Artist: Phillips Endecott Osgood

Title: Untitled

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Art Dimensions: 15 H x 18 W inches


ARTIST BIO:

DR. PHILLIPS ENDECOTT OSGOOD (May 11, 1882 – November 6, 1956)

Minister, author, painter, and illustrator. Born in North Attleboro, Bristol County, Massachusetts, the son of Helen Frances Reed (b. 1852) and George Endecott Osgood (1854 – 1930). He was a descendant of John Endecott (1600 – 1665), the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Phillips Osgood attended the North Attleboro High School and then went on to Harvard University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904. He received his Bachelor of Divinity from the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1907 (he received his Doctor of Divinity much later from the Seabury Division School in 1923). In September of 1907 he married Marion Curtis Stone (1880 – 1967) in Wrentham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts and went on to have three children, Marjorie (b. 1912), Catherine (b. 1917), and Endecott (b. 1918). He was ordained an episcopal priest in 1908, and served rector of the Church of Our Saviour, located in Roslindale, Suffolk County, Massachusetts from 1909 through 1914. In 1914 he moved his family to Philadelphia, where he took up a leadership position at the Chapel of the Mediator.

From 1921 through 1932, Osgood served as rector of St Mark’s Church, located in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, where at least for a time, he was involved with the eugenics movement pursued by Minnesota physician, Charles Fremont Dight (1856 – 1938). While in residence in Minneapolis, he was a member (later a life member) and exhibitor at the Attic Club, one of the city’s fine art organizations. In 1922, the publication A Handbook of Practice and Performance in Pictorial Expression of Ideas included a section discussing Osgood’s use of art during his ministry in Minneapolis:

"Rev. Phillips E. Osgood of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, of Minneapolis, is a trained draftsman, using his ability in cover designs for church publications and in illustrating lesson series. He says his art training has been most helpful in word picturing in preaching. He uses chalk talk continuously in Sunday School work and before Lenten classes."

In 1932 Osgood moved back to New England, where he became rector of the Emmanuel Church in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, where he and his family resided at 15 Newberry Street. He was a member of and exhibitor at the Copley Society, one of the oldest art associations in the United States, where he eventually served as vice-president and later as president. The location of the Society was just a few doors down from his own residence in Boston, making for an easy commute. He was also a board member of the Society for the Preservation of Sanity in Art (A.K.A. Society for Sanity in Art), a group known for its opposition to all forms of modern art.

During the latter part of his tenure at Emmanuel he was honored by being elected to serve as the President of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies of the General Convention, a position he held from 1943 - 1945. Soon after this honor was first bestowed it appears his life began to unravel, with one publication noting he "turned from the church, turned from Emmanuel and its people, and turned from his own family." It was not long before he was forced to resign his position by the Bishop, with everything hinting at an extramarital affair. He was soon divorced, remarried a woman named Eunice Williams Simonds, joined the Unitarian faith and took over the Unitarian congregation in Orange, Essex County, New Jersey (which became the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County), in 1949. During his last years he was associated with the Summit Art Association, located in Summit, Union County, New Jersey.

Phillips Endecott Osgood died on Tuesday, the 6th of November 1956 at the Orange Memorial, Hospital in Orange, New Jersey, at the age of seventy-five years after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. It is neither clear from where his service was held nor where he was interred.

Osgood’s paintings are impressionistic in style, often brightly colored, and depict townscapes, landscapes, and coastal seascapes. His use of strong colors is often one of the most distinctive aspect of his works. Many of the identifiable scenes are associated with Rockport and the Cape Anne areas of New England. Others may depict scenes in the Adirondacks. Nearly all his early works (c. 1920s-40s) are signed ‘Phillips E. Osgood,” with later works signed simply “Osgood,” and most are usually undated. Several examples of his paintings have come up at auction in recent years, though none that can be firmly identified with his early period in Minneapolis. Only one dated work, entitled "The Sunshine Wins," has appeared, which dates to 1927, however this appears to be a New England subject, and is perhaps related to his time (c. 1927-1945) as a rector for the Emmanuel Church at their summer site on Cape Anne at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Essex County, Massachusetts.

Source: https://www.askart.com/artist/Phillips_Endecott_Osgood/11142697/Phillips_Endecott_Osgood.aspx

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