Origin: American

Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts graves studied both in New England and abroad. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and continued his studies in Italy and Paris where he roomed with a fellow artist also destined for greatness, Edmond Tarbell. In 1885 Graves returned to Boston where he became an instructor at the Cowles Art…

An American art icon, Albert Bierstadt evolved his artistic style from that of a pastime through years of study to become one of the most successful landscape artists ever. The vast grandeur of his panoramic vistas hold such serene impact that they are rivaled only by the best artists, including his contemporaries, Frederick Church, Thomas…

Lethen worked as a freelance artist and illustrator in the greater Los Angeles area from 1919 until his passing in 1949. He was a noted member of the International Artists Club Of Los Angeles, and is listed in Nancy Moure's and Edan Hughes' books on California artists.

Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Bricher grew up in Newburyport, Massachusetts where he was influenced by the local scenes of artist's such as Fitz Hugh Lane and Martin Johnson Heade. By 1858, after art studies at the Lowell Institute, he was painting full time along the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts. With his strong vision…

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 true worldly artist, Alson Skinner Clark improved his natural talent with a variety of teachers, including William Merritt Chase and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Inspired by a diverse set of influences, he became one of America's leading Impressionists. Late in his career some would identify Clark as a "California Impressionist" but to limit him…

Born an American, the artist who would create his own identity of being cosmopolitan French Post-Impressionist Andre Gisson was born Anders Gittelson in Westport, Connecticut in 1921. He studied early and often, and while struggling in New York City, decided to become more worldly with his creation of an imagined French art background. As was…

The American artist Annie Davis (also Mrs. Annie Davis Leland) was born and lived in Westfield, New Jersey. She was a member of the Westfield art association and exhibited with them in 1939. She also exhibited at the National Art Club of New York in 19

Naval architect, philosopher and marine painter A.S. Smith acquired his taste for the water at an early age. He grew up in New York, with the eastern shore of the Hudson river for a playground. Close by his home was the shipyard of the great William Webb and across the river in Hoboken was moored…

A California-born artist of the 19th Century and beyond, Armin Carl Hansen holds a special place in American Art, bonding the traditional passion of a maritime art specialist to the broad focus of Impressionism, becoming the foremost artist of the waters of the Monterey Peninsula. Inspired by his father, artist Herman Wendleborg Hansen, he went…

Dedicated naval officer and marine painter Arthur Beaumont enjoyed an association with the United States Navy that spanned nearly five decades. His classical training as an artist and his fascination for the sea and its vessels gave him the unique opportunity to record history and create fine works of art simultaneously. Born in England, Beaumont…

Augustus Koopman is known for painting scenes of France and the American West. As part of a large community of American expatriate artists in turn-of-the century Paris, Koopman spent a great deal of time at the coast in Etaples near Belgium, where the great Eugene Boudin frequented. It is along this coast that Koopman painted…

C.Myron Clark was a talented American painter of historical sailing ship scenes. Although little biographical information is currently available on this artist, a growing demand for his work continues to bring forth new information.

Captain Graves, was a merchant sea captain in the second half of the 19th Century who history records as having skippered numerous commercial ships between the American East and West Coast ports. He is known to have painted seascapes and maritime subjects during moments of professinal leisure, primarily in the San Francisco Bay area.

Defined with his self-bestowed identity as "The Vagabond Artist", Carl William Brandien set out to travel the world on quests to discover and paint beauty from every corner of the world. Joined by his wife Kaye, ironically a survivor of the sinking of the Lusitania whom he met onboard a steamer voyage to California, they…

Charles Cohill (1812-1860) was a Pennsylvania artist who studied under John Neagle and specialized in oil portraits. Living in Philadelphia, he is known to have exhibited at the Artists’ Fund Society in 1838, 1840, 1841.

