James E. Stuart Napa Valley

(1852-1941) Born in Bangor, ME in 1852, Stuart was the grandson of famous portraitist Gilbert Stuart. The younger Stuart came to California with his parents at age eight via the Isthmus of Panama. The family settled on a 200-acre ranch up the Sacramento River near Rio Vista where he attended a public school. By the 1870’s Stuart began a five-year study course at the San Francisco School of Design under Virgil Williams and Raymond Yelland while studying privately with portrait painter Benoni Irwin. A lifelong bachelor, he traveled extensively throughout the Northwest, Mexico and made three trips to Alaska. By the turn of the century, he was a nationally famous painter and was highly successful in merchandising his own work. He had the unique habit of listing on the back of his canvases the price, number, date and geographical location of the scenes depicted. He painted over 5000 paintings, mostly landscapes; however, he was an excellent portraitist and also did a series of mission paintings. He also invented a process for painting on aluminum, which he considered indestructible. Upon returning to San Francisco in 1912, Stuart established a studio on Union Square and remained in San Francisco until his death in 1941. Member: Bohemian Club; San Francisco Art Association. Works held: Oakland Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the White House; Crocker Museum; de Young Museum.