biography of Conrad Wise CHAPMAN (1842-1910)

Birth place: Washington, DC

Death place: Hampton, VA

Addresses: primarily Italy and Mexico

Profession: Landscape and genre painter

Studied: his father, John Gadsby Chapman; Gérôme in Paris, 1866

Exhibited: NAD, 1878

Work: Valentine Mus., Richmond, Va.(civil war paintings and Valley of Mexico"); Mus. of the Confederacy, Richmond (civil war paintings)"

Comments: His father, John Gadsby Chapman, brought his family to Europe in 1848 and settled in Rome in 1850. Italian landscapes by Conrad are dated 1855-61. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Conrad returned to the U.S. to enlist in the 3rd Kentucky Regiment of the Confederate Army. He was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, and painted the siege of Charleston in 1863. In 1864, he returned to Rome on furlough (his ship ran the blockade). In 1865, he returned to fight in Texas, where he heard of Gen'l Lee's surrender. He then left for Mexico, joining Confederate Gen. Magruder's support of Emp. Maximilian. He remained there for several years, producing the panoramic Valley of Mexico" (1866). He returned to Rome and Paris at the end of 1866 but also would return to Mexico (1883-90) recording local scenes and painting directly on photographs. He was in Richmond, VA 1898-99, made some trips to NYC, but often returned to Mexico. He died in Hampton, VA while visiting friends. His brother John Linton Chapman was also a painter.

Sources: Baigell, Dictionary; 300 Years of American Art, 392; add'l info courtesy Leo Oakes"