Allen, Thomas Jr. (1849-1924)

Born St. Louis, Missouri. Died Boston, Massachusetts.

Allen, Thomas, landscapes and animals; born in St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 19, 1849; son of Thomas and Ann A. (Russell) Allen. Studied in Royal Academy of Dusseldorf, Germany, and in France, Holland and England; married in1880 to Eleanor G. Whitney, and in 1889 to Alice Ranney.

Exhibited several times in Paris Salon and appears in most all of the prominent annual exhibits in the U.S.’ received silver medal in Boston and bronze medal at Pan American Exposition.; was a member of the international Juries of Chicago World’s Fair, 1893, and (pres.) Louisiana Purchase Exposition., 1904;

Represented in permanent collections in Berkshire Athenaeum and St. Louis Museum of Fine Arts; is associate of National Academy of N.Y.; is President of Paint and Clay Club and Boston Society of Water Color Painters; is Vice-Pres of Copley Society.; member of Society. of American Artists, Boston Art Club, and St. Botolph Club. Address, 12 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, Mass. Summers, Princeton, Mass.

Source:
Hosking, Arthur Nicholas, The Artists Year Book, The Art League Publishing Association, Chicago. 1905-06.

Submitted by Edward P. Bentley, Art Researcher and Historian, Greenville, Michigan.

Born in St. Louis, Thomas Allen was a painter especially known for landscape and animal subjects. He settled in Boston where he chaired the faculty of the Boston Museum School of Drawing and Painting and was also President of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Allen was the son of a Congressman. He studied art in his home town of St. Louis, Missouri at Washington University and then traveled widely. In 1869, he went to the Rocky Mountains with one of his professors, and in 1871 was in Ecouen, a suburb of Paris, France. The next year he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dusseldorf, Germany, and remained until his graduation in 1877.

In 1878, he traveled again to the West and also to Texas where he painted in San Antonio including a work titled Evening at the Market in San Antonio, which received recognition at the Paris Salon of 1882.

By 1882, he was settled in Boston, where he had a long and distinguished career. He died in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Exhibition venues include the Paris Salon, National Academy of Design, Boston Art Club, and Art Institute of Chicago.

Sources include:
John and Deborah Powers, Texas Painters, Sculptors, and Graphic Artists
Peter Hastings Falk, Editor, Who Was Who in American Art