George Burroughs Torrey

He was born in the old Astor House in New York City. His parents were Joseph and Harriet Louise Burroughs. He had his first studio at 543 Fifth Avenue, where he drew and painted portraits. He moved to Paris, and had a studio there by 1893, just two doors from the Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy, on the Boulevard Malesherbes, and began his studies with Léon Bonnat, Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant and Alfred Philippe Roll. Roll used to come into his studio twice a week to criticise his work. In 1895, he exhibited his first salon portrait. He was particularly impressed with and influenced by the work of the portrait painter Carolus-Duran and the mural painter Pierre Puvis de Chavannes == Memberships ==

He was a member of the Union League, Home, and Studio Clubs. == Family ==

Torrey married Almirita Howes in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on November 10, 1891. == Assessment ==

'', oil on canvas, 1907, Victoria and Albert Museum Torrey in his days was a popular painter and drawer of the Gilded Age, even if his style went out of fashion over time. Torrey extensively studied the early English portraitists, whose influence is manifest in his glowing colour, and in the decorative disposition of his draperies. At the turn of the 19th century, he was acclaimed as a "fair draughtsman" with a "delicate, pretty color scheme", with his chief merit lying in refinement. He has had many sitters, and his portraits of ladies have a refined quality. His portraits are good in likeness, with graceful poses, details and textures of gowns and clothes in color. It is also argued however, that his seascapes should be counted as his best work. The Harvard Art Museums, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the National Museum of American History (Washington, DC), U.S. Navy Museum (Washington, DC), the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum (Hartford, CT), and the Yale University Art Gallery are among the public collections holding work by George Burroughs Torrey. ==Selected works==

• Portrait of Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Dillingham • Portrait of Mrs. John P. Laflin • Portrait of President Herbert Hoover • Portrait of Prince Henry of Prussia (1915/16) == References ==