil, watercolor and pastel— is remembered for his landscapes, seascapes, dunes, Paris scenes, farms, hunting scenes, animals and representational figures.

In 1902, Button was living at 125 Tremont Street in Boston; in 1905, at 18 Cushing Street in Cambridge, MA; and in 1926, at 44 Boylston Street in Boston.

Button studied at various art schools in Boston and was a pupil of the Boston Art Club. He was a member of the New York Watercolor Club, the Boston Society of Watercolor Painters and the Providence Watercolor Club. Working in the arts and crafts style, Button usually painted on small canvas boards and paper. He exhibited at the Lowell Art Association and, from 1902 to 1908, several of his watercolors depicting landscapes, children, and portraits were on display at the Boston Art Club.

The Whistler House Museum in Lowell, MA has two samples of his work: Foggy River, a watercolor and October Gold, an oil on panel. New England Scene with People is at Colby College in Waterville, Maine and On the Sands can be seen at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

References:
Who Was Who in American Art, vol. I, page 93; Davenport's Art Reference 2001/2002, page 330; Mantle Fielding, 1986, page 122; Mallett, page 63; Dealer's Choice Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters... page 209; Boston Art Club Exhibition Record 1873-1909, page 102; AskART.com archives; Smithsonian Institution Research Information System; Whistler House Museum of Art files.