Born in South Manchester, Connecticut, Russell Cheney was a landscape painter who lived in Colorado Springs, and Kittery, Maine. He studied at Yale University, the Art Students League with William Merritt Chase and Kenyon Cox, and the Academie Julian in Paris with Jean Paul Laurens. A major influence on him was teacher Charles Woodbury.

Cheney exhibited with the Society of Independent Artists, the National Academy of Design and at galleries in Los Angeles and Pasadena, California. Although he lived primarily in the East, he spent time painting in California from 1916 and stayed with his sister in Santa Barbara.

Exhibitions:
1909 [ or 11?] Salon des Artistes Francais [portrait Prof. Canolle]
1914 4th Annual Exhibition CT Academy of Fine Arts, Hartford: #12. Russell Cheney oil painting, Pine Trees, Ogunquit, Maine
1914 (Sept. 22 - Oct. 5) Art Society of Hartford
1915 5th An. Exhibition CT Academy of Fine Arts, Hartford: #50. Russell Cheney, oil painting, White Birches
1916 6th Annual Exhibition CT Academy of Fine Arts, Hartford: #26. Russell Cheney, CAFA [new member? ] White Birches # 96 Russell Cheney, CAFA Winter Afternoon
1916 (Fall) Yale (ref. in Hartford 1917 review)
1917 (Jan.15-20 ) Wadsworth Atheneum 72
1917 (April) Society of Independent Artists NYC #31 Winter Silence No #32 The Garden
1917 7th An. Exhibition CT Academy of Fine Arts, Hartford : #81. Russell Cheney, CAFA, Santa Mey [sic=Inez?] Mountains
1917-18 (Nov. 28 - Feb. 28,'18) San Francisco Art Assoc. [Eucalyptus Trees]
1918 April 13 -28 8th Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts [#58 Marigolds]
1918 March 22 - May 22 San Francisco Art Association [ 2 shows] [# 84. Winter Silence 84a. Eucalyptus Trees]
1919 9th Annual Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts [#81. Pike's Peak]
1919 (Nov.22-Dec.1) Wadsworth Atheneum 84 also ref. Am. Art Annual 1919? 2 images [San Luis Ray & RC in studio]
1920 (Jan.) Portland [ME] Society of Artists
1920 (Dec. 5 - Dec. 13) Wadsworth Atheneum
1921 (Feb. 12-20) Santa Barbara
1921 (Mar. 29 -Ap.17) New Haven Paint & Clay Club "The First Snow" and "The Homestead"
1921 11th Annual CT Academy of Fine Arts [# 52.Morning in the Desert]
1921 (Dec.13- 24) Babcock Galleries, NYC
1922 (Jan.10-29) RI School of Design
1922 (Jan. 16-31) Vayana Galleries "10 Hartford Artists" [Chartres] invite / ad
1922 (April 9 - June 12) Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, 29. Ute Pass 30. Chinese Lilies
1922 (Nov. 13 -Dec. 25) Babcock Galleries, NYC
1922 (Dec. 2 -10) Wadsworth Atheneum
1923 Jan. 25, "14 Still life compositions by Russell Cheney," Street Hall, Yale
1923 (Feb 21- ?) Broadmoor Art Academy, Colorado Springs
1923 (April 8 - June 18) The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery. #48. Zinnias
1923 (May 12-? ) San Francisco Museum of Art [Palace of Fine Art] ? "Connecticut and California landscapes"; 2-man exhibit with Ray Boynton
1923 (July-Aug) Am. Landscape Paintings, Guilford, CT
1923 (Dec.?- 31) Babcock Galleries, American Paintings 1924 June 1 - 15? Oakland Municipal Gallery
1924 (Sum) Babcock Galleries, Prominent Am. Artists
1924 (Sept. 2 - 13) Moyer Gallery, 105 Pratt St., Hartford "Special Exhibit: Paintings by Russell Cheney of the French Riviera"
