early life and artistic formation charles melville dewey, an american tonalist painter, was born in 1849 in lowville, new york. his early life was marked by a hip disease that confined him to his bed from his twelfth to seventeenth year. this period of convalescence allowed him to develop a poetic conception of nature, which would later become a hallmark of his artistic style. artistic training and influences dewey's artistic training began at the national academy of design in new york (1874-76), followed by studies in paris under carolus-duran, with whom he collaborated on a ceiling painting…