Joseph Morris Raphael
American, 1872 - 1950
Raphael, Joseph Morris (1869-1950)
"All the words ever written on art cannot express the glow of sunlight on lit skin or on earth and trees. The brush tells it better"
Joseph Raphael, Summer 1912
(Paraphrased by Johanna Raphael Sibbett)
...Raphael's paint is applied so forcefully that his canvases approach the intense pictorial drama of Expressionism. The conviction demonstrated in his art had a lasting impact on those contemporaries who knew it. Its immediacy remains fresh today.
William H. Gerdts, in his monumental 1984 study American Impressionism
Joseph Raphael was born in Jackson, California. He began is formal art studies at the California School of Design as pupil of Arthur Mathews. Raphael was active in the San Francisco area during the 1890s, first as a newspaper illustrator and later as a sign painter.
In 1903, Raphael traveled Paris to continue his training attended classes at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie Julian under Jean-Paul Laurens. He supported himself as an illustrator for several French magazines. Later that year, Raphael discovered the artist's colony in the charming town of Laren, southeast of Amsterdam. In 1911, he divided his time between that community and Paris. Works during this early period reflect the influence Hague School artist's genre scenes painted in a tonal sober palette of browns and gray.
In 1906, Raphael received an honorable mention at the Paris Salon for The Feast of the Burgomaster and that same year the San Francisco Art Association purchased The Town Crier and donated to the M. H. de Young Museum.
In 1910, Raphael traveled San Francisco. During this eight month trip, he exhibited his Dutch influenced genre scenes at the Art Association. He returned to Laren in 1912 to married Johanna Jongkindt. The Raphaels move to Uccle, a suburb of Brussels. His works during this period reflected a change from the tonal Hague period to more colorful luminous light palette using broad strokes exhibiting the influence of the French impressionists. In 1915, Raphael was awarded a silver medal at the Panama Pacific International Exposition, where six of his canvases were displayed all painted in his new style.
During this period, Raphael discovered he could make a living using his talents as an engraver. In 1913, his first prints began appearing at the California Association of Etchers. In 1918, Raphael began working more in pen and ink, watercolor and woodcut because of a war induced shortage of art materials. Raphael continued to send oils, etchings, watercolors and woodcuts to exhibitions in California, establishing a continuing reputation in the Bay area in spite of his prolonged absence.
At the onset of World War II, in 1939, Raphael returned to San Francisco where he kept a studio on Sutter Street until his death in 1950.
Public collections: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the M. H. de Young Museum, San Francisco; the Oakland Museum of California; the San Diego Museum of Art; the Stanford University Museum and Art Gallery.
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
"All the words ever written on art cannot express the glow of sunlight on lit skin or on earth and trees. The brush tells it better"
Joseph Raphael, Summer 1912
(Paraphrased by Johanna Raphael Sibbett)
...Raphael's paint is applied so forcefully that his canvases approach the intense pictorial drama of Expressionism. The conviction demonstrated in his art had a lasting impact on those contemporaries who knew it. Its immediacy remains fresh today.
William H. Gerdts, in his monumental 1984 study American Impressionism
Joseph Raphael was born in Jackson, California. He began is formal art studies at the California School of Design as pupil of Arthur Mathews. Raphael was active in the San Francisco area during the 1890s, first as a newspaper illustrator and later as a sign painter.
In 1903, Raphael traveled Paris to continue his training attended classes at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie Julian under Jean-Paul Laurens. He supported himself as an illustrator for several French magazines. Later that year, Raphael discovered the artist's colony in the charming town of Laren, southeast of Amsterdam. In 1911, he divided his time between that community and Paris. Works during this early period reflect the influence Hague School artist's genre scenes painted in a tonal sober palette of browns and gray.
In 1906, Raphael received an honorable mention at the Paris Salon for The Feast of the Burgomaster and that same year the San Francisco Art Association purchased The Town Crier and donated to the M. H. de Young Museum.
In 1910, Raphael traveled San Francisco. During this eight month trip, he exhibited his Dutch influenced genre scenes at the Art Association. He returned to Laren in 1912 to married Johanna Jongkindt. The Raphaels move to Uccle, a suburb of Brussels. His works during this period reflected a change from the tonal Hague period to more colorful luminous light palette using broad strokes exhibiting the influence of the French impressionists. In 1915, Raphael was awarded a silver medal at the Panama Pacific International Exposition, where six of his canvases were displayed all painted in his new style.
During this period, Raphael discovered he could make a living using his talents as an engraver. In 1913, his first prints began appearing at the California Association of Etchers. In 1918, Raphael began working more in pen and ink, watercolor and woodcut because of a war induced shortage of art materials. Raphael continued to send oils, etchings, watercolors and woodcuts to exhibitions in California, establishing a continuing reputation in the Bay area in spite of his prolonged absence.
At the onset of World War II, in 1939, Raphael returned to San Francisco where he kept a studio on Sutter Street until his death in 1950.
Public collections: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the M. H. de Young Museum, San Francisco; the Oakland Museum of California; the San Diego Museum of Art; the Stanford University Museum and Art Gallery.
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
