Thomas Buchanan Read
American, 1822 - 1872
Person TypeIndividual
Terms
- male
BiographyRead was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1822. He ran away from home to Cincinnati in 1832. Nicholas Longsworth assisted him in finding a studio and gaining artistic training, and Read became known as a portrait painter. He also was a poet of some merit and a sculptor. He moved to Boston in 1841 and to Philadelphia in 1846. In 1850, he traveled to Europe and to England, where he met the Pre-Raphaelite painters. During the American Civil War, he worked under General Lew Wallace in public relations and propaganda. He died in 1872.