Hugh Breckenridge

Still Life, C.1917

Oil on Canvas

28 x 36"

Hugh Breckenridge was born on October 6, 1870 in Leesburg, Virginia. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where he met first met William Edmondson. In 1892, he traveled to Paris where he studied under Adolphe William Bouguereau. He travelled through Europe with his colleague Walter E. Schofield.

In 1894 when he returned to Philadelphia he began his career at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), where he would teach for more than forty years. Breckenridge opened his own school in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the Breckenridge School of Art, where he taught summer classes every year from 1920 to 1937.

Breckenridge exhibited widely from 1896 until his death, starting at the Art Club of Philadelphia and, towards the end of his life, in 1934, at the Whitney Museum. His work was included in the 1926 Philadelphia Sesqui-Centennial Exhibition. Breckenridge was a member of the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia Sketch Club, and the Arts Club of Philadelphia.

He died on November 4, 1937 in Philadelphia, while he was still on the faculty of the PAFA.

Hugh Breckenridge

1870 - 1937

Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA