Artist Biography & Facts

Amos Sangster

Amos W. Sangster (Canadian-American, 1833-1904), noted artist, painter, etcher, inventor, illustrator and respected art instructor primarily known for his etchings of the Niagara Falls region, and for his landscape and marine paintings in oil and watercolor. In the first half of the 1880's, Sangster began working on a series of original paintings and drawings for use in the later folio collection of etchings entitled Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario (alternately titled Niagara River from Lake to Lake), an important and ambitious project that became his life's work, for which he is most well known today. His original etchings and artwork of the Niagara region are an important and historic record of the region as it was in the late 1800's.

Most of Sangster's work depicts scenes either along the Niagara River or of Lake Erie close to the mouth of the river. The set was dedicated "By Permission and With Great Respect…" to Sangster's close friend, The Honorable Grover Cleveland, then President of the United States who was a major collector of his artwork.

Sangster was a charter member and was elected to be on the first council of the Buffalo Society of Artists and later served as Vice President of the BSA in 1893, and he actively exhibited with the BSA.

Aside from private collections, many of Sangster's original artworks and etchings are secured in public museums, corporations, clubs, libraries, universities and historical collections nationwide including the Buffalo History Museum, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, as well as in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, the Smithsonian Libraries Collection, and various collections in Canada such as Brock University, and the Toronto Public Library to name only a few.

There is no other local artist, or any other artist for that matter, who has more thoroughly captured Niagara Falls or the surrounding regions from Lake to Lake in finer excellence and exceptional distinction than Amos Sangster.

"It is a remarkable fact that this accomplished painter and etcher was wholly self-taught. In his whole artistic career he only received one lesson, and was so dissatisfied that he never would consent to take another. A man of independent mind and keen observation, Mr. Sangster went to nature for his instruction. His pictures were simple in conception, profound in sentiment and finished in execution. In oils, water-colors and etchings Mr. Sangster attained equal eminence. In addition to their consummate art, the works of Mr. Sangster have a distinct historic value. To him preeminently belongs the title of "Painter of the Niagara Frontier," whose grand and picturesque scenes he devoted a large share of his life to reproducing. He was a particularly strong painter of marine subjects…He was a successful instructor." (Excerpt from Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York, Volume 1, pp. 419-421).

Amos became a member and started to exhibit with the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy in 1865. His first watercolor painting submitted that same year was titled Beaver Creek and Its Surroundings, as seen from the head of Grand Island, looking toward Buffalo. Around that same time period, Amos was the only Buffalo artist who began to explore the medium of etching and circa the early 1870's, he co-founded the first etching club in Buffalo. He operated the club out of his home studio which only had about five members at the beginning, to include the well known artists Hamilton Hamilton, and Burr H. Nicholls.

Amos' first known etching was a small landscape with a group of trees along an embankment near the water's edge. In February of 1883, Amos co-founded the Buffalo Art Club and was elected its first president.

Beginning in early 1886, Amos maintained his studio at the White Building and earlier that same year he had created the largest etching ever produced in the United States at that time, titled A Surf-tormented Shore (alternately titled The Surf, 24" x 36"). But what Amos did between the years 1886-89 was to become his crowing achievement—he published his famed folio of etchings titled Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. This limited edition signed and numbered 'Remarque Folio Edition' was one of the greatest publishing feats ever undertaken in the United States at that time, and its theme has been unequalled in size and scope by any other artist since its debut in 1886. It was an ambitious project that documented the full length of the Niagara River region along its entire thirty-six mile stretch, and has also served as an important historic record of the region as it was in the late 1800's. The enormous task was a decade in the making, and the completed copper etchings alone took him about three years to produce.

Sangster originally conceived the idea for the folio series of etchings himself, and it had been, "…his cherished dream and hope for many years." (Dedication Page, Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario) The images in the folio depicted picturesque scenery in a realist style devoid of pretense, and he knew the region quite thoroughly and with a profound intimacy from both the American and Canadian sides. He spent many years beforehand traipsing and camping along its banks, scenic vistas, pathways, hidden coves, and quiet corners sketching and painting as he went along. Many of his scenes captured pristine areas in some of the relatively undisturbed primeval environs of the Niagara Region just before the inevitable encroachment of further industrialization, the use of hydro-electric power, booming cities and a burgeoning tourist industry had permanently taken their foothold in and around the landscape.

