John Davidson Butler (1890–1976), was an American artist from
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
. He worked primarily as a painter, but later also as a printmaker and ceramicist.
[John (JB) Butler (1890 - 1976)]
''Ask/Art: The Artists' Bluebook'' (subscription site). Accessed 2009-08-19.
Butler was one of three Seattle artists who worked together under the name "The Triad". The others were etcher
Roi Partridge
George Roy Partridge (October 14, 1888 – January 25, 1984), also known professionally as Roi Partridge, was an American printmaker and teacher. He was born in Centralia, Washington. At age four he moved with his family to Seattle, where his fathe ...
and miniaturist
Clare Shepard Shisler. Also in their circle were photographer
Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham (; April 12, 1883 – June 23, 1976) was an American photographer known for her botanical photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes. Cunningham was a member of the California-based Group f/64, known for its dedication to t ...
(who used Butler and the others extensively as models, and later married Partridge), and painters
Mabel Lisle Ducasse and
Yasushi Tanaka.
As a youth, Butler studied in Seattle under Carlotta Blaurock, who had been, in turn, a student of
James McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...
. He also studied with Ella Shepard Bush (founder in 1894 of the Seattle Art School) and other local artists. Some of his early work was exhibited at Seattle's 1909
Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition
The Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, acronym AYP or AYPE, was a world's fair held in Seattle in 1909 publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest. It was originally planned for 1907 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Klondike Gold R ...
. In 1910, he followed Partridge to New York, where two of Butler's watercolors were shown at 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 ...
exhibition 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, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...
. The two traveled on to Europe where Butler studied at the
Colorossi Academy in Paris and also studied in Germany.
Returning to America, he continued his studies under
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 would become Parsons School of Design. ...
, at a summer 1914 class in
Carmel, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and municipal corporation, incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its n ...
. There, he shared a first prize from Chase with a fellow Seattle artist,
Louise Crow
Louise Crow (September 14, 1891 – July 26, 1968) was an American painter. She is best known for her portraits of Puebloans. She worked in oils and watercolors, and with a wide variety of subjects including landscapes, Northwest scenes of rugged ...
. Upon returning home, he had a successful solo exhibition at the Seattle Fine Arts Society, which was a predecessor to the
Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...
.
He offered private classes, and also became the first teacher of painting at the Cornish School, later
Cornish College of the Arts
Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914.
History
Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of pi ...
. His students included
Kenneth Callahan
Kenneth Callahan (1905–1986) was an American painter and muralist who served as a catalyst for Northwest artists in the mid-20th century through his own painting, his work as assistant director and curator at the Seattle Art Museum, and his wr ...
and
Thomas Handforth
Thomas Scofield Handforth (September 16, 1897 – October 19, 1948) was an American people, American artist and etcher. He wrote and illustrated the Children's literature, children's picture book ''Mei Li'' based on personal experience in China a ...
.
[ Nellie C. Cornish (edited by Ellen Van Volkenburg Browne and Edward Nordhoff Beck), ''Miss Aunt Nellie: The Autobiography of Nellie C. Cornish'' (1964), University of Washington Press. p. 95]
He served in the military in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
; after the war, he remained primarily in Europe until 1932, periodically sending works for exhibition in Seattle. While in Europe he began making woodcuts and blockprints, which were exhibited at the Northwest Printmakers Society in Seattle, among other venues. Returning to the U.S., he taught at a variety of institutions in Seattle,
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. He received a Bronze Medal in a national figure composition competition at
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
's
Corcoran Gallery
The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University.
Overview
The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...
in 1938. In the early 1940s, he began working in ceramics.
Butler produced numerous murals in Seattle and elsewhere and illustrations for local Seattle publications. He also wrote articles and worked with arts organizations to promote art in Seattle.
Butler rarely signed his works, so it is not always readily apparent what works are his. Some of the early works when he was associated with "The Triad" bear a triangular cipher. He sometimes signed his work with his initials, "J.B."
The Seattle Art Museum's collection includes a painting by Butler, depicting a couple resting on the banks of Lake Washington on a Summer Day.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, John Davidson
Artists from Seattle
1890 births
1976 deaths
Cornish College of the Arts faculty