John Gadsby Chapman

Training under Charles Bird King is recorded. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is history painting and painting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are Italianization, history, genre and portrait. Places of work recorded in the authority are London, Alexandria and New York City. Residence is recorded at Rome. Works named in the authority record are Woman and Donkey by a Roadside Shrine, Grape Harvest, Harvesting on the Roman Campagna, Harvesters on the Roman Campagna, Harvest on the Roman Campagna and Pines of the Villa Barberini. Work by John Gadsby Chapman is recorded in the collections of Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, Cleveland Museum of Art, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• Occupation — artist • Illustration — Baptism of Pocahontas by John G. Chapman, 1840.

A grandson of famed tavernkeeper John Gadsby, John Chapman was born in 1808 in Alexandria, Virginia. Chapman began his study of art in Philadelphia for two years, then departed for Europe where he eventually spent time in Italy. In 1831, Chapman returned to his hometown of Alexandria, and exhibited his artwork in the nearest metropolitan areas, such as Washington, D.C., Richmond, and Philadelphia. He specialized in landscapes and portraits. By 1834, Chapman had moved to New York City and become a member of the National Academy of Design, and found work as an illustrator. In New York, Chapman embarked on a series of historical paintings, such as Landing at Jamestown and the Crowning of Powhatan. Between 1833 and 1860, the National Academy exhibited 100 of his paintings – twenty-one in 1836 alone.[1] The success of these paintings helped Chapman land a commission from the United States Congress in February 1837 to paint a historical scene for the rotunda of the Capitol building. For this work, Chapman received a total payment of $10,000. On November 30, 1840, Baptism of Pocahontas was formally unveiled in the Capitol rotunda. Besides historical paintings and portraits, Chapman also produced wood engravings and etchings, and frequently contributed illustrations to Harper Brothers' publications. Chapman's American Drawing Book, published in 1847, became a standard text for art students.[2] Fifteen of his paintings were engraved and featured in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir annual gift book, making him the second-most featured American artist in that publication. Historian David S. Lovejoy classified these contributions as exhibiting a "sentimental genre of a nauseous nature". On the swell of these successes, Chapman moved his family to Rome, and made an earnest living selling paintings of rural Campania to American visitors. However, at the onset of the American Civil War, the tourist industry dried up, affecting Chapman's fortunes greatly. In addition, Chapman's own son, Conrad Wise Chapman, returned to America to fight on the side of the Confederate States of America. The economic deprivation inflicted on Chapman during the 1860s became insurmountable. In Rome, he was forced to live off the kindness of fellow expatriates, and finally returned to America, sick and poor, to spend his last days with another son, John Linton Chapman, in Brooklyn, New York. It was there, in 1889, that he died a pauper.

The authorities additionally record the headings John G. Chapman and J.G. His recorded language was English. He was the child of Margaret Sarah Gadsby Chapman. 2 children are recorded: Conrad Wise Chapman and John Linton Chapman.

Works recorded as notable number 8: Woman and Donkey by a Roadside Shrine, Grape Harvest, Harvesting on the Roman Campagna, Harvesters on the Roman Campagna, Harvest on the Roman Campagna, Pines of the Villa Barberini, Entrance to Fort Sumter.jpg and A Lazy Fisherman. His recorded genres are Italianization, history, genre and portrait.

John Gadsby Chapman is recorded with the occupation draftsperson. Classed in the genre history painting. Recorded as painter, draftsperson, illustrator, illuminator and muralist.