Artist & Engraver
Morning View of Blue Hill (Jonathan Fisher, 1824).
Jonathan Fisher claimed that his artistic talent developed because of his passion for mathematics and geometry, and his need to work on such problems by drawing out their solutions. In his autobiographical Sketches he states
Between the years of 10 and 15 of my age I began to exhibit some traces of a mechanical genius and a turn towards mathematics, spending my leisure time . . . in solving various questions in mathematics, sometimes with a pin on a smooth board and sometimes on a slate, which led the way afterwards to a small measure of proficiency in sketching and painting.
Fisher illustrated many of his college notebooks with vivid watercolors. The parson later collected these pages and bound them into volumes, many of which remain in the possession of the Jonathan Fisher House. Fisher also painted views of Harvard College--which he sold to augment his humble income as a student--as well as numerous illustrations of animals, plants, and other scenes of natural history. Click here for more information on Fisher's watercolors.
Watercolor of a Horse (Jonathan Fisher, 1800).
Fisher also learned to paint with oil on canvas. He produced landscapes, portraits, and images of nature. He also painted several still lifes at a time when few Americans practiced that art. Click here for more information on Fisher's oil paintings.
The parson also made numerous engravings and built his own press on which he could strike prints. Fisher, as often was the case, turned his talent to commercial use and sold several of his woodcuts to local newspapers. His masterpiece in the medium was a natural history book written for children, Scripture Animals, which depicted every creature named in the bible. Click here for more information on Fisher's engravings.