Archibald and Alexander Robertson and their schools, the Columbian Academy of Painting, and the Academy of Painting and Drawing, New York, 1791--1835

This dissertation is the first extensive study of Scottish-born painters Archibald Robertson (1763-1835), and Alexander Robertson (1771-1841), and the schools they founded, the Columbian Academy of Painting and the Academy of Painting and Drawing. In operation from 1791 until 1823, the Columbian Academy was the first art school in New York City and the earliest sustained effort to provide art instruction in the United States. In 1802 Alexander left the Columbian Academy and established the Academy of Painting and Drawing, which functioned until 1835.;Significantly, Archibald was invited to New York by a group of influential figures---including Robert R. Livingston, Samuel Bard, and John Kemp---who endeavored to improve cultural life in their city. Chief among their undertakings was to bring about a drawing academy at which aspiring professional artists, as well as cultivated amateurs, could receive basic training in the rudiments of the fine arts.;The five chapters of this dissertation chart the histories of the Robertsons and their schools, while also considering larger issues in the progress of the fine arts in New York. Chapters 1 and 2, respectively, examine Archibald and Alexander's lives and works. Chapter 3 considers the circumstances behind the Columbian Academy's founding. Chapter 4 is devoted to a detailed chronology of the Columbian Academy and the Academy of Painting and Drawing, and an examination of the teaching practices implemented there. Chapter 5 considers aspects of the legacy of the Robertsons and their teachings by examining the careers of three of their students---John Vanderlyn, John Henri Isaac Browere, and Anne Hall---and the Robertsons' involvement with the American Academy of the Fine Arts. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...