Alumni Spotlight
Sears Gallagher, EHS Class of 1886: A Lasting Impression
American artist Sears Gallagher’s life story went from English High School, to the Paris Salon, and back home to Roxbury.
Sears Gallagher EHS 1886, shown here at work in 1940.
English High Alumnus Sears Gallagher (April 30, 1869 – June 9, 1955) was an American artist proficient in drawing, etching, watercolor and oil painting. His work consisted largely of landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes depicting his native Boston and northern New England, especially Monhegan Island, Maine. During the height of his career his watercolors were favorably compared to those of Winslow Homer and F. W. Benson, and his etchings and drypoints to those of James McNeill Whistler.
While Gallagher’s exact year of graduation from English High School is unknown, it is believed he was a member of the Class of 1886, where he would have been the classmate of the banker and philanthropist, Charles Hayden. During the time Gallagher was a student at English he also studied at night school with artist George H. Bartlett and had a drawing selected for exhibition at the prestigious Boston Art Club in 1887 when he was only 18.
In 1892 Gallagher made a summer trip to Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine. Monhegan was to become a frequent subject of Gallagher’s paintings and etching for the next 40 years and summer visits to Monhegan were often followed by fishing and sketching trips in the fall to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
In April, 1895, Gallagher married Charlotte Dodge. Their European honeymoon began in England but ultimately they landed in Paris and settled in to study and paint. Two watercolors from his work there were selected for the prestigious 1896 Paris Salon.
By the time he and his wife returned to Boston in 1896, his reputation as a watercolorist and his success in Europe established him as an important young artist. Gallagher purchased a house in West Roxbury, in 1897 and settled into a life of middle-class ease, remaining in the same house until his death.
‘Fish Beach, Monhegan’ by Sears Gallagher
Gallagher, in a white hat, painting at Fish Beach on Monhegan Island, Maine in 1940.
Etching of fly fisherman in the White Mountains, New Hampshire
A more recent reviewer described Gallagher’s work: “The underlying strength of his drawing is complemented by his skillful brushwork and strong sense of color. That he produced beautiful landscapes and seascapes, delightful book and magazine illustrations, and sharply defined etchings should be enough to draw attention to this successful artist, a notable American impressionist.”
Today, you can view Gallagher’s works through Boston and New England at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Boston Public Library, Colby College Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, and Harvard Art Museum among others. His work is also on display at The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Library of Congress and even the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
