The Artist John White Alexander

John White Alexander was born on October 7, 1856 in Allegheny. Pennsylvania. He was orphaned in his infancy and was raised by his grandparents.

John's first job was that of telegraph boy for the Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Company in the city of Pittsburgh, PA, at the age of twelve. Here he met Edward J. Allen, who became his patron. John spent time at the Allen home at Edgehill, where he painted various members of the Allen family.     

He moved to New York City at the age of eighteen to work at Harper's Weekly as an illustrator and a political cartoonist. After three years with Harper, he travelled to Munich to begin his formal training.

But he soon ran out of money and went to the village of Poling in Bavaria and worked with Frank Duveneck. Together they travelled to Venice, where they worked with Whistler. John continues his studies in Florence, the Netherlands, and Paris

In 1881, he returned to New York and gained success as a portrait painter. Among his famous clients were Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Burroughs Henry G. Marquand, and R. L. Stevenson.




His first  international exhibit in Paris in 1893 was brilliant success. 

John White Alexander died on May 31, 1915 at the age of 58. He is recognized as one of American's finest portrait, figure, and decorative painters.


All information and images are from Wikipedia.  I claim nothing here as my own.