Linda Chapman is best known for large-scale watercolor paintings often involving a combination of man-made and natural elements, animals, and art-historical references.  Pictures within pictures are a common theme, and subjects such as tapestries, statues, maps, toys, birds, flowers, and shells are combined in tableaux that tell stories of their missing inhabitants.  Dogs, monkeys, and wild animals are characters in her paintings and interiors.  Sometimes they reside in lush jungles with orchids and tropical foliage, and sometimes  they share an environment  with Renaissance furnishings, Greek columns, model ships and playing cards. 

Born on October 24, 1952 in Bradenton, Florida, she has been an artist since childhood, and studied with artist Hiram Williams at the University of Florida.  After completing her MFA she moved to New York City and maintains studios in Florida and New York.  She has spent time in Paris and Italy gathering inspiration for her paintings, which have been  purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York among others. 

Education:
B.F.A., University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
M.F.A., University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

Special Awards:
Atwater Kent Award, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, 1978
Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 1978
Fine Arts, Council Award, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 1979
Individual Artists Grant, Fine Arts Council of Florida, 1980

Group Exhibitions:
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1979
Museum of Art/Tallahassee, Tallahassee, FL, 2000
Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID, 1995, 1992
The Arts Guild Museum, Old Forge, NY, 1994
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL, 1992
University of South Florida Art Museum, Tampa, FL, 1990, 1991
The Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA, 1989
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, 1986
Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA, 1986
Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, TX, 19
Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH, 1986
Madison Art Center, Madison, WI, 1986
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA, 1986
Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, MN, 1986
San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 1986
Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, 1984
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, 1981
Federal Reserve Bank, Washington, D.C., 1980
Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, 1979
Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, FL, 1977, 1978

Solo Exhibitions:
Tampa Public Library, Tampa, FL, 1998
Art League of Manatee County, Bradenton, FL, 1981
Deland Museum, Deland, FL, 1980
Loch Haven Art Center, Orlando, FL, 1980
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 1979
Hippodrome Theatre, Gainesville, FL, 1976

Museums:
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, MN
Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS
University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY
University of South Florida Art Museum, Tampa, FL

Books:
American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors
Martin, Alvin
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1986
 Color reproduction on page 120

The New York Art Review
Krantz, Les
American References, Inc., 1988
B & W reproduction on page 385

Signature note:
Except for 1979-1982, all artwork signed as Linda Chapman or LBC

Source:
Information courtesy of the artist