Ralph Wormeley Curtis (August 28, 1854 – February 4, 1922) was an American painter and graphic artist in the Impressionist style. He spent most of his life in Europe, where he was a close associate of his distant cousin, John Singer Sargent, and James McNeill Whistler. He painted in a variety of genres, but was known mostly for landscapes and urban scenes; especially of Venice.
His maternal grandfather, Ralph Randolph Wormeley, born in Virginia to loyalist parents, was raised in London and joined the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of admiral, while his grandmother, Caroline Preble, was from a venerable Boston family. His mother was therefore born and raised in London[2] and returned to the United States in 1848.[3]
He spent much of his childhood in the affluent village of Chestnut Hill. After attending some preparatory academies, including G. W. C. Noble's school in Boston, he studied law at Harvard University where, in 1876, he was a member of Hasty Pudding Club[4] and one of the co-founders of The Harvard Lampoon.[5][6]
Career
Upon graduating, he convinced his parents to let him study art. He began at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he studied with Gustave Boulanger, Jules-Joseph Lefebvre and the history painter, Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury. Upon completing his work there, he found a position in the studios of Carolus-Duran.[7] It was there he first met John Singer Sargent, who would not only become a close friend, but also have a significant influence on his style.[8]
In 1878, his parents moved to Europe; spending some time in Rome, where he paid them a visit and took more painting lessons. Eventually, they would settle in Venice, where they bought the Palazzo Barbaro, which would become a cultural meeting place. One of their frequent guests was James McNeill Whistler, who would also become Curtis' friend and influence his style. Meanwhile, Curtis opened his own studio in Paris. In 1880, he and Sargent visited the Netherlands to copy the works of Frans Hals and mingled with the art colony in Scheveningen.[7]
On June 6, 1897, he married Lisa de Wolfe (née Colt) Rotch (1871–1933) of Providence. Lisa, a daughter of George D'Wolf Colt, who was related to the Colt firearms family.[6] Together, they were the parents of:
Ralph Wormely Curtis (1908–1973), who married Cesarine Amelia Marie Harjes (1899–1949), the eldest surviving daughter of banker Henry Herman Harjes (a partner of J.P. Morgan in Paris), in 1930.[12]
After the birth of their daughter, Sylvia, they moved to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, a seaside village on the French Riviera between Nice and Monaco, where they had two more children.[13]
Curtis died at Beaulieu-sur-Mer on February 4, 1922.[14]
^ abThayer, William Roscoe; Castle, William Richards; Howe, Mark Antony De Wolfe; Pier, Arthur Stanwood; Voto, Bernard Augustine De; Morrison, Theodore (1922). The Harvard Graduates' Magazine. Harvard Graduates' Magazine Association. pp. 410–411. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
Elizabeth Anne McCauley: Gondola Days, Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston 2004, ISBN0-914660-21-7.
