Charles George Copeland (1858–1945) was an American book
illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...
active from about 1887 until about 1940. He was a member of the
Boston Watercolor Society The New England Watercolor Society, originally named the Boston Watercolor Society, is an artist-run organization formed to promote and exhibit work by watercolor painters. It was also at one time known as the Boston Society of Watercolor Painters. ...
, and the
Boston Art Club
The Boston Art Club is an arts organization in Boston, Massachusetts, which serves to help its members, as well as non-members, to access the world of fine art. It currently has more than 250 members.
History
The Boston Art Club was first conceive ...
. His illustrations were used in a variety of books.
Genealogy and early life
Sea captain Oliver Copeland (b. 1790) married Lois Wyllie in 1818 in Warren, ME; their son, George, married Mary F. Munroe in 1853 and they resided in Thomaston, ME, where their son Charles was born on September 10, 1858. At a young age, Charles worked for a local painter, producing frescoed walls and ceilings in Thomaston.
In 1886 Charles married Eda Mills, daughter of Thomaston sea captain Harvey Mills.
Career
In 1888, Charles and Eda lived at 21 Pemberton Square in Boston, MA, while having a house built in Newton, MA. In Newton, he established himself as a full-time artist. His illustrations appear in ''Youth's Companion'', a popular young people's magazine of the time. In addition, Copeland illustrate
many books.
Charles and Eda had three children: Margaret Olive Copeland (1889 - 1958), who was a nurse; Helen Mills Copeland Creighton (1898 - ?); and Charlotte Harvey Copeland Gray (1898 – 1983).
The Copeland family spent summer seasons in Thomaston, ME, in Eda's childhood home: a large, Italianate house on 123 Main Street, built by Thomaston architect and builder James Overlock.
While in Thomaston, Charles painte
watercolors of local scenes.Charles built a studio on the grounds of the home. Admired by the community, Charles was considered a “popular, very tall, well-built man with a closely trimmed beard."
References
External links
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Thomaston Historical Society
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American illustrators
1858 births
1945 deaths
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