Artist

William James Stillman

born Schenectady, NY 1828-died Surrey, England 1901
Media - portrait_image_113677.jpg - 90359
Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-112185).
Also known as
  • William J. Stillman
  • W. J. Stillman
Born
Schenectady, New York, United States
Died
Surrey, England
Active in
  • Rome, Italy
  • New York, New York, United States
  • Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Nationalities
  • American
Biography

William James Stillman was a painter, journalist, art critic, and photographer. He spent most of his life traveling between Europe and America, painting and working as a correspondent for London and New York newspapers. In 1855 he founded The Crayon in New York, America's first successful journal devoted to the arts. Stillman learned photography in the 1860s and carried a camera on many of his travels, enjoying its ability to capture images that he found difficult to paint. (Ehrenkranz, Poetic Localities, 1988)

Exhibitions

A painting of a bridge made from nature.
Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture
May 14, 2021July 11, 2021
The groundbreaking exhibition Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture reveals how the influential naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) shaped American perceptions of nature and the way American