author
W. C. (William Crary) Brownell
1851–1928
An influential American critic of literature and art, he brought a broad, elegant approach to cultural writing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work helped shape how American readers thought about both books and painting.
1 Audiobook
French Art: Classic and Contemporary Painting and Sculpture
by W. C. (William Crary) Brownell
About the author
Born in New York City in 1851, William Crary Brownell became known as a literary and art critic with a strong interest in widening the scope of American criticism. He graduated from Amherst College in 1871 and began his career in journalism, working at the New York World before moving into literary criticism and publishing.
Brownell later worked as an editor at Charles Scribner's Sons, where he was associated with major writers of his time, including Edith Wharton. He also wrote widely on European and American literature and art, building a reputation for polished, thoughtful criticism rather than narrow reviewing.
He died in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1928. Today he is remembered as a serious man of letters whose essays connected journalism, literary culture, and art criticism in an important period of American intellectual life.