1924 (Oct. 6-31) Van Dyck Galleries, Washington DC
1924 (Dec.) Babcock group show of cabinet paintings
1925 (April 27-May 9) Babcock Galleries, NYC
1925 (May 13-25) Wadsworth Atheneum [CLC]
1925 (Summer) Babcock, Prominent Am. Artists
1925 (Nov. 7 - 22) Springfield Art League 7th [group] [#19 Pikes Peak # 20 Primavera ]
1925 (Nov.23-Dec.11) Babcock Galleries 1 room with Jose Arps & Stanley Woods Caudebec-En-Caux", "Honfleur" "Chartres", "Homestead" & "Le Matin - Cassis"
1925 Moyers Gallery, Hartford, CT [Jade; small Vieux Port group]
1926 (Jan.5-24) Baltimore Museum of Art
1926 (March 1 - 13) Santa Barbara Art Club exhibits with Stanley Woods
1926 (March 22 - April 10) Nicholson Gallery, Pasadena
1926 (May 10 -?) Club Beaux Arts, Oakland CA Ptgs of Italy & the Riviera
[1926 May lecture at Wadsworth Atheneum on John and Seth Wells Cheney]
1926 (June 17-July 8) New Haven Paint & Clay Club [#42 Haying $ 400]
1927 (Feb. 3--328) Hartford, Town & County Club
1927 (Mar. 14-26 ) Babcock Galleries, NYC
[1927 PA Acad. of Fine Arts -submitted San Marco; did not pass jury]
1927 (April 1 - 24) National Academy of Design 100th [F.O. Matthiessen]
1927 (May 16 -28) Wadsworth Atheneum
1927 (May) Paul Shortridge Gallery, St. Louis, MO [Hartford Times review]
1927 (Nov. 19 -?) Moyer's Gallery, Hartford , CT [Sea Breeze; Jade; Zinnias; Desert Goldenrod; Frisbie's Wharf; Miss Jewett's Ho.]
1928 Jan. 12 - Feb. 2 New Haven Paint & Clay Club 1 Yes [Flowers & Venice $500]
1928 Feb-March Salmagundi Club
1928 (Feb. ) Hartford Artists at Town & County Club
1928 (Mar. 17- Ap. 1) 18th Annual CT Academy of Fine Arts [Hon. Mention: #40 portrait William Munroe; #80. Tulips]
1928 (April 12 - May 3) New Haven Paint & Clay Club
1928 (July -Aug.) Am. Landscape Ptgs, Guilford, CT
1928 (Nov. 26 -Dec. 8) Montross Gallery, NYC
1928 (Nov) Yale Art Gallery (opens to public) 1 charcoal and oil
1928 (Dec. 2 - 23) New Haven Paint & Clay Small Ptgs ["Segovia" $250]
1928 (Dec. - Jan 17, 1929 ) Yale Art Gallery [Yale Class book '29] newspaper illus: "New Castle" "Chocolate Daisies"
1929 March Salmagundi Club, NYC [San Benadino Mts]
1929 (May -?) Montross Gallery, American painting group show
1929 19th Annual Exhibition CT Academy of Fine Arts #91 Portrait
1929 (June- July?) Babcock Gallery, Summer Exhibit [San Antonio review!]
1929 PA Academy of Fine Arts, Phila. [#141 Kittery Pt.]
1929 (Oct.-?) Art Institute of Chicago, Am. Paintings 1 [#43 Kittery Point] No No
1930 (Feb.) Museum of NM, Santa Fe [1st show here] [Dahlias, NM, others]
1930 March Salmagundi Club, NYC [Fred Reading]
1930 (?) 20th An. Exhibition CT Academy of Fine Arts [# 101 New Mexico]
1930 (May 5-17) Montross Gallery, NYC
1930 (July-Aug.) Ogunquit Art Association (Barn Gallery) ? [Newcastle]
1930 (Oct. 30- Dec. 14) Art Institute of Chicago, American [#35 Chocolate Daisies]
1930 Nov.- Dec. unnamed exhibit Westfield, Mass [then to Cleveland] Source: RC letter to Mitch Davenport Nov. 10, 1930
1930 Dec. 21- Jan. 11, 1931 Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford Aaron Berkman, Russell Cheney, Clinton O'Calahan, Milton Avery show
1931 (Jan. 12-31) Potter-Bentley Studio, Cleveland, OH
1931 (Feb. 15 - Mar.15) New Haven Paint & Clay Club [#96 Pisc. River]
1931 (July-Aug) Ogunquit Art Association (Barn Gallery)?
