William F. Jackson

The following is from Frank Lonteen:

William Franklin Jackson was born at Council Bluffs, Iowa, February 20, 1850. In 1862 his family crossed the plains by ox team, arriving in Sacramento during the Spring of 1863 where he lived during his early boyhood. Later he attended the School of Design in San Francisco where he studied under the direction of Virgil Williams and was also a pupil of Benoni Irwin, who was famous for his portrait and figure painting.

After his marriage to Ida Nichols he opened his first studio in San Francisco where he became closely associated with the late William Keith. He remained there for several years conducting his studio and then returned to Sacramento in 1880 where he resided for the remainder of his life.

In May 1885, he was chosen as the instructor of the California School of
Design in the E.B. Crocker Art Gallery which was sponsored by the California Museum Association. A few years later he was appointed Curator of the Art Gallery which position he held for over fifty years. In connection with his position, he maintained his private studio, first confining his efforts to portrait and figure painting and later becoming interested in landscape painting particularly depicting California poppy fields.

Mr. Jackson continued painting until the time of his death, January 8, 1936.

The following is from AskART:

William Franklin Jackson was an accomplished California artist known for his painted views of poppy fields. Jackson was born in 1850 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and at the age of twelve he and his family headed west to California. Jackson lived in San Francisco, California, and attended the California School of Design studying under Virgil Williams. Later in his career he took many painting trips to the American River and the Sierra Nevada Mountains with painter friend William Keith.

Jacksons style, and that of his contemporaries John Gamble and Granville Redmond, was a departure from the already popular landscapes of the East Coast. The brightly colored floral countryside of California was a sharp contrast to the wooded Adirondack and Catskill Mountains of New York.

By 1880 Jackson was living in Sacramento, California. In 1884 the prominent William H. Crocker Family deeded their art collection to the city of Sacramento. Jackson soon became the curator and director of the new art school associated with the Crocker collection. In 1915 he became a member of the commission of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and also exhibited at the California State Fair. Jackson was still working for the Crocker collection in Sacramento, California at the time of his death in 1936.

Source: www.askart.com