James Wells Champney

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James Wells Champney , called "Champ" (born July 16, 1843 in Boston , Massachusetts , † May 1, 1903 in New York ) was an American painter ( genre and portrait painting ).

Life

James Wells Champney was the cousin of the landscape painter Benjamin Champney (1817-1907).

Champne received his first artistic lessons at the Lowell Institute in his hometown; at the same time he attended the anatomy lectures of Oliver Holmes . In 1859 he began an apprenticeship as a xylograph , but broke it off in 1962 to volunteer in the civil war .

In 1864, Champney fell ill with malaria and had to leave the army. He returned to Boston and taught by his recovery from 1864 for two years at the Young Ladies Seminary of Diocletian Lewis . In October 1866, Champney traveled to Europe to train as a painter. After a short stay in London , he became a student of Edouard Frère at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris . In 1868 he went to Joseph van Lerius at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerp , where he won first place in drawing that same year.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War , Champney returned to the United States. He settled in his hometown and set up a studio. From 1873 to 1874 he worked as a painter in New Orleans . In May 1873 he married the writer Elizabeth Williams and had two children with her: Edouard Frère (1874-1929) and Maria Mitchell (1877-1906).

In the same year he made the acquaintance of the publisher Charles Scribner ( Scribner's Monthly ). This hired him to illustrate James King's travelogue "The Great South" and sent him to New York. Champney opened a studio there. He specialized in genre painting and was one of the first American artists to incorporate Impressionist elements into his work.

Between 1877 and 1884, Champney was a professor at Smith College and during this time he also experimented extensively with pastel painting . In 1882 he was elected Associate Member ( ANA ) of the National Academy of Design . The exhibition at Knoedler's Gallery in 1897 is regarded as the highlight of his work .

James Wells Champney died on May 1, 1903, of a fall in the elevator shaft while visiting the Camera Club in New York. He left behind his wife, his son, the architect FE Champney, and his daughter Marie Humphrey, who became known locally as a miniature painter .

Works (selection)

Illustration by James Wells Champney: On the Ocklawaha River, Florida. (1873)
Oil painting
  • The Coquette . 1885.
  • The Fan . 1882.
  • The little beggar . 1874.
  • The lesson . 1874.
  • Housekeeping . 1882.
  • Deerfield Valley . 1877.
  • Carter Notch from the Wildcat River . 1854.
  • Puss-in-boots . 1875.
  • Hide and seek . 1885.
Portraits
  • Darling Elizabeth . 1875.
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
  • Diocletian Lewis .

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1869 and 1875: Salon de Paris
  • 1876: Centennial Exhibition
  • 1882: Southern Art Union
  • 1893: Columbian Exposition in Chicago
  • 1897: Tennessee Centennial Exposition in Nashville
  • 1897: Knoedler's Gallery

literature

Web links

Commons : James Wells Champney  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b John A. Mahe, Rosanne McCaffrey: Encyclopaedia of New Orleans Artists 1718-1918 The Historic New Orleans Collection, New Orleans 1987, p. 73.
  2. ↑ named after the painter Edouard Frère (1819–1886).
  3. ↑ Named after the astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818–1899).
  4. ↑ nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "C" / Champney, James Wells ANA 1882 ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on June 18, 2015)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nationalacademy.org
  5. ^ Obituary in The New York Times, May 2, 1903.
personal data
SURNAME Champney, James Wells
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American painter
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH May 1, 1903
Place of death new York