GEORGE WHITAKER

George William Whitaker was born in Fall River, MA, in 1841. At a young age, he was apprenticed to his uncle, an engraver, and then studied privately in Paris with Laszlo De Paal. He is best known for his Tonalist landscapes, which he developed in his years at Barbizon and Fontainebleau. He was a key figure along with Bannister, Burleigh, and Stetson in the founding of the Providence Art Club and was influential in promoting it’s success over the following decades. He was the first instructor in oil painting at RISD. He exhibited at the National Academy in 1867 and 1869, and the Boston Art Club throughout the 1880s. Upon his death in 1916, he was called the “Dean of Providence Artists.”