Chronology

Daniel Ridgway Knight – Chronology

Family history

Mother Anna Shryock born 1804 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
Father Robert Tower Knight born in 1807 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

October 5, 1829: Anna Shryock and Robert Tower Knight married in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

1830
US Federal Census lists the Knight family living in Philadelphia in the South Mulberry Ward.

1834
Martha S. Knight, sister, born to Anna Shryock and Robert Tower Knight in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1836
June 30: Rachel Aston Knight, sister, born to Anna Shryock and Robert Tower Knight in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

September 4: Rachel Aston Knight baptized at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church, 235 North 4th Street, Philadelphia

1839
March 15: Daniel Ridgway Knight born to Anna Shryock and Robert Tower Knight in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

August 18: Baptized at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church, 235 North 4th Street, Philadelphia.

1842
William Knight, brother, born to Anna Shryock and Robert Tower Knight in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1845
Elizabeth S. Knight, sister, born to Anna Shryock and Robert Tower Knight in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1850
US Federal Census shows the Knight family living in Guilford, Pennsylvania, just a few miles east of Chambersburg where Anna Shylock was born.

 

Education

1858
Knight is enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia

1860
The US Federal Census lists the Knight family living in Philadelphia Ward 14, Division 2. Daniel Ridgway Knight is listed as living in his parents’ house at this time.

July:  Knight travels to Paris, France to study art. Attended the studio of Charles Gleyre (1806-1874) and applied to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Two other American painters, Edward Larson Henry (1841-1919) and William Mark Fish (1841-1923) were also studying in Gleyre’s atelier at the same time.

1861
Knight matriculated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

1863
January-August: Knight travels to Rome to study art.

September: Knight returns to Philadelphia, perhaps in response to the passage of the Enrollment Act, which mandated that all eligible male citizens were subject to conscription.

 

Career

 ca. 1864
Knight established a portrait studio in Philadelphia. He began to accept students, one of whom was Rebecca Morris Webster (1849-1911).

1865
Exhibited two paintings, Business before Pleasure and Belisarius, at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

Exhibited drawings, Ruth and After the Storm, at the Pennsylvania Sketch Club, First Annual Prize Exhibition.

1869
Exhibited four paintings—The Veteran, The Rival Pets, The Rehearsal, and Paul at Athens after Ritchie—at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

1870
The US Federal Census records the Knight family living in Philadelphia Ward 14, District 41.

1871
September 20: Marriage to Rebecca Morris Webster in Philadelphia at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The newlyweds moved to Paris shortly after their wedding.

1872
Daniel and Rebecca Knight settled in Paris briefly before moving to Poissy, France where Knight worked with Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891) at the small, informal atelier known as L’Abbaye.

1873
Exhibited Les fugitifs at the Paris Salon.

April 18: Death of Knight’s father, Robert Tower Knight in Philadelphia.

Summer: Purchased large 17th century mansion in Poissy, adjacent to Ernest Meissonier’s home at L’Abbaye. Knight also had a separate studio on the grounds.

August 3: Birth of son, Louis Aston Knight in Paris.

1875
Exhibited Les Laveuses Paris Salon.

1876
Exhibited Porteurs de l’eau de village at the Paris Salon.

 Exhibited Clémence and Her Grandmother at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

1877
Exhibited Repas pendant la moisson at the Paris Salon.

November 27: Birth of son Charles Meissonier Knight, Poissy, France.

1879
January 25: Death of mother, Anna Shryock in Philadelphia.

Exhibited La vendange at the Paris Salon.

Exhibited Returning from the Fields at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

1880
Exhibited Une halte at the Paris Salon.

Exhibited Welcome Home: Landscape near Poissy, France, at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

1881
Exhibited Après un déjeuner—bords de la Seine at the Paris Salon.

1882
Exhibited Un Deuil at the Paris Salon.

Received an Honorable Mention at the Paris Salon

1883
March 1: Birth of son, Raymond Ridgway Knight, Poissy, France.

Exhibited Sans dot at the Paris Salon.

1885
Exhibited The Wayside Gossips at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Exhibited Les babillardes at the Paris Salon.

1887
Exhibited L’inventeur at the Paris Salon.

1888
Knight submits L’appel au passer (Hailing the Ferry) to the Paris Salon, where it received a third class medal. It would also receive a silver medal at the annual art exhibition in Munich that year.

1889
Exhibited Le soir at the Paris Salon.

Received a silver medal for painting at the Exposition universelle.

November 27: Inducted into the French Legion of Honor.

1891
The Recensements de Population (French census) indicates that the Knight family is living in Poissy.

Exhibited Les amies du berger at the Paris Salon.

Exhibited Hailing the Ferry at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

1892
Exhibited Premier chagrin at the Paris Salon.

Exhibited In the Apple Tree and La Lavandiére at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

1893
Exhibited Flâneuse at the Paris Salon.

1894
February: Knight is awarded the newly created Academy Gold Medal by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

Exhibited Le ruisseau and La déclaration at the Paris Salon.

October: Rebecca Knight’s father, Thomas Webster, suffered a stroke in Philadelphia.