Some notable collectors of the folio included Elbert Hubbard of the Roycroft Arts & Crafts fame, Joseph A. Dingens, a wine & liquor importer and wholesale dealer along with his brother John C. Dingens and Eugene Bertrand, Jr. in Buffalo under the business name of Dingens Brothers (and whom Dingens Street is named after) as well as the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Lackawanna to name a few. Amos was a highly respected member in the art community and amongst his business associates, friends, pupils and those who knew him best. He was widely known not only for his artistic merits, but for his honesty and benevolent nature. "Ever unselfish, honesty was also one of his strongest traits, honesty to himself, to his art and to his friends. Kindly, courteous, gentle, he was loved by both artist and layman...."

Some notable patrons of his work include; the Honorable A. Rogers, who aided the placement of Sangster's watercolor study of "Beaver Island" in the National Academy, the Honorable William L. Scott of Erie, PA, Edward Olcott of Denver, CO, George Van Vleck of Buffalo and William C. Cornwell. When he wasn't diligently working on a given project, he taught art out of the various studios he had maintained over the course of his long career. Sangster's folio became a history lesson in and of itself, not only through his etchings but by the 36,000 word historical commentary written by colleague James Warner Ward, then librarian of the Grosvenor Public Library in Buffalo who was another of Sangster's close friends.

On October 13, 1903, Amos and his wife Eliza celebrated their golden 50th wedding anniversary and he had prepared what was to unfortunately become his last etching titled The Golden Sunset.  Amos gave the etching to his wife, and also as a souvenir of the occasion to all family members and honored guests. That following December, Amos had his last exhibition of oils, watercolors, etchings and monoprints from his home studio and on New Years Eve he became stricken with complications due to grippe (a former name for influenza) and nervous prostration (another name for a nervous breakdown). The sickness had left him basically bedridden and led to his steady decline resulting in his death at 4:10am on April 23, 1904 at the age of 71.

Several local newspapers published extended obituaries on Sangster and his career as a prominent Buffalo artist whose fame reached far beyond the Niagara Region. The month following his death, his wife Eliza had a special exhibition of his work that was on display for a month, and she continued to have retrospective shows and sell his artwork from their home until about 1910. She passed away on February 12, 1921, and they are both buried in the family plot (Section H, Lot 90) located in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY, and evidently there is sadly no monument or marker for Amos.

FAST FORWARD 100 YEARS
In 1986, Sangster's etchings from the 1886 collection were exhibited in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the publication of the folio, along with photographs by John Pfahl which were executed especially for the occasion. "With a grant from the Visual Artists Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, the Castellani Art Museum commissioned Pfahl to photograph the river over a period of nine months during 1985-86. Pfahl attempted to use the working methods of Amos Sangster as closely as possible, spending many days hiking along the Niagara River, finding his vantage points, and, most important, approaching his subject with the same reverent appreciation of the Niagara scene and painterly aesthetic evinced by Sangster. The photographs that result are serenely picturesque vistas, incorporating a sense of the awesome and sublime that belongs to Pfahl's own, uniquely spiritual attitude toward nature. Fifty-two horizontal Kodak Ektacolor color-coupler prints were produced." (Website of the Castellani Art Museum)

The show was proposed by the Amos W. Sangster Niagara River Centennial Committee in conjunction with the Buscaglia-Castellani Art Gallery (now called the Castellani Art Museum), at Niagara University in Niagara Falls, NY, and was to include four concurrent events. The show was later incorporated into a traveling exhibition which was distributed by the Visual Studies Workshop exhibition program from Rochester, NY. Pfahl's images along with a few select Sangster etchings, were then published in a book titled Arcadia Revisited: Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, published by the University of New Mexico Press (1988), with essays by Estelle Jussim, Anthony Bannon and John Pfahl.

Chronology:
1833- Born, February 5th, to Hugh Sangster (b. 1809-d. Dec. 28, 1886) & Mary Ann (née Fisher, b. 1813-d. Nov. 6, 1878), the second of twelve children, to include; James, Amos W., Francis, Mary, Christine, Louise, William H., Charles H., Urania Nott "Rena", John Thomas, Frances, and another child who died in infancy (James' Twin), and while two other siblings had died fairly young, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

1834- The family moved to Buffalo, NY, and Hugh Sangster engaged in the copper and tin trade, Buffalo, NY, and Amos attended Buffalo public schools.

Circa mid-late 1830's- The family later moved to Newark, OH, returning to Buffalo after 1840.??

Circa 1844- Hugh Sangster and the family returned to Buffalo to work in the tin, copper & sheet iron business.

Circa 1847-48- Hugh partnered with Nicholas Britton around 1847 to form Britton & Sangster, a tin & coppersmith business located at 9 Pearl Street in the city.

Circa 1849- The partnership Hugh had with Britton dissolved and Hugh began his own tin, copper & sheet iron, and tin-smithing business located on Ohio Street, Buffalo, NY.

Circa 1850- Hugh opened the famed family lantern manufacturing business located at located at 41 Seneca Street in the city called Hugh Sangster & Co., (later variations included Hugh Sangster & Sons [Amos & James], H & J Sangster [for the eldest son James] and Sangster & Sons), Buffalo, NY. Amos again attended local Buffalo public schools.

Circa the early 1850's- Amos worked for the Courier Company, a major American lithographic and graphic arts company, as a printing specialist in wood engraving.

1853- April 5, Amos along with his brother James became Charter Members of the newly formed Buffalo Volunteer Fire Department, Excelsior Hose IV, located in the former quarters of Red Jacket Engine 6, in the alley running from South Division Street to Swan Street, Buffalo, NY. October 13th, Amos married Miss Eliza "Lida" B. Remington (1831-1921), daughter of Edwin and Eliza (née Kilburn) Remington of Buffalo, NY. Their only child died in infancy.

By 1855- Amos & Eliza were residing at 202 E. Swan Street, Buffalo, NY.

1858- Amos began seriously painting, and with help from the monies from the several family patents of successful inventions in their lantern business (beginning in 1849 & through the early-mid 1850's), it enabled him to devote more time to his art, Buffalo, NY. Amos & Eliza were residing at 239 E. Swan Street and Amos also worked by manufacturing sewing machines, Buffalo, NY. Through that year, Amos and brother James were issued several new patents for Improvements in Sewing Machines, Buffalo, NY.

By 1859- Amos had opened his own short-lived sewing machine manufacturing business at 202 Main Street, which he maintained for a few years with help from brother James. Additionally, Amos and James were issued several other new patents for Improvements in Sewing Machines during that same time period which they later sold to the Singer Company., and he and Eliza were still living at 239 Swan St.

1860-61- Amos was still helping out the family lantern business, Buffalo, NY.

1862- Amos and his brother Charles registered for the Civil War Draft which took place between 1863-1865, and their names appeared on the Civil War Draft Registration Records (May-June, 1863), and Charles enlisted February 27, 1862 at Buffalo to serve three years as a private in Company G of the Seventy-Eighth Infantry but he was discharged a few months later on April 26 at New York City for reasons unknown (cause not stated), and no further records have been found as to Amos serving and is unknown how he may have possibly gotten out of serving in the war. As a matter of speculation, he may have possibly been deferred or maybe purchased his way out or had a special qualification that exempted him, as both he and Charles were still listed as tinsmiths at that time and Amos may have been better qualified possibly to run the family business, Buffalo, NY. At the same time Amos was also manufacturing coal oil burners under the business name of Sangster, Irwin & Co., copper & tin smiths, but the venture didn't seem to last but a year or so. Amos and his wife now resided at 247 Swan Street, Buffalo, NY.

By 1863- The family lamp business was declining and productivity was down, as a result of the Civil War taking its toll on the nation with disruptions in the manufacturing and distribution programs, and it appears that Amos and his brother James took over the operations under the business name J. & A.W. Sangster, kerosene oil burner manufacturers, over 192 Washington Street, Buffalo, NY, but it is unclear if it may have been a separate business entirely.

1865-66- Amos exhibited, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, with painting Beaver Creek and Its Surroundings, as seen from the head of Grand Island, looking toward Buffalo" (watercolor exhibited both years), and also two untitled landscape paintings (1966), Young Men's Association Building, Buffalo, NY.

By 1866- Though Amos was still listed as a lamp maker in the Buffalo City Directory, it seems the family lamp business had all but dissolved, as Hugh Sangster was now listed as a patent agent for son James' patent soliciting business, Buffalo, NY.

By 1868- Amos was now listed in the Buffalo City Directory as a 'Designer' and he & Eliza were now residing at 341 Swan Street, Buffalo, NY.

By 1871- Amos was now listed in the Buffalo City Directory as a full-fledged 'Artist' and had his studio over 31 Seneca Street in the city, and he & Eliza were now residing in Cheektowaga, NY and Hugh Sangster was listed as working at Buffalo Union Lantern Works as a tinsmith, 82 Main Street, Buffalo, NY.

1872- Amos had his studio at 7 Bapst Block (Bapst's Building, Main Street area near S.E. corner of Seneca & Washington Streets), Buffalo, NY.

Circa early 1870's- Amos co-founded an etching club with fellow artists Hamilton Hamilton (English-American, 1847-1928) and Burr H. Nicholls (American, 1848-1915) out of his studio, which only had about five members at the beginning and Amos's first etching was a small landscape with trees along an embankment near the shore (lunette-style at top of etching), Buffalo, NY.

1874- Issued November 24th, Amos along with William F. Baade and brother James invented and patented new and useful improvements in Alphabet-Cases, which served as an arithmetic learning game for children. The patent related to an improved means for operating or moving the alphabet-belts and picture-surfaces, Buffalo, NY. Amos & Eliza resided at 456 Swan Street, Buffalo, NY, and Hugh Sangster was listed in the Buffalo City Directory as a copper-spinner.

1875- Exhibited, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, with paintings Trout Brook, Indian Hunter (watercolor), and Cayuga Creek (watercolor), Young Men's Association Building, Buffalo, NY.

1877- Amos maintained a studio at 35 W. Eagle Street, Buffalo, and he & Eliza now resided at 263 S. Division Street in the city. Though the family lamp business was defunct, Amos still managed to design & patent specific related items and on July 17, 1877 he patented Improvements in Lamp Burners, Buffalo, NY.

1878- Amos & Eliza now resided at 363 S. Division Street in the city, and his father Hugh was still listed in the Buffalo City Directory as a tinsmith so he was still actively working in Buffalo. November 6, Amos's mother Mary Ann Sangster died, and is buried in the family plot (Section H, Lot 90) at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.

From 1878-1885- Amos continued to design & co-design other patented mechanical gadgets & hardware, such as; Improvements in Ozone Generators & a Brace Hinge for Trunks.

Circa 1879-mid 1880's- Amos began preliminary painting & drawings studies for the monumental and historical etching series Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario (Published 1886-89), Buffalo, NY.

1879- Amos now maintained a studio at 15 German Insurance Building located at 10 Lafayette Square (Roos Block), Buffalo, NY. December 9, an auction of 62 Sangster watercolor paintings was held for sale to the public, Buffalo, NY.

1880- Amos's studio & home was located at 363 S. Division Street, Buffalo, NY.

1881- Amos's father Hugh was still actively working and was listed in the Buffalo City Directory as a coppersmith, Buffalo, NY

1883- February, Amos co-founded the Buffalo Art Club and was elected its first president, Buffalo, NY.

1884- Amos now maintained a studio at 6 Austin Building located at 110 Franklin Street in the city, and he & Eliza were still residing at 363 S. Division Street, Buffalo, NY.

