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| John White Alexander Reproduction Artist Biography |
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| John White Alexander |
American Symbolist Painter, 1856-1915
John White Alexander was an American portrait, figure, and decorative painter and illustrator, born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, now a part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Orphaned in infancy, he was reared by his grandparents and at the age of 12 became a telegraph boy in Pittsburgh. His talent at drawing attracted the attention of one of his employers, who assisted him to develop them. He moved to New York at the age of eighteen and worked in an office at Harper's Weekly, where he was an illustrator and political cartoonist at the same time that Abbey, Pennell, Pyle, and other celebrated illustrators labored there. After an apprenticeship of three years, he travelled to Munich for his first formal training. Owing to the lack of funds, he removed to the village of Polling, Bavaria, and worked with Frank Duveneck. They travelled to Venice, where he profited by the advice of Whistler, and then he continued his studies in Florence, the Netherlands, and Paris.
Each painting by John White Alexander will be completed in 4-6 weeks and delivered unframed and rolled in a protective tube.
In 1881 he returned to New York and speedily achieved great success in portraiture, numbering among his sitters Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Burroughs, Walt Whitman, Henry G. Marquand, R. A. L. Stevenson, and president McCosh of Princeton University. His first exhibition in the Paris Salon of 1893 was a brilliant success and was followed by his immediate election to the Sociéte Nationale des Beaux Arts. Many additional honors were bestowed on him. In 1901 he was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and in 1902 he became a member of the National Academy of Design. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Among the gold medals received by him were those of the Paris Exposition (1900) and the World's Fair at St. Louis (1904).
Many examples of his paintings are on display in public places in the United States and in Europe. Some are at Pittsburgh, where a series of many panels covering the walls of the three stories of the entrance hall to the Art Museum of the Carnegie Institute is located. The general subject is the "Apotheosis of Pittsburgh."
Alexander's original and highly individual art is based upon a very personal interpretation of humanity. He died in New York
All oil reproductions from this artist are guaranteed to be to your satisfaction.
Remember, each painting is 100% hand painted on stretched linen canvas.
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