1779-1851 Thomas Birch Gallery American painter of English birth. He was one of the most important American landscape and marine painters of the early 19th century. He moved to America in 1794 with his father William Birch (1755-1834), a painter and engraver from whom he received his artistic training. The family settled in Philadelphia, where William, armed with letters of introduction from Benjamin West to leading citizens of that city, became a drawing-master. Early in their American careers both Birches executed cityscapes, several of which were engraved. Thomas contributed a number of compositions to The City of Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania, North America, as it Appeared in the Year 1800 (1800), a series of views conceived by the elder Birch in obvious imitation of comparable British productions. An English sensibility is also apparent in the many paintings of country estates executed by father and son in the early 19th century (e.g. Eaglesfield, 1808; priv. col.). These compositions, along with such portrayals of important public edifices in and near Philadelphia as Fairmount Waterworks (1821; Philadelphia, PA Acad. F.A.), emphasize the cultural progress and commercial prosperity of the young United States as well as its almost Edenic natural beauty. Birch is also known for his representations of winter landscapes.  Related Paintings of Thomas Birch :. | Shipwreck | Shipwreck | Mouth of the Delaware | Ship | Engagement Between The Constitution and The Guerriere |
Related Artists:
Joseph Raphael
1869-1950 Joseph Morris Raphael holds a high place in the California, American and French Schools of Impressionism. Born in the town of Jackson, California on June 2, 1869, Raphael became one of the most famous students of his esteemed teacher Arthur F. Mathews at the California School of Design. Later Raphael would continue his art studies in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and at the Academie Julian under Jean-Paul Laurens. Early in his career he made the decision to settle in Europe in Uccle, Belgium where he and his wife established a home and raised their family. For most of his career he remained a devoted follower of pure French Impressionism. He painted the countryside near his home in Uccle, Belgium and also ventured to Holland and France to paint. Just as Raphael's international reputation grew, his family grew as well to include four daughters and one son. His family frequently appeared in his figurative works, he created wonderful closeup studies of his children and frequently captured them in leisurely picnic settings. Other paintings featured local landscapes, and sometimes his charming cottage home with its vegetable and flower gardens which were perhaps a source for his still lifes of fruits, vegetables and flowers. He lived and worked in Europe for thirty-seven years always maintaining close ties with the San Francisco art community and his loyal art dealer and collector Albert M. Bender. In 1939 with the ominous clouds of World War Two approaching, he wisely chose to return to San Francisco where he lived and maintained a studio on Sutter Street until his death on December 11th, 1950.
William Woodward
(1 May 1859 - 17 November 1939) was a U.S. artist and educator, best known for his impressionist paintings of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the United States. Woodward was born in Seekonk, Massachusetts. His younger brother Ellsworth Woodward also became a notable artist. William Woodward studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design, and later at the Academie Julian where he received instruction from Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre. View of the Napoleon House in New Orleans, 1904In 1884 Woodward was hired to teach fine art, mechanical drawing, and architectural drawing at Tulane University in New Orleans. He became interested in the history and architecture of the city, especially the old French Quarter, which at the time had become largely neglected with many of the historic structures in a state of decay. In 1895 he led a successful campaign to save the Cabildo from demolition. His series of paintings of French Quarter scenes helped shape awareness of the neighborhood's architectural heritage and spurred the formation of the Vieux Carre Commission to help preserve it. He started teaching architectural engineering at Tulane in 1894 and helped found the Tulane School of Architecture in 1907, as well as the Newcomb School of Art. In 1921 he suffered an accident and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He retired from Tulane the following year, and in 1923 moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. He invented the fiberloid dry etching process. He continued to paint and produce etchings for the rest of his life.
MORETTO da Brescia
Italian High Renaissance Painter, 1498-1554 Italian painter. Together with Romanino and Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, he was one of the most distinguished painters of Brescia of the 16th century. Influenced by both Lombard verism and contemporary Venetian painters, Moretto created an individual style in which realism and Venetian light and colour were perfectly balanced. He was personally involved in the local movement of Roman Catholic reform, and this is reflected in his direct, solemn and often moving depictions of religious subjects.