1886- Moved into his new studio in the White Building in downtown Buffalo, which he shared with fellow artist Albert N. Samuels (American, c1841-), located at 298 Main Street, Buffalo, NY. Amos creates the largest etching ever produced in the United States at that time entitled A Surf-tormented Shore (alternately titled The Surf, scene of the Canadian shore on Lake Erie just west of Point Abino, with remarque of Lake Erie & Lighthouse), printed by J.H. Daniels of Boston, MA, image size 23.25" x 36". December 28, Amos's father Hugh Sangster died, Buffalo, NY, and is buried in the family plot (Section H, Lot 90) at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.

Between 1886-89- Beginning on October 22, 1886 after a short delaying in the issuing which should have taken place in early September, Sangster's first section of the signed & numbered limited edition folio set of etchings Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario was published and sold to the general public and followed by the other nine separate numbered sections (one every 2 months or as fast as Amos could issue them), with a 36,000 word historical commentary by Sangster's friend James Warner Ward (American, 1816-1897), librarian of the Grosvenor Public Library, Buffalo, NY.

1889- May 1-5 only, Amos exhibited his original drawing & painting studies for his recently published folio of etchings from Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo, NY. And during the same week, May 1-5, Amos exhibited, group show, "Black and White", 38 Sangster etchings & monotypes were shown, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1890- Exhibited, group show, The American Watercolor Society, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy Galleries, Western Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1891- Sangster was a charter member and was elected to be on the first council of the Buffalo Society of Artists, and later served as Vice President of the BSA in 1893.

1892- January 25, Amos attempted to publish another 'less expensive' and unique folio titled Niagara from Lake to Lake by Peter, Paul & Brother Publishers, Buffalo, NY, but the set was never-completed. The series showcased reproductions of the original drawings (not the etchings) he used for his famous folio Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario (1886-89), as well as other drawings and the text from the former famed edition was to be much-condensed to appropriately work with the new images. The folio set was to be published in ten sections with each section containing 5 full-page pictures (2 etchings & 3 typogravures [a halftone photo-engraving process]), with 15 typogravures in the text but the set was never completed as Section 1 was the only one ever shown to have been published in late January 1892, and later on Peter, Paul & Brother Publishers attempted to sell off what stock they had of Section 1 at dramatic discounts, just after Amos had died in the spring of 1904. Amos incorporated special ornamental designs of hand drawn & stylized type-case of 'dropped capital' letters from his original drawings (set amidst a landscape) which were used at the beginning of paragraphs. The two included 'new' etchings in each proposed section were full-size signed etchings and were to be adhered into the spine at the back of the folio, and each section was sold for $3.50 ($88- in today's dollar, $35- for the complete set), with payment only on delivery and issued one section every two months until completed and no order was accepted for less than the complete work and orders could not be canceled (except by consent of the publishers), and as stated from the folio itself the value of the two included etchings were worth more than the asking price of each section, Buffalo, NY.

1893- April 6, elected Vice President of the Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY. May 19, Eliza's mother, Mrs. Eliza Remington, died, Buffalo, NY. December 9, his uncle Charles Sangster died at the home of his nephew William (Amos' brother), Kingston, Ontario, Canada and was buried in Cataraqui Cemetery with a grave stone marked simply, "Charles Sangster, Poet"

1894- Exhibited, April 2-21, several local landscape and marine watercolor paintings, Third Annual Exhibition of the Buffalo Society of Artists, with fronticepiece to their catalog by Amos Sangster of an etching entitled Drifting (Marine scene with sailboats), Buffalo, NY. Amos was still listed as Vice President of the BSA, and was also a member of the Selection Committee and Catalogue Committee.

1894-c1895- Amos proposed and began work on a new 2nd edition of his famed folio, but this 2nd signed remarque edition was limited to 375, and there was a new arrangement of the letter-press, new etchings to be included, and a different system was incorporated for putting in the etchings—instead of being printed on India paper, fastened via Chine-collé to the heavy hand-made Holland paper as in the former first edition, they would be printed on fine Japan paper and tipped in at the top corner only adding to the artistic effect. As an example, two new scenes that were to be included in this new edition were etchings of Navy Island and the Canadian Shore Below Frenchman's Creek. The 2nd edition set had green board covers and the text of the front read the same as the previous set, and again they were printed by the famous firm of J.H. Daniels, Boston, MA and it is assumed that it was again published by Thomas T. Fryer, Buffalo, NY.