1931 (Sept 20-Oct 13) Addison Gallery 'Synopsis of Summer Shows', Philips Andover, Andover, MA [Chocolate Daisies ]
1931 (Nov.) Hotel Del Montie, San Fran.? Recent work of Californian painters
1932 (Jan. 3 - 17) Witte Memorial Museum San Antonio
1932 (Feb 29-Mar.12) Montross Gallery, NYC
1932 (March -April?) Moyer's Gallery, Hartford
1932 (May 26- June 30) Montross Gallery, NYC Cont. Am. Artists
1933 (Jan.) Museum of NM, Santa Fe
1933 winter Faulkner Memorial Gallery, Santa Barbara-- ? 2 man show with Gleb Ilyin [=Santa Barbara Art Assoc.?]
1933 (March - April) San Diego Art Museum no catalog known
1933 23rd An. Exhibition, CT Academy of Fine Arts1 [72 Pepperel Cove]
1933 (June 1- ?) 'Century of Progress' Chicago [Kittery Point]
1933 (Sept.) Addison Gallery, N.E. Landscapes [Bolt Hill Rd]
1933 Nov. 28 Consolidated Coal Co., Portsmouth [ Bow Street, the Parade, and the Oracle House]
1933 (Nov. 26? - Dec. 11) Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
1934 Broadmoor Academy, Colorado Springs, CO
1934 (Feb. 12-24? ) Montross Gallery, NYC w/ Henry V. Poor pottery & small room filled by Harold Weston
1934 (Feb 27-Mar. 10 or 24?) Grace Horne Galleries Chocolate Daisies, Raymond Allen, Eleanor, Kittery Point, San Bernardino Mountains shown with lithographs of Robert Riggs
1934 24th Exhibition, CT Academy of Fine Arts [82. Cove in Winter]
1934 'Century of Progress' Chicago [Kittery Point]
1934 (April) Moyer's Gallery, Hartford 1-man show
1934 (July ) Ogunquit Playhouse (OAA exhibit) ['Waterfront"]
1934 (July) group show Montross Gallery, NYC
1934 (Sept.22 -Oct.28) Addison Gallery
1935 (Jan. 5 ?-19)Grace Horne Galleries, Boston
1935 (April) Museum of NM, Santa Fe [Jesus Baca, Jo, Pedro, Good Irish]
1935 (Spring?) 25th An. Exhib.CT Acad. of Fine Arts [70 Mission Santa Barbara]
1935 (Sept) Peirce Barn, Portsmouth, NH
1936 (Jan. 18-Feb. 8) Grace Horne Galleries, Boston exhibited w/ Albert Ryder
1936 (Feb 20 - Mar.25) Century Club, NYC [At Cassis & Field Acre]
1936 (Mar. 2-15) Ferargil Galleries, NYC
1936 (Mar. 7-29) 26th Annual Exhibit CT Acad. of Fine Arts [# 108 Rio del Llano]
1936 (May) Addison Gallery, Small Paintings
1936 (June to Oct.) Century Club exhibit, NYC ["Rio del Llano"]
1936 (July 4-15?) Warner House, Portsmouth, NH
1936 (July 15- ?) Peirce House Barn, Portsmouth
1936 (Sept. 1-30) Museum of NM, Santa Fe [#118 Portsmouth]
1936 Wadsworth Ath., Ptgs in Hartford Col's ['Chinois' E.S.Foote]
1937 (Feb.14-27) Grace Horne Gallery 2 reviews [Howard Lathrop, Kenneth Hill, Mr. Plaisted, Portsmouth Water Front; South Mill Houses, Perkins Cove] Exhibited w/ Karl Zerbe's & Pierre Dubaut
1937 (March 1-14) Ferargil Galleries, NYC
1937 (May) Portland Society of Art, Portland, ME
1937 (July 20) Girl Scout Benefit, Kittery Point, ME, w/ John P. Benson and Caroline Pickard Cubert of Taos, NM & Kittery Point
1937 (July 21-28) Portsmouth Home Industries Shop 243 State st.
