Resort · late 19th c.
Harrison Bird Brown
Painter of White Head and the Cliff, engraved for Sargent (1886)
[C]Confirmed1831 – 1915
Summary
Portland-born marine painter. The frontispiece 'White Head' and the interior plate 'Cliff' in Sargent's 1886 sketch are both engraved from Brown's original paintings.
From the sources
Brown's paintings gave the island its earliest widely reproduced visual identity: the pale cliffs of White Head became the standard image of Cushing for a generation of Portland visitors. The Boston Public Library later issued a color linen postcard (#61191) of the same view — the postcard now in the archive of this history.
Places associated
Primary evidence
Cited works
- [1] Sargent (1886), frontispiece and p. 33.
Continue the trail
- 01Stand at White HeadPlace · White Head — Landscape · All eras
- 02Look at the evidence: White Head, Cushing Island, Portland Harbor, ca. 1928Source · White Head, Cushing Island, Portland Harbor, ca. 1928 — ca. 1928 · Boston Public Library
- 03Read the whole layer: The Summer IslandLayer · The Summer Island — Layer 03 · 1858 → 1917
- 04Look at the evidence: An Historical Sketch, Guide Book, and Prospectus of Cushing's IslandSource · An Historical Sketch, Guide Book, and Prospectus of Cushing's Island — 1886