1895-97- Amos maintained a studio at 19 W. Huron Street, Buffalo, NY.

1895- Amos spent the summer in Point Abino sketching and painting, Ontario, Canada. Exhibited, two day show out of his studio on W. Huron Street, exhibiting many of the pictures he had recently done that past summer while in Point Abino, Buffalo, NY.

1896- Exhibited, group show, Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY.

Circa 1897-1904- Amos maintained his studio out of his home residence at 448 Seventh Street, Buffalo, NY.

1898-Exhibited, solo, original watercolors, (unknown art gallery), Buffalo, NY. September 14, Brother James died, and is buried in the family plot (Section H, Lot 90), in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.

1900- Exhibited, group show, of his watercolors, Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, annual show out of his home studio at 448 Seventh Street, Buffalo, NY.

1901- December, exhibited, annual show out of his home studio, watercolors, oil paintings, etchings and monotypes, 448 Seventh Street, Buffalo, NY.

1902- December 12-14, exhibited, three day show out of his home studio, watercolors & etchings, 448 Seventh Street, Buffalo, NY.

1903- Exhibited, group show, Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY. Circa September, Amos completed his final etching titled The Golden Sunset and on October 13, Amos and his wife Eliza celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, giving out the etching of Golden Sunset as a souvenir of the occasion, and sister Urania "Rena" provided a long poem for Amos & Eliza. December 3, exhibited, annual show out of his home studio at 448 Seventh Street, over 100 watercolors, hundreds of etchings as well as monotypes and oils were shown and available for purchase, Buffalo, NY. Later that same month, Amos was stricken with grippe (a former name for influenza) followed by nervous prostration (nervous breakdown) which led to his subsequent decline and death that following April, 1904.

1904- Saturday, April 23rd at 4:10am, Amos died at his home at the age of 71, as he had been in failing health and was bedridden since December 31st of the previous year from complications of grippe (a former name for influenza) and nervous prostration (nervous breakdown). The funeral was held at the Sangster home that following Tuesday afternoon at their 448 Seventh Street residence at 3pm, and he was buried on April 26 in the family plot (Section H, Lot 90) in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY, but sadly there is no grave marker for Amos or even some of the other family members. May 26-late June, an exhibition of his watercolors, oils & etchings were on display at his home studio for a month following his death, 448 Seventh Street, Buffalo, NY. July 23, Eliza and their niece Cora S. Sangster who had been living with the couple, moved down the street to 899 Seventh Street.

1905-06- Exhibited, retrospective shows by his wife at her home at 899 Seventh Street, of his paintings and etchings, Buffalo, NY.

1907- Exhibited, retrospective show of his oils, watercolors, etchings, monotypes and drawings, Niagara Hotel, Niagara Falls, NY.

1910- Exhibited, retrospective show by his wife at her home at 149 Hoyt Street, of his watercolors and etchings, Buffalo, NY.

1914- Exhibited, group show, "The Exhibition of Works by Buffalo Artists, First Local Salon", in a special section devoted to deceased Buffalo painters, Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY.

1921- February 12, Saturday evening, Amos's wife Eliza died at her home at 39 Putnam Street at the age of 89, and the service was held at 2:30pm on Tuesday afternoon February 15, and she was buried in the family plot (Section H, Lot 90), in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY. Before she died, Eliza named in her will Cora S. Sangster (1875-1948) as sole legatee & sole executrix of the family estate since she was the only surviving heir of the family, and she willed her the family burial plot in Forest Lawn Cemetery as well, Buffalo, NY.

1928- December 8, Amos's sister Urania "Rena" Nott Sangster died, and is also buried in the family plot (Section H, Lot 90) in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.??

1948- May 16, the only surviving heir of the Sangster family, Cora S. Sangster died, and is the last of the Sangster's to be buried in the family plot (Section H, Lot 90) in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.

1952- April, exhibited, retrospective show, "Picturesque Niagara Frontier", thirty of Sangster's watercolors & etchings were on display for a full month, Buffalo Historical Society, Buffalo, NY.

