|
|
Ad Code: 3
|
An example of work by Charles Shepard Chapman
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
|
|
|
This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in Morristown, New York, Charles Chapman was a noted teacher,
painter, and illustrator who, although he often claimed he was
self-taught, was educated at Pratt Institute*, and in 1899 at William
Merritt Chase's New York School of Art* in New York
City. He was highly influenced by the famed western artist
Frederic Remington. One of his techniques he described was
painting with "Water-Oils", where he floated oil paint on water on
paper, and then laid paper over the floating design, which left an
abstract affect.
He became an instructor at the Art Students
League* in New York and was also a book illustrator. With Harvey
Dunn, he opened a school of illustration in Leonia, New Jersey, and
shared a studio there with artist Howard McCormick. In 1901, he met
Remington.
Chapman
specialized in landscapes, and although he spent most of his life in
the East, he traveled extensively in the West, especially Wyoming and
Arizona where a frequent subject was the Grand Canyon. In 1938,
he spent a month at the Canyon and also painted ranch landscapes and in
the Snowy Range of Wyoming.
To prepare himself to do forest paintings, he worked in a lumber camp
90 miles north of Ottawa, Canada, and in 1923, made a trip to the
Redwoods in California.
In the
1930s, he was commissioned by the Museum of Natural History in New York
to paint a thirty-by-thirty-foot mural of the Grand Canyon as a
background for the Puma group exhibit. He camped for
several weeks at the rim of the Canyon while he worked on this project.
In 1941, he taught during the summer at the University of
Wyoming, and later he and his wife rented a cabin at Jackson,
Wyoming. He also painted murals for the American Museum of
Natural History and a West Virginia Post Office.
His wife Ada,
to whom he was married more than fifty years, wrote in 1964 a biography
of his life. He was a member of the Salmagundi Club* and won all
its major prizes and was also a member of the National Academy of
Design, winning exhibition prizes in 1917, 1921 and 1924. His
painting, In The Deep Woods is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Sources include:
Walt Reed, The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000
Doris Dawdy, Artists of the American West, Vol. III
* For more in-depth information about
these terms and others, see AskART.com Glossary
http://www.askart.com/AskART/lists/Art_Definition.aspx
| |
This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  The following is from Neysa A. Westman, who as a young child, knew the artist:
My
mother lived with Charles S. Chapman and his wife, Ada, from 1934 to
1944. Although she is not related to them, they treated her as a
daughter, as they had no children. The Chapmans and my mother's family
were good friends.
After reading your entries on Charles S. Chapman, my 85 year-old mother
wanted me to e-mail you to correct some things. She is sure of
these facts.
Charles
Chapman was educated at Ogdensburg High School in Ogdensburg, NY. After
high school he attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY and when funds
were not available for him to continue, he then attended William
Merritt Chase's Art School (Chase School of Art). In 1902 Chapman went
into the Canadian woods to paint the trees and snow. As his job there
was a culler, a measurer of logs, he painted when he wasn't working. He
documented this year, which we have the diary of. He stayed at the
following places: Notre Dame Du laus, Iroquois Farm, Buckingham,
Thurso.
Charles Chapman did meet Frederick Remington but did
not spend several weeks with him in Bermuda. Chapman did however, go to
the U.S. Virgin Islands. My mother has pictures.
In the late 1930s early 1940s Chapman painted the mural for the Museum
of Natural History. We know these dates because my mother was with him
when he did this.
When Chapman went to the rim of the Canyon for several weeks, his wife was not with him. She was with my mother.
|
| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Charles Chapman is also mentioned in these AskART essays:
San Francisco Panama-Pacific Exhibition 1915
Painters of Grand Canyon
|
|
|