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Birth:          3 Apr 1870 Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa.
Death:          1952 

Notes
1981 book:
William was born on Aug. 15, 1869, in Lawrence, Mass. William was a professor of 
English at Columbia University. He also was a talented painter.
Source: French Desc.; Warren, Reflections, p. 51; Grace Conant (1E525151)
1870 in Phila., Pa. age 3m
entire web site for her www.arbrewster.com
From www.borghi.org
Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, Anna Brewster was the daughter of noted marine 
and landscape painter, William Trost Richards whose reputation eclipsed hers. 
However, she earned a prestigious reputation as an active professional artist for fifty-
five years. Her early work reflected the tight detailing of her father's style, but as she 
learned to paint faster, her canvases became looser and looser in style, and many 
have a warm tonality and atmosphere  
She learned painting technique from her father and by age fourteen was exhibiting at 
the National Academy in New York City. In 1888, she studied at the Cowles Art School 
in Boston under Dennis Bunker and later studied in New York with John LaFarge and 
William Merritt Chase. She studied in Paris at the Academy Julian and then made her 
home in England for nine years. She also painted throughout Europe, Egypt, Palestine, 
and North Africa.

She married William Tenney Brewster, professor at Barnard College, and in 1910, the 
couple settled in Scarsdale, New York, where she founded the Scarsdale Art 
Association. The couple spent their summers at a family cottage in Matunuck, Rhode 
Island and traveled together extensively in Europe and North Africa. On these trips, 
she did numerous oil and watercolor sketches, which she converted into large 
canvases. 

After her death in 1952, her husband compiled four volumes of her sketches. In 
addition to museums, many of her works are in the collection of the Scarsdale Public 
Library and the Scarsdale Women's Club.
 
Anna Richards Brewster papers, 1887-1964. 
   
 
 
Creator:  Brewster, Anna Richards, 1870-1952 
 
Title:  Anna Richards Brewster papers, 1887-1964. 
 
Phy. Description:  0.8 linear ft. (partially microfilmed on 1 reel) 
reel 3796 
 
Additional forms:  35mm microfilm reel 3796 available at Archives of American Art 
offices and through interlibrary loan. 
 
Bio / His Notes:  Illustrator, painter, writer; New York and Pennsylvania. Collaborated 
as an illustrator with her mother, poet and author Anna Matlock Richards. Brewster's 
father, William Trost Richards, was a well-known marine painter. Her brother Theodore 
William Richards was a professor of chemistry at Harvard and a Nobel Prize winner, 
and another brother, Herbert Maule Richards, was a professor of botany at Barnard 
College, Columbia University. Brewster lived nine years in London. 
 
Summary:  Certificates, letters, legal material, writings, sketchbooks, art works, 
photographs, printed material, and a scrapbook. 
REEL 3796: A scholarship certificate for Cowles Arts School, 1888; a certificate for 
the National Academy of Design's Dodge Prize, 1890; 7 letters from Brewster's father 
William Trost Richards, in which he discusses his lodgings in Germany, Anna's 
paintings, the publication of A NEW ALICE IN WONDERLAND, illustrated by Brewster 
and written by her mother Anna Matlock Richards, and other matters; letters from 
Brewster's brothers and husband William; writings by Brewster; a book of poems by 
Anna Matlock Richards[?], and a book of poetry, LETTER AND SPIRIT: DRAMATIC 
SONNETS OF INWARD LIFE by Richards, illustrated by Brewster, published by 
George Allen, 1898 (57 p.); 3 poems by William Brewster; 
sketchbooks, undated, one of which contains a photograph of a young woman; 19 
pencil and ink illustration sketches; an etching of a stone gate; reproductions of 
Brewster's art work for A NEW ALICE IN THE OLD WONDERLAND and for 
miscellaneous greeting cards; clippings; THE HILLS OF MATUNUCK AND THE OLD 
POST ROAD by Carder H. Whaley, 1964; a photograph of Brewster; and 2 
photographs of William T. Brewster. 
Also included is a 7-page book LETTER AND SPIRIT: DRAMATIC SONNETS OF 
INWARD LIFE by Anna Matlock Richards, illustrated by Anna Richards Brewster 
(1898). 
UNMICROFILMED: Marriage certificate, 1905; a passport affidavit, 1918; and a 
certificate of commendation from the French government, 1920; legal material 
concerning William Tenney Brewster, including a will, cremation certificate, estate 
papers, and copyright certificates, 1954-1961; correspondence with Brewster's father 
William Trost Richards, her husband William, William's brother Edwin, and other family 
members, 1887-1919; and fourteen letters concerning art related matters, including 3 
thank you notes from Dwight Eisenhower (1919-1959); lists of recipients of Brewster's 
books; reviews of the William Trost Richards memorial exhibition; 
8 clippings, 1955-1961; a scrapbook LIBER POKERI created for Brewster by her 
brother Herbert and her husband containing a drawing and clippings about poker; and 
a photograph album of Herbert Richards Brewster, 1906-1910. 
 
Provenance:  Material on reel 3796 donated 1985 by Susan Brewster McClatchy, 
Brewster's grandniece except for fr. 5-75, which were returned to McClatchy. Donor of 
the 1986 gift, Martha Santiago, is the aunt of Susan Brewster McClatchy. 
 
Location of Original:  Reel 3796, frames 5-75: Originals returned to lender, Susan 
Brewster McClatchy, after microfilming. 
 
Restrictions:  Microfilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of unmicrofilmed 
portion requires an appointment and is limited to Washington, D.C. storage facility. 
 
Subject-Topical:  Marine painting, American 
Illustration -- United States 
Marine painters 
Illustrators 
Painters 
 
Subject-Name:  Brewster, W. T. (William Tenney), 1869-1961 
 
Form / Genre:  Photograph albums 
Scrapbooks 
Sketchbooks 
 
Repository Loc:  Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 
20560 
Co-Creator:  Richards, Anna M. (Anna Matlock) 
Richards, William Trost, 1833-1905 


Parents
RICHARDS William Trost (14 Nov 1833 - 8 Nov 1905)
MATLACK Anna (15 Mar 1835 - 30 Nov 1900)

Siblings
RICHARDS Archer Ellis (30 Apr 1857 - 20 Aug 1922)
RICHARDS Charles Matlack (7 Jun 1858 - 6 Apr 1865)
RICHARDS Eleanor French (10 May 1862 - 2 Aug 1954)
RICHARDS Josephine Anna (20 Sep 1864 - 30 Aug 1865)
RICHARDS Theodore William (31 Jan 1868 - 2 Apr 1928)
RICHARDS Anna Mary (3 Apr 1870 - 1952)
RICHARDS Herbert Maule (6 Oct 1871 - 9 Jan 1928)
RICHARDS Mildred (30 Jan 1879 - 10 Mar 1880)

Marriage To BREWSTER William Tenney (15 Aug 1869 - 1961)
    m. 18 Jul 1905 St. Luke's Parish Church, Chelsea, London, England

Notes

Parents
BREWSTER John Leander ()
TENNEY Adeline Augusta ()

Children by BREWSTER William Tenney 15 Aug 1869 - 1961
BREWSTER Herbert Richards (11 May 1906 - 13 Feb 1910)

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