Renown for his contributions to American genre painting, Charles Courtney Curran painted remarkable scenes near his upper New York State home, in his New York City studio and on numerous world travels. He painted a variety of locales, from Adirondack landscapes to views of the imperial temples of Peking. Flowers and females often appear in…

Although little biographical information is known regarding the life of this skilled American marine painter, his work is widely represented in important museum and private collections nationwide. All of his paintings show a strong knowledge of vessel design and excellent quality in the rendering of sea and sky. Born in Philadelphia in 1826, Gulager was…

A self-taught marine and landscape painter, the Fairhaven, Massachusetts native was exposed to the art of New Bedford masters Albertus van Beest, William Bradford and Alfred Bierstadt while a teenager. It is believed that he began to paint prior to his service in the American Civil War in 1862-1864, but the earliest known works by…

Not all artists travel a traditional path of intensive study to perfect their muse. San Diego's Charles Reiffel, a self-taught artist who won more than 23 important painting awards nationwide, did not paint full time until he was 58 years old. A lithographer by profession, Reiffel first worked in Cincinnati, then New York, before heading…

Patterson was born into a family of the sea. His father was president of the Whitehaven Shipbuilding Company of Southampton, his uncle was a ship master and his brother was also a mariner. At thirteen, Patterson was apprenticed and went to sea as ship's boy. As a deep water sailor, Patterson rounded Cape Horn four…

A professional art teacher and advertising artist, Kinghan worked in his home state of Kansas, and for several years in the 1950s and early 1960s in New York City, before coming west and setting up in Laguna Beach to focus on his artistic pursuits. He led classes at the American Academy of Art in both…

One of the founders of the American impressionist group known simply as "The Ten", Frederick Childe Hassam was born to a prominent Boston family and began his artistic career as an illustrator for publications such as Scribner’s and Harper’s. In 1886 he began a three year sojourn in Paris at the Acadamie Julien where he…

Drew, the son of a Baptist deacon, worked as a shipwright and also fought against slavery with abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. In addition to being a very fine marine painter, he worked as an art dealer and shipcarver. His paintings contain a unique power and mood, often employing a dramatic background with storm swept seas.…

On hand to witness the fading glory of the American whaling trade in New Bedford, Clifford Ashley made the most of early opportunities to study with master American illustrators and artists to visually record American whaling in the early 20TH Century. He would also author important whaling-related books, illustrate major publications and become a highly…

An important international artist, Colin Campbell Cooper found success within his lifetime as a painter of the world's architectural grandeur. He is well known for his depictions of New York City skyscrapers. His ability to produce landscapes populated with important landmarks, buildings and humans won him more than ten awards in exhibitions. He sought unusual…

Precious little is known about marine artist Conrad Freitag. Those points which are remembered are well worth noting. Best known as the portrait painter of New York harbor's pilot ships, he was a professional acquaintance of William Garner, a vice-commodore of the New York Yacht Club and owner of New York's People Line. Garner commissioned…

The career path of artist Conrad Wise Chapman follows a cycle of success and pain. One of three siblings born in Washington D.C. to the famed portraitist who painted Pocahontas, artist John Gadsby Chapman, the family left for Rome, Italy in 1848. His father taught him his artistic trade, and instilled such a love for…

David Thimgan was without a doubt one of the leaders of a new generation of marine artists. Specializing in re-creating scenes of America's seafaring past with emphasis on the West Coast and Pacific Rim waterways, David's technique developed to near perfection. His uncanny ability to portray the fluidity and texture of the sea's many moods…

Writer, artist, etcher, champion gymnast & lecturer, Gleason was a formally trained artist in New York at the Art Student’s League; in Mexico at San Carlos Academy; in Chicago at the Art Institute and in Los Angeles at University of Southern California. Professionally he worked for both Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Brothers studios as an art…

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 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…

Worldly artist Edward Cucuel painted beauty he observed firsthand. Devoted to art from an early age, he managed in his works to bring forth the best theories of the Impressionists with charming scenes of color and light in his own style. Born in San Francisco, he was employed as a teenager illustrator to "The Examiner"…

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…

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…

The 19th century works of Edwin Lord Weeks captured images of the world's exotic locales and cultures. Well-traveled, his paintings rank among the most important images of the architecture and people of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and the Orient by an American. Born in the Boston area to a family with a successful import…