1960- Exhibited, retrospective show held in honor of Amos Sangster, Buffalo Society of Artists, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1964- May 2-Sept. 7, exhibited, group exhibition, "Three Centuries of Niagara Falls: Oils, Watercolors, Drawings and Prints", 3 Sangster prints shown, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1976- April 30-May 30, Exhibited, solo show, showcasing his etchings from the famed folio Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, held in the Library of the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1977- February, exhibited, retrospective show held in honor of Amos Sangster, rarely seen works by the public were shown, Buffalo Historical Society, Buffalo, NY.??1983- Spring, exhibited, portfolio of etchings were shown to complement the exhibition "Golden Day/Silver Night: Perceptions of Nature in American Art (1850-1910)", Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1986- Exhibited, May 4th- September 7th, 100th Anniversary exhibition of the publication of the Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario in 1886, along with photographs from photographer John Pfahl; a series of 18 illustrations and 52 horizontal Kodak Ektacolor color-coupler photographic prints that paralleled Sangster's images. The show was proposed by the Amos W. Sangster Niagara River Centennial Committee in conjunction with the Buscaglia-Castellani Art Gallery (now called the Castellani Art Museum) and were to include four concurrent events, Niagara University, DeVeaux Campus, Niagara Falls, NY. The show was later incorporated into a traveling exhibition which was distributed by the Visual Studies Workshop exhibition program from Rochester, NY. The images from the show were then published in a book titled Arcadia Revisited: Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, published by the University of New Mexico Press (1988), with essays by Estelle Jussim, Anthony Bannon and John Pfahl.

2006- Exhibited, retrospective group show, "Think Ink: Prints from the Burchfield-Penney's Collection", March 10th- June 25th, organized by the Buffalo State College design professor Peter Sowiski of the Fine Arts Department with Scott Propeack, collections manager at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY.

2010- January, most of the original preliminary artwork of pen & ink wash and gouache paintings, as well as drawings and various etchings for the famed folio Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario surfaced from a private collection, and was acquired by Meibohm Fine Arts, and intensive work immediately began for a special October 2013 exhibition here at the gallery, titled "Sangster's Niagara", to highlight the original artwork alongside Sangster's etchings from the folio series, and additionally a special feature article was written by Mark Strong, of Meibohm Fine Arts for Heritage Magazine, for their fall 2013 issue.

2010-2011-October 23-May 29, exhibited, group show, "Time Share: An Historic Collaboration", with artwork from the collection of the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society (Now the Buffalo History Museum), Margret L. Wendt Gallery & the R. William Doolittle Gallery, Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY.

2012- June-August, exhibited, group show, "After 1812: A Shared Frontier", Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY.

2013- Exhibit, "Sangster's Niagara", original painting & drawing studies, and etchings from the 1886 Niagara River from Lake to Lake folio, October 18-November 16, at Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY.

Memberships:
Charter member and was elected to be on the first council of the Buffalo Society of Artists, 1891 (later served as Vice President of the BSA in 1893), Buffalo, NY
The Buffalo Art Club (1st president, 1883), Buffalo, NY
Co-founded an etching club out of his home studio (Circa early 1870's), Buffalo, NY
Charter member with his brother James with the Buffalo Volunteer Fire Department, Excelsior Hose No. IV Was a Charter member of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), Buffalo, NY
Member of the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church on Michigan Street, Buffalo, NY.

Honors & Prizes:
2nd Prize for his watercolor Summer Morning (on Frenchman's Creek), at an early Buffalo Society of Artists exhibition (unknown date, in the collection of the Buffalo Club), Buffalo, NY
1986, Sangster's etchings from the 1886 collection were exhibited in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the publication of the folio, along with photographs by John Pfahl, which were executed especially for the occasion and the show was proposed by the Amos W. Sangster Niagara River Centennial Committee in conjunction with the Buscaglia-Castellani Art Gallery (now called the Castellani Art Museum), at Niagara University in Niagara Falls, NY, and was to include four concurrent events. The show was later incorporated into a traveling exhibition which was distributed by the Visual Studies Workshop exhibition program from Rochester, NY.

