John Marshall Gamble (1863 – April 8, 1957) was an American painter who focused on California landscapes and wildflowers. He relocated to Santa Barbara after his San Francisco studio was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. He was an influential in the Santa Barbara art scene, being a teacher and School Board President of the Santa Barbara School of the Arts.

Life and career

Wild Heliotrope and Poppies San Francisco by John Marshall Gamble

John Marshall Gamble was born in New Jersey in 1863, moved to New Zealand with his family in his early years, and then to San Francisco in 1883. He was the grandson of US Marines Lieutenant Colonel

John Marshall Gamble John Marshall Gamble (1863 – April 8, 1957) was an American painter who focused on California landscapes and wildflowers. He relocated to Santa Barbara after his San Francisco studio was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. He was an influential in ...

. First studying the San Francisco School of Design under

Virgil Macey Williams Virgil Macey Williams (October 29, 1830 - December 18, 1886) was an American painter, and the director of the San Francisco School of Design (now known as San Francisco Art Institute). In 1872, he co-founded the San Francisco Art Association wi ...

and Emil Carlson, he later went to the Académie Colarossi, and the Académie Julian in Paris, to study under

Jean Paul Laurens Jean-Paul Laurens (; 28 March 1838 – 23 March 1921) was a French painter and sculptor, and one of the last major exponents of the French Academic style. Biography Laurens was born in Fourquevaux and was a pupil of Léon Cogniet and Alexa ...

and

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (also known as Benjamin-Constant), born Jean-Joseph Constant (10 June 1845 – 26 May 1902), was a French painter and etcher best known for his Oriental subjects and portraits. Biography Benjamin-Constant was bor ...

. He first opened a studio in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

which was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, moving to Santa Barbara afterwards. During his career he won several awards, such as a gold medal at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, in Seattle. Gamble is considered the "supreme painter of California's wildflowers", an "exhaustless theme which has won the artist enduring fame". The artist became a faculty member of the

Santa Barbara School of the Arts Santa Barbara School of the Arts was a college of art founded in Santa Barbara, California, by artist Fernand Lungren (1857–1932) in 1920.

in 1929, and later served as School Board President. A friend of painter Willis E. Davies, Gamble accompanied him to ''

plein air ''En plein air'' (; 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 air' painting ...

'' painting trips, and the 1910 European trip that ended with Davies' suicide on board of the White Star liner RMS Oceanic. Gamble is buried at the

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a rural cemetery located in Colma, California, a place known as the "City of the Silent". History Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is the final resting site for several memb ...

, in Colma, California.

Style and legacy

Gamble's had detailed knowledge of California's landscapes, and according to a contemporary critic "the distinguishing charm of these landscapes seems to lie in the intimate feeling for nature shown in the painting". Gamble's painting ''Poppies and Lupine'' sold for US$178,500 in a 1998 Christie's auction. His work is represented by galleries such as Steven Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, William A. Karges Fine Art, and is part of the permanent collections of the

Birmingham Museum of Art The Birmingham Museum of Art is a museum in Birmingham, Alabama. It has one of the most extensive collections of artwork in the Southeastern United States, with more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts repres ...

and the Fine Arts Museumnd of San Francisco, among others. Gamble was also influential as a teacher and mentor of younger artists, and was considered to be the "dean of Santa Barbara artists".

Exhibitions

* Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, 1909 *Solo exhibition, Kanst Gallery, Hollywood, 1911. *Solo exhibition,

Hotel Green A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

Gallery, Pasadena, 1911. *"California Artists, 1860-1930", McHenry Museum, Modesto, 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamble, John Marshall 1863 births 1957 deaths American male painters Painters from California San Francisco Art Institute alumni 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists