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James Wells Champney (American 1843 – 1903) (  aka  J. Wells Champney  ) View of the Seine

Pastel, 10.25 x 16.25/Signed lower right

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  • Available for purchase
  • Professionally conserved and framed
  • Competitively Priced $4,500

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Jerry & Joan - Thanks for your hospitality and helping us find this beautiful new piece for our home. Until next time...

Adrienne & Jon W.
  • Available for purchase
  • Professionally conserved and framed
  • Competitively Priced $4,500

Champney was born in Boston, Massachusetts, a distant relative of New England artist Benjamin Champney. He took drawing classes at the Lowell Institute in Boston and in 1859 he was apprenticed to the firm of Bricker & Russell, wood engravers. During the American Civil War, Champney enlisted with the 45th Massachusetts Volunteers in 1862 and served for nine months at the front before being mustered out in 1863 due to contracting malaria. He returned to Boston and provided drawing on wood to engravers and he taught drawing from 1864 to 1866 at Dr. Dio Lewis’s Young Ladies Seminary. However, the strain of such fine penciling work weakened his eyes and he sought art study abroad, first studying with Edouard Frère in Paris, France in 1866, and in Antwerp with Van Lerius at the Royal Academy in 1868.

While in Europe, Champney he exhibited at the Paris Salon and sold a small genre piece to Goupil & Cie in 1869, before returning to Boston in 1870, where he opened a studio. He continued to paint genre subjects, which he signed “Champ” to distinguish him from other artists having the same surname. In 1873, Champney was commissioned by Scribner’s magazine to illustrate “The Great South,” a series of series of articles by Edward King, to which Champney contributed around 500 illustrations. His foray through the South with King was followed by another trip to Europe, where he was commissioned by L’Illustration to make illustrations of American life and exhibited at the Paris Salon.

In 1876, he and his wife, Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Champney, who was herself a well-known writer of travel and adventure stories, moved to Deerfield, Massachusetts. That same year he exhibited paintings at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between 1877 and 1884, when he was teaching at Smith College, Champney began experimenting with pastels, and from 1885 onward his focus was on pastels, rather than oils. He returned to Europe in 1890 “for the express purpose of seeing the best pastels in the various great galleries and, in particular, to examine the condition of those that were painted one hundred and fifty years ago.”

In May of 1903, Champney died when he fell down an elevator shaft. He and Lizzie were planning to visit Russia that summer before the tragic accident.

Champney was a member of the National Academy of Design (associate, 1892); American Watercolor Society; Boston Art Club; Salmagundi Club; Boston Watercolor Club; National Arts Club; Century Association; Players, American Fine Arts Society; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

He exhibited at the Royal Academy, Antwerp (1868, first prize in drawing); Boston Art Club (1876-78, 1883-1902); National Academy of Design (1874-1903); Paris Salon (1875, 1894); Centennial Exposition (Philadelphia, 1876); Brooklyn Art Association (1877-85, 1912); Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1881-83, 1890-91); Southern Art Union (1892); Art Institute of Chicago; Columbian Exposition (Chicago, 1893); Tennessee Centennial Exposition (Nashville, 1897); and Knoedler Gallery (NYC, 1897, solo of 40 pastels).

High auction record for this artist: $43,700.

Call now to talk about your interest in this painting: 724-459-0612 Jerry Hawk, Bedford Fine Art GalleryORWe don't know which of your own thoughts will convince yourself that a great decision is going to be made. Only you can find yourself doing so because it naturally and easily makes sense and feels right for you. So please feel free to ask any questions that allow you to recognize that is happening.

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