James Carroll Beckwith (September 23, 1852 – October 24, 1917) was an American

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

and

genre painter Genre painting (or petit genre) is the painting of genre art, which depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity ca ...

whose

Naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

style led to his recognition in the late nineteenth and very early twentieth century as a respected figure in

American art Visual art of the United States or American art is visual art made in the United States or by U.S. artists. Before colonization, there were many flourishing traditions of Native American art, and where the Spanish colonized Spanish Colonial arc ...

Biography

Carroll Beckwith, as he preferred to be known, was born in

Hannibal, Missouri Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion County, Missouri, Marion and Ralls County, Missouri, Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,108, ...

on September 23, 1852, the son of Charles and Melissa Beckwith. However, he grew up in Chicago where his father started a wholesale grocery business. His grandmother was Hannah Yale, a distant cousin was fur trader

James Murray Yale James Murray Yale ( – 7 May 1871) was a clerk, and later, a Chief factor#Mercantile factors, Chief trader for the Hudson's Bay Company, during the late North American fur trade, as they were competing with the Montreal-based North West Company ...

, members of the

Yale family Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges char ...

. In 1868, aged 16, he studied art at the Chicago Academy of Design under Walter Shirlaw until the great fire of 1871 destroyed everything (including much of the heart of the city). He then went to New York and studied at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

(of which he afterwards became a member) in New York City under

Lemuel Wilmarth Lemuel Everett Wilmarth (November 11, 1835 – July 27, 1918) was an American painter. He was a founder of the Art Students League of New York and a member of the National Academy of Design. He was professor in charge of the schools of the Natio ...

and later traveled on to Paris, staying there from November 1873 until 1878. In New York, he lived in his millionaire great-uncle's "

Sherwood Studio Building The Sherwood Studio Building was an artists' apartment building at 58 West 57th Street, at the southeast corner with Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was constructed in 1879 as artists' apa ...

", which was built specifically for artists, and was close to

Cornelius Vanderbilt II House The Cornelius Vanderbilt II House was a large mansion built in 1883 at 1 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It occupied the frontage along the west side of Fifth Avenue from West 57th Street up to West 58th Street at Grand Army Plaza. ...

.Looking for Carroll Beckwith: The True Stories of a Detective's Search for His Past Life by Robert L. Snow (1999-12-02)

In Paris he took drawing courses with

Adolphe Yvon Adolphe Yvon (30 January 1817 – 11 September 1893) was a French painter known for his paintings of the Napoleonic Wars. Yvon studied under Paul Delaroche, rose to fame during the Second Empire, then finished his career as a teacher. Career Ad ...

Biography of James Carroll Beckwith and studied painting under

Carolus Duran Charles Auguste Émile Durand, known as Carolus-Duran (4 July 1837 – 17 February 1917), was a French painter and art instructor. He is noted for his stylish depictions of members of Upper class, high society in French Third Republic, Third Rep ...

who in 1877 selected Beckwith and

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

to help him with a mural for the

Palais du Luxembourg The Luxembourg Palace (, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the regent Marie de' Med ...

. Returning to the United States in 1878, he gradually became a prominent figure in American art. His talents as a draftsman secured him a professorship at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

, where he taught from 1878 to 1882 and from 1886 to 1887. As an artist, he concentrated mostly on portraits, figure studies, and detailed renderings of historical monuments, but he never lost his interest in decorative design. He married Bertha Hall on June 1, 1887, and his friend John Singer Sargent gave them a Venetian watercolor as a present. Beckwith on the JSS Virtual Gallery website Beckwith took an active part in the formation of The Fine Arts Society, and was President of the National Free Art League, which attempted to secure the repeal of the American duty on works of art. Among his portraits are those of

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later became the Parsons School of Design. ...

(1882), Miss Jordan (1883),

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

Thomas Allibone Janvier Thomas Allibone Janvier (July 16, 1849 – June 18, 1913) was an American story-writer and historian, born in Philadelphia of Provençal descent. Early life and marriage Janvier received a public school education, then worked in Philadelphi ...

John Schofield John McAllister Schofield (; September 29, 1831 – March 4, 1906) was an American soldier who held major commands during the American Civil War. He was appointed U.S. Secretary of War (1868–1869) under President Andrew Johnson and later serve ...

and William M. Walton. He taught at the

- where

Violet Oakley Violet Oakley (June 10, 1874 – February 25, 1961) was an American artist. She was the first American woman to receive a public mural commission. During the first quarter of the 20th century, she was renowned as a pathbreaker in mural decoratio ...

was one of his students. Beckwith received many awards including an Honorable Mention at the Paris Exposition of 1889 and a gold medal at the

Atlanta Exposition The Atlanta Exposition Speech was an address on the topic of race relations given by African-American scholar Booker T. Washington on September 18, 1895. The speech outlined Washington's vision for cooperation between blacks and whites in ...

in 1895. He also won an award at the Exposition Universelle at Paris in 1899 for what is probably his most celebrated work, his 1886 portrait of William M. Walton. He won a gold medal at the Charleston Exposition in 1902 and exhibited at the

St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 mill ...

in 1904 showing his painting "The Nautilus" along with a portrait of his wife. Carroll returned to Paris in 1893 to paint a number of murals and then returned to the United States to paint murals on one of the domes in the Liberal Arts Building at the

World Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The c ...

in Chicago later in 1893. He lived in Italy from 1910 to 1914 and painted many

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French language, French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein ai ...

studies of monuments, buildings, and landscapes. James Carroll Beckwith died of a heart attack in his apartment at the Hotel Schuyler on West Forty-fifth Street in New York City on October 24, 1917, aged 65, after having taken a taxi cab ride with his wife in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

. His papers, including his sketchbooks and the

diaries Diaries may refer to: * the plural of diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally bee ...

he kept from 1871 until his death in 1917 are held by the

in New York City. During his life, he was President of the

Fencers Club The Fencers Club in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, is the oldest fencing club in the Western Hemisphere. It is a member of the Metropolitan Division of the U.S. Fencing Association. Established in 1883, it has evolved into a 501(c)(3) not-for- ...

, and member of the Episcopal Church,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

American Water Color Society The American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. Qualifications AWS judges the work of a painter before granting admission to the soc ...

Century Association The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinctio ...

Lotos Club The Lotos Club is a private social club in New York City. Founded primarily by a young group of writers and critics in 1870 as a gentlemen's club, it has since begun accepting women as members. Mark Twain, an early member, called it the "Ace of ...

, and "

Social Register The ''Social Register'' is a semi-annual publication in the United States that indexes the members of American high society. First published in the 1880s by newspaper columnist Louis Keller, it was later acquired by Malcolm Forbes. Since 2014, ...

".Social Register, New York, 1895
/ref>

Selection of paintings

File:Beckwith James Carroll Woman with Guitar.jpg, ''Woman with Guitar'' File:Beckwith James Carroll Portrait of Evelyn Nesbit.jpg, ''Portrait of

Evelyn Nesbit Florence Evelyn Nesbit (December 25, 1884 or 1885 – January 17, 1967) was an American model (person), artists' model, chorus girl, and actress. She is best known for her career in New York City, as well as her husband, railroad scion Har ...

'', c. 1901. File:Beckwith James Carroll Sylvan Toilette.jpg, ''Sylvan Toilette'', c. 1898 File:Beckwith James Carroll A Wistful Look.jpg, ''A Wistful Look''. File:Beckwith Mark Twain Portrait.jpg, ''

,'' 1890. File:Beckwith James Carroll Bassin de Neptune Versailles.jpg, ''Bassin de Neptune Versailles''. File:Beckwith James Carroll L-Empereur.jpg, ''L'empereur''. File:Beckwith James Carroll The Palace of the Popes and Pont d-Avignon.jpg, ''The Palace of the Popes and Pont d'Avignon''. File:Beckwith James Carroll Cathedral at le Puy.jpg, ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy'' (

Le Puy-en-Velay Le Puy-en-Velay (, ; , before 1988: ''Le Puy'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Loire Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of south-central France. Located near the rive ...

References

External links

James Carroll Beckwith diary (in the New York Historical Society), 1895
from the Smithsonian

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

James Carroll Beckwith papers, 1878–1924
also from the Archives of American art
Two Beckwith auction catalogs
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF) *https://snapjudgment.org/past-life-detective From National Public Radio's Snap Judgement, a radio program about a police detective who believes he is the reincarnation of James Carroll Beckwith {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckwith, James Carroll 1852 births 1917 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters American genre painters American Impressionist painters American landscape painters Art Students League of New York faculty People from Hannibal, Missouri 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists Yale family