A Deaf Artist in Early America ─ The Worlds of John Brewster, Jr

The extraordinary and untold story of John Brewster Jr., a preeminent Deaf American artist

Until his death 150 years ago, John Brewster Jr. was one of the most prominent portrait painters in America. Born deaf in 1766, his hauntingly beautiful portraits have a directness and intensity of vision that were rarely equaled. Harlan Lane’s groundbreaking biography includes little-known and invaluable information on the early French roots of the American Deaf-World, the first school for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut, the integrated Deaf community of Martha’s Vineyard, and Contemporary Deaf art.

Superbly illustrated with twenty-four pages of color images, A Deaf Artist in Early America provides a rare glimpse of Brewster and his art; it also contextualizes the distinctive culture, language, social institutions, and legacy of the Deaf in America.

“This riveting account of John Brewster Jr. will be invaluable not only in Deaf studies and art history, but also in early American history and the social history of American institutions.” —Carol Padden, coauthor of Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture

Harlan Lane is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at Northeastern University and has received the International Social Merit Award of the World Federation of the Deaf, among numerous other honors. An internationally recognized advocate for the Deaf, the author or editor of nine books on Deaf history, language, and culture, Lane lives in Boston, Massachusetts.