A farmer steers his horse-drawn cart laden with hay, preparing to pass through a gated area on a dirt road. Scenic view attributed to the artist, most likely taken in or around Windsor, CT.

Charles Robert Hatheway: 1866-1957

Known professionally as C. Robert Hatheway, he was a commercial artist and amateur photographer from Windsor, CT and member of the National Society of Craftsmen. (1.)

He “began photographing Poquonock’s mills, bridges, buildings, and people in the 1880s.” (2.) The Windsor Historical Society has approximately 80 of his glass plate negatives attributed to him, dating ca. 1890-1900, as well as original prints, including cyanotypes. Their finding aid on the artist:

Biographical Note

Charles Robert Hatheway, also known as C. Robert Hatheway, was born in the Poquonock section of Windsor, CT on January 30, 1866 to Charles W. and Sarah A. (Barrett) Hatheway. In 1898 he married Emma K. Freeman, who later became a librarian in the Poquonock branch library. Together they had one son, Robert Knowlton Hatheway. C. Robert Hatheway was a locally well-known artist working in watercolors, pastels, etchings, and photography, and often depicted Windsor scenes in his art. He was also very active in civic and church affairs, having served as secretary of the Windsor school board, deacon of the Poquonock Congregational Church, and from 1909-1910, he represented Windsor in the Connecticut State House of Representatives. Hatheway died in 1957 and is buried at Elm Grove Cemetery in Windsor.

His Take on Modern Art

In 1950, the Hartford Courant newspaper in CT printed an article coinciding with a retrospective exhibit of the artists paintings. It provides some nice background on his early beginnings, and gives his disparaging take on “Modern Art”. Apparently, he didn’t seem too keen on the likes of Jackson Pollock’s work:

Modern Art Criticized By Painter, 84

C. Robert. Hatheway, 84, Poquonock artist, some of whose paintings have been gathered for an exhibit in Windsor, starting Friday, has a low opinion of “modern” art. He has followed trends in painting for many years, but of the moderns he says:

“They seem to splash the paint on the canvas and let their imagination take over from there. You never know what they’re trying to do.”

The public library in the new Poquonock Elementary School is planning the exhibit of paintings by Mr. Hatheway, who sold his home to make way for the new school. The collection of oils and watercolors was painted in his studio in the homestead at the site of the new building. It will be the first exhibition of the painter for 35 years.

Mr. Hatheway gave up painting about the time he moved to the home of his son on River Street, two years ago. The exhibit will include a seaside scene, the last painting he did in his Poquonock Avenue studio.

Mrs. Joseph. Barkal, assistant librarian at Poquonock, arranged for the showing which will open Friday night and will continue on Tuesdays and Fridays through April 11. The paintings are to hang in the room called the Emma K. Hatheway Library, in honor of the artist’s wife who was active in starting the community’s first public library about 40 years ago.

In all, about 12 pictures will be shown. Most of them are landscapes, but none shows a local scene although Mr. Hatheway worked only a short distance from the picturesque Farmington River.

The oldest painting in the group showing a mill and mill run, bears the date 1892. It was about that time Mr. Hatheway took lessons from the late Daniel Wentworth of Hartford.

After a few lessons the Poquonock painter “went ahead on his own,” he explains. His method was to paint from sketches and memory so none of the rustic scenes or the paintings of sand dunes and seaside buildings is a reproduction of an existing or historic place. All of them, however, have an authentic appearance.

Weakening eyesight finally caused Mr. Hatheway to give up active painting. He lost an eye in a kitchen explosion 25 years ago and the other is getting weaker now, he says.

A fine sense of color remains, however. Sorting his paintings in preparation for the exhibition, Mr. Hatheway turned down an old one that, he said, needed some retouching. The brown wall of one of two buildings in the picture should be made brighter, he said. (3.)

1. Excerpt: biography: C. Robert Hatheway, Legislative History and Souvenir of Connecticut, 1897/98-1911/12: Portraits and Sketches of State Officers, Senators, Representatives, Clerks, Chaplains, Etc, Volume 7, 1910, p. 187. His jewelry designs were showcased by the Society in 1907, with the following entry for the artist appearing as part of the Exhibition of the Society of Arts and Crafts Copley Hall in Boston, Feb. 5-26, 1907: Hartford Arts and Crafts Club HATHAWAY, C. R. 381 A. Silver chain and pendant, with rose quartz and lilac enamel 382 A. Red enamel copper medallion, with oxidized copper handmade chain 384 A. Oxidized silver ring, with opal 385 A. Silver brooch, with abalone shell Designed and executed by Mr. Hathaway (sic)
2. Excerpt: Camera Crazy: Photographers of Windsor 1885-1930, in: Windsor Historical Society News, December, 2007 newsletter.
3. Modern Art Criticized By Painter, 84 | C. Robert Hatheway Will Show in Windsor; Hits Color Splashing: The Hartford Courant, Wed. March 29, 1950, p. 15