Charles F. Kimball

A native of Maine, Charles Frederick Kimball was born in Monmouth, Maine on October 31, 1831, the youngest of thirteen children, into a family of architects and builders.

He was largely self-taught. He showed local scenery paintings as early as 1853. He along with fellow landscape artist, John Bradley Hudson, Jr., shared a passion for painting en plein air, traveling around Casco Bay and Portland with their easels and brushes painting local scenery. It was these works that brought him notice. It showed his appreciation for the gentle shifts in the evening light. At this point in this career he was influenced by the Hudson River School. He studied with Portland artist, Charles Octavius Cole and John Greenleaf Cloudman. He was a member of the Brush'uns, a group of artists who went on sketching trips together. After gaining recognition as a gifted artist, Kimball quit painting professionally in 1863 to work as a stair builder and cabinet maker. He continued to paint as a hobby and his work found a wide regional audience. Despite his growing popularity, he did not want to commercialize his work. When he did sell a piece, it was through a small gallery or frame shop. After quitting the "professional scene", his style evolved under the influence of the French Barbizon school.

In 1863, he married Annie Cloudman, daughter of John Greenleaf Cloudman, his mentor. Kimball died in 1903.

• 1880 - Old Houses at Stroudwater • 1889 - Coal Sheds at Topsham