A resident of East Hartford, Connecticut from 1824 to 1860, New York City from 1860 to 1865, and Bristol, Rhode Island from 1878 until his death in 1909, Charles Brownell was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He became known for his landscape and still life paintings, especially a work titled "Connecticut Charter Oak."

In 1853, he gave up a law career to devote himself to landscape painting, and studied in Hartford with Julius Bush and Joseph Ropes and exhibited at the National Academy of Design. He also spent seven consecutive winters painting tropical scenery in Cuba and six years in Europe.

Credit: Who Was Who in American Art by Peter Falk