December 30: Death of Thomas Webster in Philadelphia.

1895
January 2: Burial of Thomas Webster at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Exhibited Aubépine at the Paris Salon.

1896
The Recensements de Population, (French census) for both Poissy and Paris indicate the Knight family is no longer living in either location.

Knight purchased property in Rolleboise, a village 25 miles northwest of Poissy. There he established a studio along the bluffs above the Seine river. His son Louis Aston was also a painter and he often lived there with his father for extended periods of time.

Exhibited La bergère à Rolleboise at the Paris Salon.

1897
Exhibited Soir d’été at the Paris Salon.

1898
Exhibited La fille du jardinier and Sur la terrasse at the Paris Salon.

1899
Exhibited Les curie uses and Matinée de juliet at the Paris Salon.

1900
Exhibited Un matin de juillet at the Exposition universelle, Paris.

Exhibited Quiétude at the Paris Salon.

1901
The Recensements de Population (French census) list Rebecca Knight as the “chef” (head of household) in Poissy. Her legal status as a “rentier” indicates that is financially independent. Her sons and husband are listed as members of the household.

Exhibited Reverie at the Paris Salon.

1902
Exhibited Causerie at the Paris Salon.

1903
Charles Knight married Alice Boucherie and established his architectural practice in Paris.

1904
Exhibited Grande soeur and Le chemic des vignes at the Paris Salon.

1905
Exhibited En vendanges and Le raisin at the Paris Salon.

Exhibited Hailing the Ferry at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

1907
Exhibited Orpheline at the Paris Salon.

October 15: Louis Aston Knight and Carol Ridgway Brewster were married in Somerset, New Jersey. They maintained a base in New York city as well as a home in France.

1908
Exhibited Les lavandiéres at the Paris Salon.

1909
January 26: Knight became an officer of the French Legion of Honor.

August: Death of wife, Rebecca Morris Webster, Poissy, France. Funeral services were held the Church of the Holy Trinity, the American Cathedral of Paris. Burial at the cemetery in St. Germain-en-Laye, just outside of Poissy.

Rebecca Knight left the house in Poissy to Charles Knight and his family. Following his wife’s death, Daniel Knight seems to have lived primarily in Rolleboise. He also maintained a studio in Paris.

1910
Exhibited Waiting for the Boats at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Exhibited A Favorite Pastime at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

1911
Exhibited Orpheline at the Paris Salon.

October 22: Death of son Raymond Ridgway Knight in Paris from overdose of morphine.

1912
Exhibited La frileuse at the Paris Salon.

1913
Exhibited Le bas de laine français—paysans de Rolleboise and Reverie at the Paris Salon.

1914
Exhibited Charité and Coupes d’herbe at the Paris Salon.

June 28: Assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo by a member of the nationalist Young Bosnia movement. In response, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28; and on August 1, Germany declared on Russia, who was then allied with France. The Germans marched into France through Belgium, which triggered the involvement of the United Kingdom as an ally. In short, nearly all of Europe was entangled because of alliances and treaty pacts. Eventually, Italy, Japan, Turkey and the US would also be drawn into the conflict.

The Knight house in Poissy was requisitioned by the French military in the early years of World War I. Charles, Louis and Daniel Knight all shifted their home base to Paris. Charles and his family were living at 11 rue Marbeuf; Louis and his family were at 147 rue de la Pompe; and Daniel was living at 53 rue de Clichy. All of these addresses suggest that Knight family was financially secure.

1915
January: Louis Aston Knight applies for a US passport.

March: Daniel Ridgway Knight applies for a US passport.

July: Charles Meissonier applies for a US passport.

Americans living in France were not required to leave because the US was not yet involved in the war. Whether or not the Knight family members living in Paris traveled to the US during these years is not yet verifiable, but the passport applications certainly indicate an awareness that they might need to leave Paris depending on the circumstances of the war.

1918
May1-June 30: Benefit exhibition in aid of the war effort sponsored by Société des Artistes Français and the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Daniel Ridgway Knight donated his painting, Les Terraces à Rolleboise.

1919
Charles Knight returned to the house in Poissy after the war. His father apparently lived there for a brief time as well before returning to his house at Rolleboise and his apartment in Paris.

1920
Exhibited Cendrillon (Cinderella) at the Paris Salon.

1921
The house in Poissy was sold to Casimir Crosnier-Leconte, an auctioneer.

Exhibited Curiosité and Portrait de mon fils at the Paris Salon.

1922
Knight’s studio and part of the house was razed.

1924
March 9: Death of Daniel Ridgway Knight at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine from pneumonia. He was 85 years old.

March 12: Funeral services were held at the Church of the Holy Trinity, the American Cathedral of Paris. Burial at the cemetery in St. Germain-en-Laye next to his wife, Rebecca.

November 10: Retrospective exhibition of Knight’s work at the John Levy Galleries in New York. The show included 75 works.

1925
February 4-5: Louis and Charles Knight consigned their father’s remaining artwork to the American Art Galleries in New York. The two-day sale in February was comprised of 116 paintings.