John White Alexander

Notes:

He was an American portrait, figure, and decorative painter and illustrator.

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.

After an apprenticeship of three years, he traveled to Munich for his first formal training. Then he studied in Venice, Florence, the Netherlands, and Paris. In 1881 he returned to New York and speedily achieved great success in portraiture.

His first exhibition in the Paris Salon of 1893 was a brilliant success and was followed by his immediate election to the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts. Among the gold medals received by him were those of the Paris Exposition (1900) and the World's Fair at St. Louis (1904).

Many of his paintings are in museums and public places in the United States and in Europe, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Butler Institute, and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

More info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_White_Alexander

Buried:
Grave location and photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Alexander&GSiman=1&GScid=100174&GRid=33593843&

John married Elizabeth Swan Williamson (Bessie) ALEXANDER 1887. Elizabeth (daughter of James Waddel ALEXANDER, Jr. and Elizabeth Beasley Williamson) was born 30 Sep 1865, New York. [Group Sheet]

1. James Waddel Alexander, II was born 19 Sep 1888, New York; died 23 Sep 1971.