Alfred T. Ordway (1821-1897) | White Mountain Art & Artists

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Alfred T. Ordway was born in Roxbury, MA, on March 9, 1821. He was educated in the Lowell school system and later studied portraiture under G. P. A. Healy. In 1845, he opened his first studio, at No. 24 Tremont Row, in Boston, MA.

In September of 1853, Ordway climbed to the summit of Mt. Washington. His signature appears in the Tip Top House Register, which establishes Ordway as one of the earliest White Mountain artists known to have ascended New England’s tallest peak. The signature of fellow landscape artist, Francis Seth Frost, also appears in the register, just below Alfred Ordway.

He and his friend, Benjamin Champney, founded the Boston Art Club in 1854. He served as its first secretary and treasurer, and as its president in 1859. He was a founder of the Boston Paint and Clay Club, and he served as the Director of Exhibitions at the Boston Athenaeum from 1856 to 1863. Ordway also spent two years in New York, where for a time, he worked as a clerk at the Academy of Design.

In September 1854, he was at Conway, NH, with Miss Bangs, Benjamin Champney, Richard William Hubbard, and Sanford Gifford trying his hand at landscape painting. Ordway took to this genre, and his career was largely defined by his landscape work. He also was an accomplished portrait painter, some of which were pastels.

On March 19, 1860, Ordway married Miss Annie Hill. In 1861, the couple moved to the Studio Building in Boston, and the artist spent all of his remaining years living at this address. Over many years, Ordway developed a strong reputation as an authority on art matters in the Boston area. At times, he was referred to as “the poet-painter” on account of the sentiment and emotion exuded by his artwork.

Ordway painted throughout the northeast, and in 1890 he was reported to be spending “the season” at the Kearsage House in North Conway. He exhibited at the Boston Athenaeum (1855-1864), the Mechanics Fair in Boston (1878) the Unity Art Club (1895), and the Art Institute of Chicago (1898). He also exhibited frequently at the National Academy of Design, Boston Paint and Clay Club, and the Brooklyn Art Association from 1868 until his death.

On November 17, 1897, Ordway passed away from heart failure while visiting a friend in Melrose Highlands, MA. A Memorial Exhibition consisting of approximately 140 of his paintings was held at the Boston Art Club, on Dartmouth Street, during December of 1897 and January of 1898. He is buried at the Lowell Cemetery, 1020 Lawrence Street, Lowell, MA.

Ordway Images