A painter of impeccable impressionist style, Elanor Colburn has substantial credentials as an artist, art teacher and color theorist. Born in Dayton, Ohio, she studied under William Merit Chase and Frank Duveneck at the Art Institute of Chicago. Colburn would later teach at this same Institute. She won her first award in 1908 when her…

Historically, the best marine painters prove to be those who have a working firsthand knowledge of their subject. This appears true in the case of E.T. Baker. Born in New York City, his formative years were spent with his extended family in the whaling ports of Connecticut. He married a local woman in 1851 and…

Born in Rochester, N.Y. to landscape painter C.P.Gruppe, Emile was educated with a very strong artistic background. Trained at the Hague, Netherlands, the Art Students League in New York, and the National Academy of Design, he also studied under such artists as George Bridgeman, Richard Miller, Charles Chapman and John Carlson with whom he founded…

Born in New York City, F.A. Silva was forbidden to paint artistically by his father so he became a successful sign painter. Unfulfilled, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the New York State Militia, serving until 1866. Soon after the war he listed himself as ‘artist’ in New York, devoting himself…

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…

Born in Boston, Frank Shapleigh studied art at the Lowell Institute Drawing School until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he enlisted in the Union Army's 45th Massachusetts Regiment. After the war Shapleigh traveled to Paris to continue his art studies at the studio of Barbizon school artist Emile Lambinet, which greatly influenced his…

Born and schooled in South Abington (now Whitman), Massachusetts, Smith later was pupil to Frank Benson, Philip L. Hale & Edmund C. Tarbell at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School. He also attended the Central Ontario School of Design in Toronto & Art Students League, New York City. In New York he was an…

The adopted son of Captain Gideon Liscomb Stanwood and Portland, Maine, Franklin Stanwood learned much of his father's trade. He served as a mariner on several voyages to Europe, the west Indies and around Cape Horn. His first known oil painting is of the Peruvian coast and dates to 1873. By 1877, he had established…

Artist Franklyn Bassford came naturally to marine art, and was a prominent participant with the famous lithography house of Currier & Ives, painting original works of racing yachts. One of his first known canvases for this company was a scene of the classic America's Cup 1885 match of PURITAN and GENESTA, his initial year with…

An illustration artist who rose above the niche of pulp fiction artworks, where Frederick Blakeslee lacks in international recognition is well made up for with the fevered passion of collectors of aviation and military art, especially paintings inspired to become the covers of publications that became "The Flying Aces", "Dusty Ayers and his Battle Birds"…

Born far from the sea in the town of Rockport, Missouri, Frederick Mulhaupt began learning his trade as a painter at the Kansas City Art Academy and later at the Art Institute of Chicago. After furthering his studies at the Paris art schools, he returned to this country to settle and establish his studio in…

Many artists struggle to obtain critical and financial success within their lifetimes. This was not the case for Frederick Waugh, although he did have to convince his father, landscape and portrait painter Samuel Bell Waugh, to allow him to pursue his profession. At 19, Waugh attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and…

Born in Livingston, Staten Island, New York in 1846, Cozzens became one of the era’s better known sea painters recognized primarily for his early depictions of the fledgling New York Yacht Club racing events. He was also noted for his portrayal of naval events and maneuvers. In his superior renderings of famous yachts, he was…

Curtis, an early Boston marine artist who was a contemporary of Fitz Hugh Lane in both time, style and subject matter, is well on his way to being widely recognized for his top quality and unique approach to composition. The rediscovery of his importance within American marine luminism was heralded in a 1993 exhibit of…

A quintessential American artist, George Demont Otis was determined that his impressionist landscapes be purely American statements. For this reason he studied only at art schools in the united states and painted only on the American continent. He loved America’s diversity, and during his career worked in 38 of the 50 states. Otis was born…

A widely prolific artist of the American East Coast, George H. Gay painted both in watercolor and oils. He enjoyed composing true seascapes, with the froth and churn of the breaking waves in conflict with the shores. He would herald the last light of a day with strong flashes of color in his sunsets, and…