James Crawford Thom
American (1835-1898)
Although born in New York City, James Crawford Thom (1835-1898) spent his youth on a farm near Ramapo, New Jersey, an upbringing that influenced his later interest in landscapes and countryside settings. He began studying art at the National Academy of Design in 1853 and continued his studies in France under noted artists and teachers Camille Corot, Thomas Couture, Henri Picou, and Pierre Edouard Frere. Thom moved to London in 1866, where he exhibited at the prestigious Royal Academy, and returned to the United States in 1873, where he continued to exhibit extensively at the National Academy, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. ThomÃs landscapes and scenes of children in rural settings, inspired by the works of Camille Corot and the Hudson River School painters, are currently included in the collections of many respected American institutions, including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.