William J. Whittemore (1860–1955) was an American painter.

Early life

William John Whittemore was born in 1860 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Carrie Rebora Barratt, Lori Zabar, ''American Portrait Miniatures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art'', New York, New York:

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 ...

, 2010, p. 23

/ref> He learned painting in 1877, under the tutelage of painter William Howard Hart (1863-1937). From 1882 to 1886, he studied painting 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 ...

under the tutelage of Walter Satterlee (1844-1908), and at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

under

James Carroll Beckwith James Carroll Beckwith (September 23, 1852 – October 24, 1917) was an American landscape, portrait and genre painter whose Naturalist style led to his recognition in the late nineteenth and very early twentieth century as a respected figure in ...

(1852-1917). From 1888 to 1889, he studied 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 ...

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 ...

under

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 ...

(1836-1911) 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 ...

(1845-1902).

Career

Whittemore taught miniature painting at the

from 1900 to 1902 and at the

YMCA of Greater New York YMCA of Greater New York is a community service organization, the largest YMCA in North America and also New York City's largest private youth-serving organization serving more than five hundred thousand each year. The New York chapter formed in ...

. Whittemore became an Associate at the National Academy of Design in 1897 and became a founding member of the

American Society of Miniature Painters The American Society of Miniature Painters (ASMP) was an association of miniature painters, organized in March 1899. The ten founding members of the ASMP included Virginia Richmond Reynolds, Isaac A. Josephi, William Jacob Baer, Alice Beckington ...

in 1899. He won a silver medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900, the J.D. McCarthy Prize of the

Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters The Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters was founded in 1901 by Emily Drayton Taylor to promote the work of miniature portrait painters of Pennsylvania. It held exhibits from 1901-1951 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Taylor served a ...

in 1934, and the medal of honor of the California Society of Miniature Painters in 1942. His portrait of

William Stryker Gummere William Stryker Gummere (; 1852–1933) was chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Supreme Court of New Jersey. Gummere was captain of the Princeton University, Princeton football team that met Rutgers University, Rutgers in 1869 in the 1 ...

, Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of New Jersey The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases ...

, hangs in the

New Jersey State House The New Jersey State House is located in Trenton and is the capitol building for the U.S. state of New Jersey. Built in 1792, it is the third-oldest state house in continuous legislative use in the United States; only the Maryland State Capit ...

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Chief Justice Gummere Honored by Jersey Bar
''Princeton Alumni Weekly'', November 13, 1931, Volume 32, p. 165 Additionally, his portrait of

Frank Armstrong Crawford Vanderbilt Frank Armstrong Crawford Vanderbilt (January 18, 1839 – May 4, 1885) was an American socialite and philanthropist. During the American Civil War, she was a strong supporter of the Confederate States of America. After the war, she lived in New Yo ...

(1839-1885), the second wife of

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

(1794–1877), hangs in Kirkland Hall on the campus of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

.Tennessee Portraits: Frank Armstrong Crawford Vanderbilt
/ref>

Personal life

Whittemore was married to Alice Vaud Whittemore (1868-1911), a painter whom he met in Paris. They resided in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and summered at Robinsfield, their residence in

New Hampton, New York New Hampton is a small hamlet in the Town of Wawayanda in Orange County, New York, United States. It is just outside the city of Middletown, across Interstate 84 along US 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Repu ...

. After his first wife died, he married another painter, Alice Charlotte Simpson (1863-1955). He died in 1955 in New Hampton, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittemore, William J. 1860 births 1955 deaths Artists from Manhattan Art Students League of New York faculty 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists American male painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists