Barker publishes booklet on 19th c. artist

A booklet on the life of 19th c. artist Alvah Bradish has become a reality thanks to funding from the New York State Council of the Arts. Author Doug Shepard has provided an informative piece of literature on this artist that can be purchased at the Barker Museum and other local outlets.
Bradish was born Sept. 4, 1806 in Sherburne, New York, to Samuel Morton and Mary Finch Bradish. By 1810 the Bradish family was listed in Junius, Seneca County. His father died when Alvah was 6, leaving his mother to raise him and three other sons in somewhat difficult circumstances. Although, the Barker has made a very significant attempt to determine where he received his formal training, this knowledge still is unknown, but visit the Barker and view any one of the 12 portraits on exhibit and you will conclude that he did receive some formal training at some point. Fortunately young Alvah’s second cousin, Luther Bradish, a diplomat, state assemblyman and later Lieutenant Governor of New York, became his patron.
Bradish’s career progresses and he arrived in Detroit in 1834. He soon developed a friendship with Douglass Houghton and his sister Lydia, and their relationship develops into marriage.
In 1852 Bradish was appointed Prof. of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan. He leaves there in 1865 taking his academic title with him, he moved to Buffalo where he painted for three years, relocating by March 1868 in Chicago,
then a growing center for the arts. And so the story continues, in more interesting details if you come to the Barker Museum and purchased the booklet as well as view the twelve portraits from the Barker’s collection now on display. The booklet, the portraits and future talks to be presented at the Museum, get ready to learn more about this artist and other local artists in the near future.