VVFA Modern | Artists | Warren Sheppard (American, 1856 - 1937)

Student of renowned Dutch marine artist, Mauritz de Haas, Warren Sheppard built two successful careers around his love of the sea: as a renowned marine painter and as a designer of yachts. He was born in Greenwich, New Jersey, a town on the Delaware River below Philadelphia which has been associated with ships and shipping since the earliest Colonial times. His father was a sea captain and the young Sheppard took many voyages with his father to make artistic studies. He learned perspective drawing at Cooper Union in New York City in addition to his studies with de Haas. In 1879 he spent four months sketching Mediterranean port cities including Gibraltar, Genoa, Naples and Messina in Sicily. Between 1888 and 1893, he also studied painting in Venice and Paris.

There was a great demand for paintings depicting views of Venice from the 18th Century onward, largely due to the Grand Tour phenomenon. Wealthy Europeans as well as Americans would travel around continental Europe after finishing their education culminating in Venice, Florence and Rome. This led to a huge demand for souvenir views of Venice and painters of all nationalities flocked to the city.

For Sheppard, Venice was the perfect subject. It combined his passion for the sea with the beauty of the city, creating the most memorable work of his career.

Exhibited
Denver Exposition 1884-Gold medal
Chicago Exposition - 1892
St. Louis Exposition-1904
Brooklyn Allied Artists Group Shows - 1874-1881
National Academy of Design - 1880-1899

Collections
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio
Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, CT
Addison Gallery of American Art (MA)
Phillips Academy, Andover
Springfield Public Library