Archives: Artists

An Ohio-born artist and art instructor, Myers visited the West coast in 1926 and was instantly struck anew with a deep passion for painting ocean scenes. Before this, he was encouraged early on by his amateur-artist mother, and formally trained with Frank Duveneck at the Cincinnati Art Academy. From there he went on to study…

The best known of the prominent Moran family of painters, Thomas Moran was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England and came with his family to America at the age of seven. He began his artistic career in Philadelphia, sharing a studio with his older brother Edward. He exhibited his first collection of oils at the Pennsylvania…

An impressionist considered to be in the top row by American art conclaves, Potthast belonged to several of the nation's most important art associations. He achieved a resounding level of success with his aggressive-styled brushwork during his lifetime, while recent decades have seen a dramatic rise in his works' value. He excelled in painting warm…

Considered one of the most important American artists of her day and beyond, Jane Peterson's art contains elements of the various schools she formally studied and discovered through individual exploration. The influence of Fauvism, impressionism, expressionism and the cubist movement all resonant within her works which defy tight classification. Born in Illinois, Peterson studied at…

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, American artist and illustrator Granville Perkins honed his artistic skills studying in Philadelphia with James Hamilton. Mastering both oil and watercolor techniques, Perkins traveled the east coast extensively and created scenes in his native Baltimore as well as New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Cuba. A member of the American Watercolor…

Born in Philadelphia, American artist and illustrator Marguerite Pearson honed her skills studying with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School and privately from 1922-27 with Edward Tarbell. Prior to this she worked as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines. She excelled in producing a wide spectrum of work, from floral still-lifes and working portraits…

Edgar Payne was born in Washburn, Missouri. He left home at 14 with one burning goal–to become a painter. Although he attended the Art Institute of Chicago for a short time, he was largely self-taught. In 1911 Payne first visited California where he first gazed upon state’s broad vistas he would ultimately immortalize on canvas.…

Born in Bolton, Lancashire, England in 1829, this pivotal marine impressionist emigrated to the United States at the age of 15 where he became a pupil of Philadelphia marine artist James Hamilton. With his younger artist brother, Thomas, he returned to England and studied at the Royal Academy and received additional instruction at the Paris…

A native San Francisco artist who hit national recognition with a six-page illustrated spread in the Oct. 1943 edition of Life magazine, Macouillard possessed a driven spark which made him a success as a fine artist, commercial illustrator, boat builder, naval officer and husband. The Life magazine piece combined all of these, being his illustrated…

Born in Boston to a New England family of shipbuilders, Norton’s interest in ships led him initially to a career at sea. After his sea service, he enrolled at both Harvard Medical School and the Lowell Institute, where his interest in art led him to study under the master American landscape painter, George Inness. Later…

As American art came into its own in the second half of the 19th century, women were still not offered the same recognition and opportunities that contemporary male artist enjoyed. Still notable women, such as Alice Hirsch and her New York peer, Jane Peterson, thrived and achieved success in the face of this, opening opportunities…

A celebrated American landscape artist, Jones was a teenager when he began his career, studying with the Maryland Institute and Horace W. Robbins in New York. By 1867 he exhibited with the National Academy of Design; he would gain membership and exhibit with the acclaimed organization for 60 years. His first scenes were primarily of…

William Lowe's sincere interest in all things maritime originates from his many years of living and boating along the coasts of Southern California. He took to his artistic talents as a young man, and used his natural ability with color to work in the paint manufacturing industry as a professional color matcher. He now pursues…

Born in Philadelphia, Edmund Darch Lewis would live his entire life in that city enjoying one of the nineteenth century’s most financially successful careers as a land and seascape painter. For a time his sales of oil and watercolor paintings, most notably his watercolor marines, exceeded every other artist’s in the country. Lewis initially studied…

American artist Hayley Lever was born in Adelaide, New South Wales, Australia. After his artistic studies in Paris, London and New York, he settled permanently in Manhattan in 1911. By 1915 he was considered one of the most celebrated artists in New York City. Profoundly influenced by the works of Vincent Van Gogh, Lever's paintings…

Of the sixty known paintings by Joseph Lee, all are San Francisco subjects and more than three-quarters of them are ship portraits of remarkable quality. Lee’s portraits are of such accuracy, with every shroud, ratline and block exactly in place, that it is quite possible he worked directly from rigging plans. Old timers along the…

Having lived a full and adventurous life, Sydney Laurence may well have looked at his historic paintings of Alaska as his greatest accomplishment. Widely regarded as Alaska's premier resident artist, Laurence studied under Edward Moran with the National Academy of Design in the 1880s and enrolled in 1889 in the Ecole des Beaux Arts in…

Born in San Francisco, Mohrmann became a seaman at 13 years of age. He sailed the world’s seas for 18 years, settling in Antwerp for a time where he specialized in ship portraiture. Preferring to give attention to the ships he depicted instead of his career, Mohrmann sailed the globe creating excellent quality ship’s portraits.…

A traditional American marine artist in ever sense, it is unusual for an artist to exhibit such a high level of quality, which Joseph B. Smith does, and have only two dozen or so known surviving works to his credit. The majority of works were performed in conjunction with his son, William S. Smith; born…

An accomplished realist who painted with a precise and skillful use of existing light, he is believed to have been an entirely self-taught. Born in 1854 in Waterford, Connecticut, little is known about his past until he set up studio in 1877 in downtown New York City. He regularly exhibited with the National Academy of…