ARTIST: George William Whitaker (Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, 1841 - 1916)
NAME: Still Life with Fruits
MEDIUM: oil on canvas
CONDITION: Some paint losses. Top and left canvas edges are detached from stretcher. Some inpainting along edges. (see pictures carefully)
SIGHT SIZE: 9 x 12 inches / 22 x 30 cm
FRAME SIZE: unframed
SIGNATURE: lower left
CATEGORY: antique vintage painting
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SKU#: 117315
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BIOGRAPHY:
George William Whitaker, tonalist landscape, still life and marine painter, was called the "Dean of the Providence Painters". His largest scale canvases are typically still lifes, and his landscapes seldom include people, or animals. He was also a teacher, becoming the first instructor in oil painting at the Rhode Island School of Design.Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, Whitaker spent his student years in New York where he apprenticed to an engraver uncle. While still in his youth, his talent was recognized by the renowned landscape artists George Inness and Alexander Wyant and others associated with the Hudson River School. With this encouragement the young artist went to study in France under Laszlo DePaal, an Hungarian artist. There his paintings became heavily influenced by Barbizon painters of the Fontainebleu, especially the talented Francois Millet.George Whitaker's excellence in art is equaled to his contribution to the development of a Rhode Island art community. He was instrumental in recognizing the need for an organization to nurture and support the talented artists within the state. The Providence Art Club was formally instituted in 1880 by Whitaker and his friends Sydney Burleigh, E.M. Bannister and Charles Walter Stetson. The club provided not only a formal association with fellow artists but a public forum in which to present his work. Whitaker was also a founder of the Providence Water Color Club.In 1895, Whitaker moved into the "Fleur de Lys" studio of Sydney Burleigh.