biography of Henry Chapman FORD (1828-1894)

Birth place: Livonia, NY

Death place: Santa Barbara, CA

Profession: Landscape painter, etcher, illustrator

Studied: Paris, France and Florence, Italy, 1857-60.

Work: Bancroft Library, Univ. Calif., Berkeley; Southwest Mus., Los Angeles; Oakland Mus.; Stanford Univ.

Comments: Ford went to Europe in 1857 for three years of study in Paris and Florence. He served one year in the Civil War and is said to have done work for the illustrated papers. After his discharge he opened a studio in Chicago, which was destroyed by fire in 1871. He was a founder of the Chicago Academy of Design and in 1873 its president. In 1866 and 1869 he made trips to Colorado and in 1875 he moved to Santa Barbara, CA. Going on painting trips to the mission sites by horse and buggy, he created a historically important portfolio of works in watercolor, oil and etchings. In 1883 he published Etchings of the Franciscan Missions of California.

Sources: G&W; Taft, Artists and Illustrators of the Old West, 294; Hughes, Artists of California, 186; Peggy and Harold Samuels, 174.