Museum Collections:
The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center
The Museum for Western New York Arts, Buffalo, NY
Amherst College, Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA.

Public Collections:
The Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, Buffalo, NY

The Buffalo Club, for the large oil painting Summer Morning (on Frenchman's Creek) (2nd Prize at early BSA exhibition and companion piece to Summer Evening purchased by George Van Vleck), commissioned by art patron the Honorable Sherman S. Rogers (American, 1830-1900), Buffalo, NY

The National Academy, for a watercolor painting of Beaver Island, (which was hung 'On the Line' at the National Academy), commissioned by art patron the Honorable Sherman S. Rogers (American, 1830-1900), NYC, who helped place the painting in the National Academy;

Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation in their conference room, Syracuse, NY

Niagara Savings Bank along the hallway past the Presidents office, Niagara Falls, NY.

Publications:
Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, by Amos W. Sangster, signed & numbered limited edition of 1,000 folio sets of etchings, published by Thomas T. Fryer in ten separate numbered sections, from 1886 through 1889 with a 36,000 word historical commentary by James Warner Ward (American, 1816-1897), printed by J.H. Daniels of Boston, MA, 1886-89

Amos published another 'less expensive' and unique folio titled Niagara from Lake to Lake, by Peter, Paul & Brother Publishers, Buffalo, NY, and the folio set was to be published in ten sections with each section containing 5 full-page pictures (2 etchings & 3 typogravures [a halftone photo-engraving process]), with 15 typogravures in the text but the set was never completed as Section 1 was the only one ever shown to have been published in late January 1892 and there is no record of the other nine, and the two included 'new' etchings in each proposed section were full-size signed etchings and were to be adhered into the spine at the back of the folio, published one every 2 months (or as fast as they could issue them), and the series showcased reproductions of the original drawings he used for his famous folio Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario (1886-89), as well as other drawings, 1892;

New 2nd edition of his famed folio, but this 2nd signed remarque edition would be limited to 375, and there was a new arrangement of the letter-press, new etchings to be included, and a different system was incorporated for putting in the etchings—instead of being printed on India paper, fastened via Chine-collé to the heavy hand-made Holland paper as in the former first edition, they would be printed on fine Japan paper and tipped in at the top corner only adding to the artistic effect, and the 2nd edition set had green board covers and the text of the front read the same as the previous set, and again they were printed by the famous firm of J.H. Daniels, Boston, MA and it is assumed that it was again published by Thomas T. Fryer, Buffalo, NY, 1894-c1895;

Exhibition Catalog, Amos W. Sangster: Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario; A Sangster Celebration 1886-1986, published by the Buscaglia-Castellani Art Gallery, Niagara University, Niagara Falls, NY, Partners' Press, Inc., Buffalo, NY, Exhibition May 4-September 7, 1986

The Wayward Muse: A Historical Survey of Painting in Buffalo, by Susan Krane, 1987

Arcadia Revisited: Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, published by the University of New Mexico Press (1988), with essays by Estelle Jussim, Anthony Bannon and John Pfahl

Impressions of Niagara: The Charles Rand Penney Collection by Christopher W. Lane, published by The Philadelphia Print Shop, Ltd., 1993;

A Sangster Etchings Catalog & Sangster Revisted: A Report By The Chair Ten Years Later, by Ralph A. Robertson (editor), and co-founder of the Amos W. Sangster Niagara River Centennial Committee, 1996

Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975, 3 Volume set, by Peter Hastings Falk (Editor-in-Chief), 1999

Reproductions of Etchings of Niagara River and Falls by Amos W. Sangster 1886, by historian and educator Ralph A. Robertson (editor), and co-founder of the Amos W. Sangster Niagara River Centennial Committee, Parkside Press, 2000

The Artists Bluebook: 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005, by Lonnie Pierson Dunbier (Editor), AskART.com Inc.; Davenport's Art Reference: The Gold Edition, by Ray Davenport, 2005

(Written & Compiled chronologically by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY, 14052, meibohmfinearts.com, sources: Too long to list here and are furnished upon request.)