Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait

Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait was born in Livesey Hall near Liverpool, England in 1819. He was the tenth of twelve children.

Tait’s father had financial difficulties. He declared bankruptcy and, when Tait was eight years old, was sent to live with his aunt and uncle on their farm in Lancaster.

At the age of twelve, Tait was apprenticed to Agnew & Zanetti's Repository of Art in Manchester, where he learned lithography and was encouraged to hone his painting skills. He became, not only a skilled lithographer and painter over the following decade, he also worked as an art teacher.

In 1850, Tait emigrated to America, with his wife, Marian. They lived in New York City and visited the Adirondacks, where Tait was inspired to paint the landscape and wildlife. He found success in America. His paintings sold well.

In 1852, he began a business relationship with printmakers Currier & Ives, who reproduced his paintings as lithographs. Tait became one of their most popular artists. 

His paintings were also well received; more than 200 of his works were exhibited at the National Academy of Design, to which he was given full membership in 1858.

Tait's relationship with Currier & Ives ended in 1864, when the company reissued a smaller and cheaper version of one of his works without his consent. Although Currier & Ives owned the copyright (there was no copyright for paintings in America until 1865), Tait objected to the style of the reproduction, on which his signature was prominently placed.

In 1872, Tait’s wife, Marian died suddenly and unexpectedly. He  briefly returned to England after her death.

He returned to New York with Marian’s niece, Polly, whom he married in 1874. The couple divided their time between a home in the Adirondacks and their apartment in the city. Sadly, Polly died not long after the birth of their second son, in 1880. Tait married Polly’s half-sister, Emma, in 1882. 

Tait sold his home in the Adirondacks, his apartment in New York and built a home and studio in Yonkers where he lived and worked until his death in 1905.

The paintings and lithographs of Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait are in private collections and displayed in over 50 museums in the US and England including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Library of Congress and the Yale University Art Museum.