1860 George W King Civil War Signed Check Listed Artist B41 For Sale

George W. King was born in Auburn, New York in 1836. He apprenticed to his father, a carpenter, and worked in the field until he was 25 years old. He had always loved art and spent nearly every leisure moment drawing whatever suited his fancy on whatever material was at hand. Although of limited means, he was unhappy with his work and traveled to New York City to take lessons and become a professional artist.
In 1861 he enrolled in a drawing class at the Cooper Union where he met first future wife Emily Taft, as well as the portraitist William Page, who helped him find work coloring photographs. The two grew very close, and Page invited King to live with him and his family in Englewood, New Jersey in 1863. While there he met the landscape painter George Inness, who became his friend and mentor, giving him private instruction and encouragement that contributed to King’s rapid progress.In 1864 King returned to Auburn and opened a studio, but it closed after a year when he was unable to secure any patronage. He returned to New York and found employment making crayon heads, saving all his funds to try again in Auburn. After another failed year in Auburn he moved to Oswego in 1868, located on Lake Ontario. Here he found his most important inspiration, as well as wealthy families with homes along the Lake who provided him patronage and commissions. During his many maneuvers King had become a friend of landscape painter William Keith and naturalist John Muir, and traveled with them to make sketches in the Sierra Nevada in 1871.
In 1873, with money from Page, he traveled to Venice, Italy to make a careful study of its art, spending nearly every day in museums, galleries, and observing the architecture and surrounding countryside. In 1876 he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he opened a new studio. In 1885 Emily died, and he moved his studio to Utica, New York on the Mohawk River five years later. It was at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, and attracted several other artists to paint with him, and while he made many friends through the studio he never remarried. He moved once again in 1902 after purchasing a home at Richfield Spring, New York, overlooking the Otsego Hills and Lake Canadarago. In 1907 he was commissioned to paint four large canvases for the walls of the Oliver Hotel in South Bend, Indiana. In 1911 he became a member of the Brooklyn Art Association, where he exhibited frequently. He also exhibited at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Boston Art Club, and the National Academy of Design. Failing health forced him to settle for good in Richfield Spring in 1920, and he died there at the age of 94 in 1930.

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