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John White Alexander
John White Alexander

John White Alexander

American, 1856-1915
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John White Alexander was an American portrait, figure, and decorative painter and illustrator.
Alexander was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, now a part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Orphaned in infancy, he was reared by his grandparents and, at the age of 12, became a telegraph boy in Pittsburgh. Edward J. Allen became an early supporter and patron of John W. Alexander, adopting the orphaned Alexander while he worked at the Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Co. as a young man. Allen brought Alexander to the Allen home at "Edgehill" where Alexander painted various members of the Allen family, including Colonel Allen. His talent at drawing attracted the attention of one of his employers, who assisted him to develop them.

He moved to New York City at the age of 18 and worked in an office at Harper's Weekly, where he was an illustrator and political cartoonist at the same time that Abbey, Pennell, Pyle, and other celebrated illustrators labored there. After an apprenticeship of three years, he traveled to Munich for his first formal training. Owing to the lack of funds, he removed to the village of Polling, Bavaria, and worked with Frank Duveneck. They traveled to Venice, where he profited by the advice of Whistler, and then he continued his studies in Florence, Italy; the Netherlands; and Paris.

In 1881, he returned to New York City and speedily achieved great success in portraiture, numbering among his sitters Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Burroughs, Henry G. Marquand, R.A.L. Stevenson, and president McCosh of Princeton University.

Alexander was married to Elizabeth Alexander Alexander, to whom he was introduced in part because of their shared last name. Elizabeth was the daughter of James Waddell Alexander, President of the Equitable Life Assurance Society at the time of the Hyde Ball scandal. The Alexanders had one child, the mathematician James Waddell Alexander II.

Many of his paintings are in museums and public places in the United States and in Europe, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Butler Institute, and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. In addition, in the entrance hall to the Art Museum of the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a series of Alexander's murals titled "Apotheosis of Pittsburgh" (1905–1907) covers the walls of the three-story atrium area.

43 items

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Printing Press mural in Evolution of the Book series

Printing Press mural in Evolution of the Book series (1896)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Portrait of William Denny

Portrait of William Denny (1902)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Bronze Bowl

Bronze Bowl (circa 1895)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Portrait of Mrs. John White Alexander

Portrait of Mrs. John White Alexander (circa 1902)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Cairn mural in Evolution of the Book series

Cairn mural in Evolution of the Book series (1896)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Egyptian hieroglyphics mural in Evolution of the Book series

Egyptian hieroglyphics mural in Evolution of the Book series (1896)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Manuscript Book mural in Evolution of the Book series

Manuscript Book mural in Evolution of the Book series (1896)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Oral Tradition mural in Evolution of the Book series

Oral Tradition mural in Evolution of the Book series (1896)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Picture Writing mural in Evolution of the Book series

Picture Writing mural in Evolution of the Book series (1896)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Miss Dorothy Quincy Roosevelt

Miss Dorothy Quincy Roosevelt (1901–1902)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Thomas Nast

Thomas Nast (1887)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Newton Booth Tarkington

Newton Booth Tarkington

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Henry G. Marquand

Henry G. Marquand (1896)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Isabella Guthrie McCosh (1817-1909)

Isabella Guthrie McCosh (1817-1909) (1908–09)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Portrait of Kathleen Cowan

Portrait of Kathleen Cowan (1900)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
A Ray of Sunlight

A Ray of Sunlight (1898)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Le Piano

Le Piano (1894)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Skull

Skull (ca. 1890)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Abstract
Geraldine Russell

Geraldine Russell (1902 or 1903)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Repose

Repose (1895)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Portrait of Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain)

Portrait of Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) (1912)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Portrait of Mrs. V, Mrs. Herman Duryea

Portrait of Mrs. V, Mrs. Herman Duryea (1898)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Mrs. Thomas Hastings

Mrs. Thomas Hastings (circa 1901)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Francis Landey Patton (1843–1932)

Francis Landey Patton (1843–1932) (1901–02)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Study in Black and Green

Study in Black and Green (by 1906)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman (1889)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
The Ring

The Ring (1911)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
June

June

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
Panel for Music Room

Panel for Music Room (1894)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
A Toiler

A Toiler (ca. 1898)

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915)
Figurative
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