Samuel Isham (May 12, 1855 – June 12, 1914) was an American portrait and figure painter, born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Early life

Isham was born in New York City on May 12, 1855. He was the son of William Bradley Isham (1827–1909) and Julia (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Burhans) Isham (1827–1907). His father was a leather merchant who owned downtown factories and warehouses on

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

and Cliff Streets, and became vice-president of the

Bank of the Metropolis The Bank of the Metropolis was a bank in New York City that operated between 1871 and 1918. The bank was originally located at several addresses around Union Square in Manhattan before finally moving to 31 Union Square West, a 16-story Renaissa ...

and the president of the Bond and Mortgage Guarantee Company."History of Inwood's Ishham Park"
''My Inwood'' Among his siblings was Charles Bradford Isham, who married Mamie Lincoln (granddaughter of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

); and Julia Isham, who married historian

Henry Osborn Taylor Henry Osborn Taylor (December 5, 1856 – April 13, 1941) was an American historian and legal scholar. Career Taylor graduated from Harvard University in 1878 and, later, from Columbia Law School. He later received honorary degrees from Harvar ...

. After preparing at

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

, he studied at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, where he was a member of the third editorial board of ''

The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it became the oldest humor magazine in the world when ''Punch'' folded in 2002."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/histo ...

'',"''Record'' Editors". ''The Yale Banner''. New Haven: Thomas Penney and G. D. Pettee. 1877. p. 182. and graduated in 1875 with a B.F.A. degree.

Career

After Yale, Isham traveled abroad for three years and then studied law at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

, beginning in the fall of 1878, and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

. He began practicing in the office of

Lord Day & Lord Lord Day & Lord was an American large, blue-chip New York City law firm. It was established in 1845 by Daniel Lord, his son Daniel DeForest Lord, and his son-in-law Henry Day. History The firm had retained the same name until 1988 when it merg ...

before forming a partnership with George E. Coney in 1881.

Art career

A few years later, however, Isham opted out of a career in law and turned to art. He again went abroad, studying painting in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

from 1885 to 1887 under

Gustave Boulanger Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (25 April 1824 – 22 September 1888) was a French figurative painter and academic artist and teacher known for his Classical and Orientalist subjects. Education and career The Néo-Grecs and the Prix de Rom ...

and

Jules Joseph Lefebvre Jules Joseph Lefebvre (; 14 March 183624 February 1911) was a French figure painter, educator and theorist. Early life Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, on 14 March 1836. He entered the École nationale supérieure des Bea ...

. He exhibited at both Paris

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

s and at the larger American exhibitions. He was a member of the Art Jury at the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

in 1901, and became a member of the

National Academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...

in 1906. At the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, he won the silver medal. He was also a director of the Fine Arts Society and a member of the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

, both in New York City. His most important achievement, however, was his ''History of American Painting'' (New York, 1905), the best work on the subject. It deserves high praise for its adequate treatment, sympathetic usually just appreciations, and pleasing style.

Personal life

Isham, who did not marry and lived at 471

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

in Manhattan, was a member of the

Maidstone Club The Maidstone Club is a private country club on the Atlantic Ocean in the village of East Hampton, New York. Maidstone has both an 18-hole and nine-hole private golf course. History The Club derives its name from the original name for East Ha ...

(in

East Hampton, New York The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the 2020 United States census, it had a total ...

Ardsley Club The Ardsley Country Club or Ardsley Club is a country club in the United States. It was founded in August 1895 to "cater to industrialists" such as Amzi Barber, J. P. Morgan, the Rockefeller brothers, and Cornelius Vanderbilt II. History Original ...

(in

Irvington, New York Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson,Staff (ndg"The Irvington Gazette (Irvington-On-Hudson, N.Y.) 1907-1969"Library of Congress is a suburban village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is loca ...

), the

Metropolitan Club The Metropolitan Club of New York is a private social club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it was one of the first major clubs in New York to admit women, t ...

, the

Players' Club The Players (often inaccurately called The Players Club) is a private social club founded in New York City by the noted 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth. In 1888, Booth purchased an 1847 mansion at 16 Gramercy Park, reserved an ...

, and the

University Club of New York The University Club of New York (also known as University Club) is a private social club at 1 West 54th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Founded to celebrate the union of social duty and intellec ...

. On June 12, 1914, Isham suffered from an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (s ...

of the arteries and died on the Maidstone Club golf course in East Hampton. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. After his death, his estate presented 236 Japanese color prints from his personal collection to the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

Gallery

File:Samuel Isham - Portrait of an "Old Sea Captain" - 1915.87 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tiff, Portrait of an "Old Sea Captain", File:Samuel Isham - Girl in White with Hat - 14.257 - Indianapolis Museum of Art.jpg, Girl in White with Hat File:Brooklyn Museum - The Lilac Kimono - Samuel Isham - overall.jpg, The Lilac Kimono, File:Samuel Isham - Wooded Landscape - 1915.1.1 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg, Wooded Landscape,

References

External links

* *
The Lilac Kimono
by Isham () at the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Isham, Samuel 1855 births 1914 deaths Phillips Academy alumni Yale University alumni Columbia Law School alumni 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters American non-fiction writers Painters from New York City 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters