James Fairman (1826 in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

– 12 March 1904, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

) was a Scottish-born American landscape painter, art teacher, art critic and military officer.

Biography

His father, Laurenz Fehrman, was a Swedish military officer who served under King

Charles XIV John Charles XIV John (; 26 January 1763 – 8 March 1844) was King of Sweden and Norway from 1818 until his death in 1844 and the first monarch of the Bernadotte dynasty. In Norway, he is known as Charles III John () and before he became royalty in ...

in the

Coalition Wars The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (sometimes called the Great French War or the Wars of the Revolution and the Empire) were a series of conflicts between the French and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompas ...

. When the King changed sides, he fled to Scotland, where he married James' mother, Mary Farquharson Black. In 1832, after his father's early death, his mother decided to immigrate to the United States. They settled in New York City. In 1842, having shown some aptitude for drawing, he began attending evening classes 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 ...

. Upon the recommendation of the portrait painter, Frederick Styles Agate, he became a full-time student. Following his graduation, he found employment as an apprentice at

Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship Imprint (trade name), imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper (publisher), James Harper and his brother John, the compan ...

publishing, in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. In 1851, he paid a visit to London to see the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

. He later described what he saw there as his "revelation". Over the next ten years, he became increasingly involved in the

Abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

movement and discovered that he had a talent for public speaking; attending a course on the subject taught by

Edward Delafield Smith Edward Delafield Smith (May 8, 1826 – April 12, 1878) was an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York during the American Civil War. Career At 33 years old, Smith was appointed federal attorney ...

. In 1858, when a dispute arose over removing Bible study from the New York public schools, he opposed the change, ran for a seat on the school board committee, and was elected. An unsuccessful campaign for Congress soon followed.

Civil War service

In 1861, a few months after the Civil War began, he enlisted as a Captain with Company B of the

10th New York Infantry The 10th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as the McChesney Zouaves or National Guard Zouaves. Service The 10th New York Volunteer Infantry, the ...

. He was, however, released after four weeks for trying to recruit his own regiment. He then became a recruiter for the 4th Excelsior Regiment, on behalf of Congressman

Daniel Sickles Daniel Edgar Sickles (October 20, 1819May 3, 1914) was an American politician, American Civil War , Civil War veteran, and diplomat. He served in the United States House of Representatives , U.S. House of Representatives both before and after t ...

. Having little success there, he applied to the 96th New York Volunteer Infantry and was accepted as a colonel. After only three weeks of training, his unit took part in the

Peninsula Campaign The Peninsula campaign (also known as the Peninsular campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March to July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The oper ...

. During this time, four complaints were brought against him as the result of disputes with subordinate officers. He was also reprimanded for insulting a superior officer, General William High Keim; calling him a "Pennsylvania Dutchman" who obtained his position through political influence. When similar complaints followed, he was asked to resign and he did, in September 1862.

Later career

He then returned to New York and opened his own studio. He also gave lectures on behalf of the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

. Until 1871, he participated in exhibits at the National Academy and the

American Watercolor 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 ...

. However, his disputatious character reasserted itself, and he came to be viewed as an outsider. As a result, he left the United States, travelling through Europe and spending several months in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. In 1872, attracted by the paintings of the Düsseldorfer Malerschule, he went there to open a studio and stayed for three years.

Bettina Baumgärtel Bettina Baumgärtel (born 1957) is a German art historian who is head of the painting collection of the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf. She is a leading authority on the art of Angelica Kauffman and founded the Angelika Kauffmann Research Proje ...

, Sabine Schroyen, Lydia Immerheiser, Sabine Teichgröb: "Verzeichnis der ausländischen Künstler und Künstlerinnen. Nationalität, Aufenthalt und Studium in Düsseldorf". In

(Ed.): ''Die Düsseldorfer Malerschule und ihre internationale Ausstrahlung 1819–1918''.

Michael Imhof Verlag Michael Imhof Verlag is a German publishing company in Petersberg, Hesse. They are known especially for publishing books with a local interest, on art, on history, politics, religion, nature, and culture. Besides titles in German German(s) may r ...

, Petersberg 2011, , Vol.1, pg. 430 In 1875, he moved to Paris, where he also stayed for three years. This was followed by some time in London. Every so often, he visited the United States to sell his paintings. This would involve planned events, to which he invited journalists, and

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

-themed lectures; attacking the established, academic art scene. He returned to the United States in 1881 and settled briefly in Chicago, where he had friends he had helped out financially after the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...

. For one year, he held a teaching position in

Olivet, Michigan Olivet is a city in Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,517 at the 2020 census. University Of Olivet is located in the city. History From its founding in 1844 through the 1910 census,Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

After the Storm File:Fairman-Jerusalem.jpg, Jerusalem from the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...

File:Fairman-Rescue.jpg, The Sea Rescue File:Fairman-Alpine.jpg, Alpine Landscape with River

References

External links

Biography
@ Questroyal Fine Art
More works by Fairman
@ the American Gallery
More works by Fairman
@ ArtNet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairman, James 1826 births 1904 deaths 19th-century American painters American landscape painters American art critics Union army colonels American people of Scottish descent Painters from Glasgow National Academy of Design alumni Scottish emigrants to the United States

Biography

Civil War service

Later career

References

Further reading

External links