John White Alexander

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John White Alexander, photography by Napoleon Sarony (1882/83)

John White Alexander (actually John White , born October 7, 1856 in Allegheny near Pittsburgh , † May 31, 1915 in New York ) was an American painter and illustrator .

biography

Alexander lost his parents at an early age and therefore grew up with his grandparents in Pittsburgh. At the age of twelve he worked as a telegraph boy, where his employer noticed his talent for drawing, which he promoted. In 1874 he moved to New York to work as an illustrator and political cartoonist for Harper's Weekly . There he met the most famous illustrators of the time, such as Thomas Nast , Edwin Austin Abbey , Joseph Pennell and Howard Pyle . After his three-year apprenticeship, Alexander traveled to Munich to study with Frank Duveneck . Due to lack of money, he had to drop out of his studies and instead worked for him. In 1879 he traveled with Duveneck and several companions, known as The Duveneck Boys , to Venice and Florence , where he met James McNeill Whistler and Otto Bacher , from whom he learned the art of etching . Motivated by Whistler, Alexander continued his studies in the Netherlands and Paris .

Alexander returned to New York in 1881 and achieved great success with his portraits of Oliver Wendell Holmes , John Burroughs , Walt Whitman , Henry Gurdon Marquand , Robert Alan Mowbray Stevenson and the President of Princeton University , James McCosh . His first exhibition in the Paris Salon (1893) was such a huge success that he was elected to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in the first ballot . John White Alexander was married to Elizabeth Alexander, daughter of James Waddell Alexander, president of the Equitable Life Assurance Society . The marriage resulted in a son, James Waddell Alexander II (1888–1971). After the marriage he took his wife's maiden name to differentiate himself from other artists called White .

1902 John White Alexander was elected a full member ( NA ) of the National Academy of Design ; between 1909 and 1915 he was its president.

Works (selection)

  • Woman in a Green Dress, 1890

  • Isabell and the basil pot, 1897

  • Portrait of Miss Dorothy Quincy Roosevelt, around 1902

  • Study in black and green, around 1006

  • June, around 1911

  • Woman with meadow flowers, 1912

  • Mrs. Daniels with two of her children, 1913

Honors

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "A" / Alexander, John White NA 1902; PNAD 1909-15 ( Memento of the original dated November 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was 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 13, 2015)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nationalacademy.org

literature

Web links

Commons : John White Alexander  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Alexander, John White
ALTERNATIVE NAMES White, John (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American painter and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Allegheny near Pittsburgh
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 1915
Place of death new York