Background
John Gadsby Chapman was born on December 08, 1808 in Alexandria, Virginia, United States.
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(This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1847 Excerpt: ...finish that foot, you can not form a just idea of its true position and relation to the whole figure. First make yourself proficient in details and particulars--then learn to connect these particulars into an harmonious whole, to understand the power and propriety of their combinations, and you are prepared to generalize, and to descend from generals to particulars, in the execution of your drawings, pictures, models, or designs. 62. In drawing the outline of the second profile, it should be remembered, that the parts of the face covered by the beard, should be slightly indicated or at least defined, or you can never with accuracy express those that do appear and preserve all the proportions, action, and harmony of the parts. The importance of the application of this method will be more forcibly shown hereafter. In this instance it may seem of trivial importance--but still it is of importance and should not escape the observation and attention of the learner. He should look not only to the appearance of objects, but also to their actual form. It is thus, and thus only, that he will acquire the eye and hand of a master in the art, and avoid that feebleness and indecision which mark the touch of the uneducated; who may labor and elaborate as they will, yet never reach the truth and expression that seem but the momentary, spontaneous, impulse of his mind and hand. This should be the high aim of the follower of art, and should he grow weary over the means required in its attainment, let him be encouraged to persevere, in the certainty of success that awaits his exertions. Above all things, let him not attempt too much until he acquires strength. His steps should be slow and sure. The desire of advancement is wholesome in art, as in all ether pursuits and studie...
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John Gadsby Chapman was born on December 08, 1808 in Alexandria, Virginia, United States.
John was assisted in his early art studies by George Cooke and С. B. King. About 1827 he began studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Later through the aid of friends he was enabled to visit Europe, studying at Rome and Florence.
At sixteen Chapman made his first oil painting. Later he made numerous copies of his old masters and painted “Hagar and Ishmael Fainting in the Wilderness, ” with life-size figures. This was the first American painting to be engraved in Italy; it was published in 1830. In 1831 Chapman held a successful exhibition of his copies and original pictures in Alexandria, and was soon after working in New York.
He taught and practised wood-engraving, painted portraits, and made drawings for publications, furnishing 1, 400 drawings for the Harper’s Bible published in 1846. In 1847, he brought out The American Drazving Book; it went through many editions. This book contains 304 pages and about an equal number of fine illustrations. It treats the various subjects thoroughly, clearly, and sensibly; besides showing the methods of drawing, perspective, and painting, Chapman included accurate directions for etching and engraving as w'ell as composition. About the same time he completed “The Baptism of Pocahontas, ” one of the eight large paintings in the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington.
In 1848 he returned to Rome, where he lived during most of the remainder of his life. His best known paintings, with the exception of “The Baptism of Pocahontas, ” were his landscapes.
An indefatigable worker, he must have made a great many pictures, but few if any are owned by public galleries. “The Israelites Spoiling the Egyptians, ” “The Etruscan Girl, and The Donkey’s Head” were owned by R. L. Stuart of New York; “The Last Arrow, and “Childhood” after Lawrence, by J. C. McGuire of Washington; “Rachel, ” by Marshall O. Roberts; “Pifferini” and “The First Italian Milestone, ” by James Lenox. His “Landing at Jamestown” was engraved by M. I. Danforth, and his “Montpelier, Va. The Seat of the Late James Madison” was engraved by Prudhomme.
He is known to have painted portraits of James Madison and Horatio Greenough, and his portrait of Alexander Anderson belongs to the National Academy of Design.
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Chapman was the member of the Century Club, and an honorary associate of the National Academy of Design in 1832 and a full member in 1836.