# Clement Drew artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/clement-drew/
Profile generated: 2026-05-23T18:34:16.616Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1806-11-27
- Death date: 1889-05-31
- Nationality: American
- Movements: 19th-century American marine painting
- Common media: oil painting

## About Clement Drew

Clement Drew (1806–1889) was an American painter active in Boston, Massachusetts, during the mid-to-late 19th century. Born in Kingston, Massachusetts, Drew established himself as a specialist in marine paintings, depicting the ships, harbors, and coastal scenes that defined New England's maritime culture. He maintained studios at several Boston addresses over a career spanning roughly four decades, including Court Street in the 1840s through 1860s, Tremont Street, Copeland Street, and finally Tremont Temple in 1889. In addition to painting, Drew operated as a dealer in picture-frames, placing him at the intersection of artistic production and the Boston art trade. His work is documented in the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History), Getty's Union List of Artist Names, and the Library of Congress name authority file. Collectors most often encounter Drew's work through marine paintings that capture the vessel traffic and harbor life of 19th-century Boston.

## Common works and media

Drew's known output consists primarily of oil paintings of marine subjects, including ship portraits, harbor scenes, and coastal views centered on Boston and the broader New England coastline. He worked on canvas and panel in the descriptive, moderately scaled tradition of 19th-century American ship portraitists. Prints or reproductive works after his paintings have not been documented in the available sources. Collectors should expect to encounter single-owner oil paintings, typically unsigned or bearing period signatures, in small to moderate dimensions consistent with the genre.

## Market and appraisal context

Clement Drew's marine paintings appear at auction with some regularity, reflecting the sustained collector interest in 19th-century American maritime art. When evaluating a Drew painting, appraisers consider subject specificity—depictions of named vessels or recognizable harbor views tend to carry more weight than generic seascapes—as well as condition, provenance, and the quality of attribution. Some works linked to Drew relate to his framing business rather than his hand as a painter, so careful examination of signatures and documentation is advisable. Comparable auction results for similar Boston-school marine paintings from the same period provide useful valuation benchmarks.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine researched artist identity with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Clement Drew, identity data is grounded in the Getty ULAN authority file, the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History), VIAF, and the Library of Congress name authority file.

## Sources

- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/24199
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5131309
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/4793674/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500003985
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Drew
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr92021673