James Forbes (portrait painter)
James Forbes (1 October 1797, Peterhead, Scotland - 25 March 1881, Plainwell, Michigan) was a Scottish portrait painter who later moved and worked in the United States.
Biography
His artistic education is not a matter of record. He originally worked in Aberdeen, where he was also an art teacher. John Phillip was among his best known students. In 1824, he married Mary Waters (1797-1853). They had eight children. Their eldest, Mary Forbes, also became a portrait painter.[1]
He produced numerous portraits of famous men in that area of Scotland, including the poet
In 1859, despite his great success there, he and his six surviving children emigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago. He is believed to have left there sometime in 1868, although there is evidence that he maintained a studio that was destroyed in the
Works
His first portrait was of Mayor William H. Baker (1813-1872),
Later, he bought a farm near
References
- ^ a b c Biography @ Indiana Illustrators.
- ^ Henry F. Blount @ Find-a-Grave.
- ^ Blount Plow Works @ Historic Evansville.
- ^ Evansville's Mayors
External links
- Media related to James Forbes at Wikimedia Commons
- Portrait of William H. Baker, uncredited, probably by Forbes.