Untitled (Onteora Studio), c. 1912
Oil on canvas
40 x 21 ½ inches
Biography
At the turn of the century, Alexander was deemed to be one of the four most important American painters. The three other painters were J.A.M. Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and Edwin Austin Abbey. Alexander had a distinguished career, starting as an illustrator for Harper & Brothers and, in 1877, going to Munich to study at the Munich Royal Academy. Upon his return to this country in 1881, he was immediately recognized as a gifted portrait painter. However, it was when his health led him to settle in Paris that Alexander's art reached its full flowering. His portraits went beyond traditional portraiture as he began to use the female figure, often in repose, to evoke powerful emotional responses and sensual associations. Three of these non-traditional figurative paintings were accepted by the Paris Salon of 1893. Alexander was launched as an internationally acclaimed painter and his presence at the Paris Salon won him election in the prestigious Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts.
Download Biography (PDF 49 K)
