John White Alexander

Painting, Visual Artist

1856 – 1915

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Who was John White Alexander?

John White Alexander was an American portrait, figure, and decorative painter and illustrator.

Alexander was 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.

In 1881 he returned to New York and speedily achieved great success in portraiture, numbering among his sitters Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Burroughs, Henry G. Marquand, R. A. L.

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Born
Oct 17, 1856
Allegheny
Also known as
  • Александер, Джон Уайт
Children
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Education
  • Royal Academy of Arts
Lived in
  • Allegheny
Died
May 31, 1915
New York City

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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