1937 PA Academy of Fine Arts [#85 Dahlias in Kittery]
1937 Detroit Institute of Arts Annual Exhibit [#51 Anemones]
1937 (Sept) Museum of NM, Santa Fe20th Aniv.Exh. [#31 White Phlox]
1937 (Dec.- ? ) Century Club, NYC [Boly's Boat $500]
1938 (Jan 24 - Feb. 5) Grace Horne Gallery, Boston Governor Langdon house, Summer, Rouse's Point, Portsmouth Waterfront, Strawberry Banke, Behind No. Church, Pray Street, Boy's Boat; The Cat, window ad porch views of landscape, rich flowers and still lifes. Shown with Dudley Vaill Talcott, sculptor
1938 28th An. Exhibit of CT Academy of Fine Arts [66 Hauled Up]
1939 (Mar.) 56th Portland Art Soc. Sweat Art Museum, # 7 Pheasants [still life] # 8. Back of No.Church
1939 (April 3-16) Ferargil, NYC [Bridge in Winter, Marcy St. Bridge, Pheasants] invite shown with Julius Delbos watercolors of Gloucester & Rockport
1939 29th Exhibit CT Academy of Fine Arts [ #80 Indian Summer Kittery]
1939 Am. Landscape Ptgs, Guilford, Ct.
1939 (May 8-20) Grace Horne Galleries, Boston, shown with Alica Atkinson paintings, Dorothy Morse Howe watercolors
1939 (Aug- Sept.) Portland Society of Art, Portland, Maine Nubble Light $150, Down Bow St. $250, Hauled Up $ 300, Phlox $200
1940 30th Exhibit of CT Academy of Fine Arts [77 Down Bow Street]
1940 Portland Society of Art, Portland, Maine Bouquet $ 200 37. Newcastle $ 300
1941 (Aug. 1 -31) Ogunquit Art Assoc. / Barn Gallery
1941 (Aug. 15-29) Exhibit Lanier's Tea Room, Eliot, Maine
1941 (Oct. 27 - Nov. 8 ) Ferargil, NYC
1941 (Nov.) Nat. Art Week, Sweat, Portland, ME 12. Back of No.Ch. $200 23. Kittery Foreside $200 25. Perkins' Cove $200 26. White Phlox $200
1942 (Jan. 5 - ? ) Grace Horne Gallery
32nd An. Exhibition, CT. Academy of Fine Arts
1942 (Oct.) Museum of NM, Santa Fe group portrait: Witter Byner, Louisa Pugh, Cliff McCarthy at Tea Table; Winter Window; Meeting House on the hill; 'Porch in Summer' ; Bow St.
1945 (March 1 -30?) Museum of NM, Santa Fe: 4+? Maine & NM paintings Doorstop; Peony; Nuestra Senora ; Santiago
1945 April 12, Abilene Museum of Arts Home Front Art exhibit, [Flowers still life]
1945 35th An. Exhibition, CT Academy of Fine Arts [#119 Lowquat]
[1945 Cheney dies July 12 ]
1945 (Sept. '45 - Aug. 1946 ) R.C. Retrospective [list of 72 works offered}
Portland Museum of Art
Colby College Art Gallery [Sam Green]
Maine Sanatorium [!}
1947 (Mar.17-29) Ferargil, NYC
1947 (Sept.-Oct) Institute of Modern Art, Boston (Hartley, Cheney & Cutler) c.1948- 50 (?) Portsmouth Art Assoc. (group)

Sources:
Who Was Who in American Art by Peter Hastings Falk (Editor)
Detailed exhibition information courtesy of Richard Candee

Born in South Manchester, Connecticut in 1881, he was the grandson of artist John Cheney. Following graduation from Yale in 1904, Cheney studied at the ASL in NYC under Chase, Cox, and Woodbury, and in Paris at Académie Julian. Most of Cheney's career was spent in the East; however, bouts with tuberculosis forced him to seek warmer climates. Active in California from 1916, he often painted in Santa Barbara where his sister lived. He died in Kittery, Maine on July 12, 1945. A gay man, he had a forty-year love affair with English Literature Professor Francis Matthiessen, an authority on American Literature, who taught at Yale and Harvard Universities.

Exh: Paris Salon, 1911; San Francisco Art Association, 1916-18; Nicholson Gallery (Pasadena), 1926; Babcock Gallery (NYC), 1927.

In: Morgan Museum (Hartford, CT); SFMA; NMAA.