Ransome Gillett Holdridge

Infobox Artist
name = Ransome Gillett Holdridge
nationality = American (United States)
field = Painting
bgcolour = #6495ED
birthdate = 1836
location = San Francisco, California
deathdate = 1899-04-15
deathplace = Alameda, California
movement = Hudson River School
movement = Romantic realism
works = "Napa Valley," "Yosemite", "Klamath Indians" (1878), "Indians Fishing the Klamath" (c. 1875), "Figures near a Stream on a Stormy Afternoon", "Mount Hood, Oregon", "Indian encampment in the Sierras"

Ransome Gillett Holdridge was an early "San Francisco school" painter, specializing in Northern California landscapes.

Biography

Holdridge was born in New York City (or possibly London, Englandcite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?ct=result&q=Ransom+Gillet+Holdredge&btnG=Search+Books|title=The illustrated biographical encyclopedia of artists of the American West|author=Peggy Samuels and Harold Samuels|publisher=Doubleday|date=1976|ISBN=0385017308 : 9780385017305|accessdate=2008-09-22] ) in 1836, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1850s, where he became head draughtsman at Mare Island Naval Yard. In 1874, with the assistance of friends and patrons, he moved to Paris for two years where he studied painting and traveled around Europe. On his return, he gained a reputation as a leading landscape artist, traveling through the Western United States from Utah and the Rocky Mountains, to Oregon and the Sierra Mountains, to Yosemite and to the San Francisco Bay Area, often living with local Native American tribes.

He may have been a founder of the Bohemian Club of San Francisco, and was an early member of that association. He also helped organize the San Francisco Art Association and was friends with Charles Warren Stoddard and Robert Louis Stevenson. After achieving fame, he attained some wealth, which he subsequently squandered on drink. He died, destitute, on or around April 15, 1899.cite web|url=http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/art/boo.htm|title=The San Francisco Art Boom: 1860s-1880s|accessdate=2008-09-22] cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zmdqNeTOBeEC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=Ransom+Gillet+Holdredge&source=web&ots=LBmGgPMPm4&sig=f05oKujCohYR-1W3b-wjuHyXTzA&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result|title=Painters of the Wasatch Mountains|author=Olpin, Robert S.; Rugh, Thomas F; and Horton, Ann W.|accessdate=2008-09-22] cite web|url=http://conradbuff.com/raho1.html|title=Ransom Holdredge (1836-1899)|accessdate=2008-09-22]

There are claims that Holdridge served as a field artist for Scribner's or was present at Major Reno's actions at Custer's Last Standcite web|url=http://www.bbhgallery.com/Holdredge_Ransome_Gillet.htm|title=Ransome Gillet Holdredge 1836 - 1899|accessdate=2008-09-22] cite web|url=http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=4242|title=BIOGRAPHY for Ransome Holdredge|accessdate=2008-09-22] , but these claims are disputed.

Career

Holdridge was recognized as a great painter during his life. His paintings are in the permanent collections of many museums, particularly those specializing in California Artists. His works are (or have been) displayed in the Shumate Collection of the Oakland Museum of Californiacite web|url=http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2001/05/26/28604.html|title=A Legacy of Early California Paintings: The Shumate Collection|accessdate=2008-09-22] , the de Young Museumcite web|url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=canvas&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=141&position=141&record=132503|title=Yosemite, by Ransom Gillet Holdredge|accessdate=2008-09-22] , the Hart Collection at the Sonoma County Museumcite web|url=http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080727/NEWS/807270423|title=Sculptor Uribe, left out of ceremony, explains SR memorial|accessdate=2008-09-22|date=2008-07-27] , the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Sacramento's Crocker Museum, Society of California Pioneers, Bohemian Club, University of California Berkeley's Bancroft Library, Prescott Arizona's The Phippen Museum of Western Artcite web|url=http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=4582043&sid=57ea98d5-445c-4d2b-bf29-fbee05207fea|publisher=Christie's International Auction House|title=Sioux Encampment in the Rocky Mountains |accessdate=2008-09-27] , The Colorado Heritage Center at the Colorado Historical Society in Denver Colorado, , and Reno's Sierra Nevada Museum.

Prior to his studies in Europe, Holdridge painted in the Hudson River School style of realism, and signed his works with the surname spelled "Holdridge". In Europe, he developed a romantic style evocative of the Barbizon School, and began spelling his surname as "Holdredge".

References

External links

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Persondata
NAME=Holdrige, Ransome Gillett
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American artist