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| | James Ormsbee Chapin
Harry's paternal grandfather was James Ormsbee Chapin (1887-1975).
He was a renowned landscape and portrait artist born in West
Orange, New Jersey. His works were featured in many magazines
of the time and were also sold for use in commercials.
There is an interesting site
dedicated to James Chapin on Geocities.
Artcyclopedia
links to information regarding James Chapin.
He also did the frontis
portrait of Joseph M .March on the collection The
Wild Party/The Set-up/A Certain Wilderness
(1968).
James was featured on the cover of American Artist. The cover of the
magazine was shown on the VH1 special on Harry.
Chapin's work were used in commercials for Lucky Strikes, Upjohn, Ciba Giegy,
and National City Bank of New York.
Assorted Works
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Doctor
in War at Fortune City. A framed print was offered for
sale along with 6 other medical prints on eBay in July 2000.
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Here I Am - James description of this piece is "There is a poignant
moment in the development of a little child when he stands alone for the very
first time - balancing himself uncertainly, then somewhat triumphantly, on his
wobbly legs. It is a stance symbolic of his farewell to childhood and and his
arrival at being a person. Each gesture of his body seems to say - 'Here I
Am'. " This picture is also known as Little Boy. |
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Girl with Doll - Signed Lithograph of this was made available. |
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Lobster
Fisherman - This Massachusetts fisherman was featured in the
Portrait of America Portfolio in 1945. |
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Boy Looking out Window - This work was featured on the cover of Children's Stories selected by Child Study
Association. Copyright 1950 by Whitman Publishing Co. Racine, Wisconsin, 8
1/4 inches by 11 1/4 inches and has 384 pages. Signed Lithographs of this work was made
available. This may also be known as Child at Window
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Boy With A Book - This work was
available in a 23x27 print.
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Mother and Child - This work was made available
as a large print 19x23 1/2.
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Boy with Scarf - This work was made available as
a 8X11 print.
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Spring House - was included the Catalogue of the
One-Hundred -And-Twenty-Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of
the Fine Arts, Philadelphia in 1929.
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Tobacco Talk - Included in a Lucky
Strikes ad featured in Life magazine in 1943. A copy is frequently
available for sale on eBay.
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That's
Tobacco - Included in a Lucky
Strikes ad featured in Life magazine in 1943. A copy is frequently
available for sale on eBay.
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Batter Up - This
1945 color print was produced in 5 1/2" by 8" print. It was part
of the Encyclopedia Britannica's Contemporary American Paintings
Collection. On the reverse of each print is a short biography of the
artist and his or her own description of the particular work shown.
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Ruby
Green Singing - Oil
on canvas painting from 1928. This print can be purchased
from BigGallery.com.
This picture has also been made available on postcards.
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Magazines
James works were feature in various periodicals in middle of the last
century.
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Date
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Magazine |
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| 18 April 1942 |
The New Yorker |
"Tobacco Talk" was included in a Lucky
Strikes ad. (3 men talking about tobacco) |
| 1942 |
The New Yorker |
"Boy That's Tobacco" Talk was included in a Lucky
Strikes ad. (1 man looking at tobacco leaf) |
| 1943 |
Life Magazine |
"Tobacco Talk" was included in a Lucky
Strikes ad. (3 men talking about tobacco) |
| 20 Jun 1960 |
Time |
Cover portrait by James is of
the symbolic suburban wife supporting the cover story "One-third of a
Nation - U.S. Suburbia" |
Books/Publications
James works were feature in various books and pamplets.
Book
|
Publication
Date |
Notes |
| Eleventh Exhibition
of Contemporary American Oil Paintings. |
1929
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Features a James Chapin oil painting. This is a small (5 ¼ X 7
¼ ) soft covered book from the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
The exhibit ran from October 28 to December 9, 1929.
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| America as Americans
See It |
1932
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365 pp. Features a
James Chapin oil painting
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| Contemporary Art of
the United States |
1939
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This book was
produced by IBM for its pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair and the Golden
Gate Exposition. For some reason IBM created two completely different
compilations of artists from each of the then 48 states plus territories,
and published two books which superficially [cover etc.] look like the
same book! Each book is wonderful, with several pages devoted to each
artist.
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| Book Of Fine Art
Color Prints |
1945
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| Portrait of America |
1945 |
Hyperion Press, 101
pp. Includes Unknown Chapin print. |
| 27th Annual of
Advertising and Design |
1947 |
Features the work of
many artists including James Chapin. |
| Children's Stories |
1950 |
Stories Selected by
Child Study Association. Illustrated by Theresa Kalab. Whitman Publishing.
The cover is Chapin's Boy with a Book. |
| 300 years of
American Painting |
1957 |
An unknown selection
of James Chapin is included in this collection in this 318 page written by
Alexander Eliot and published by Time Incorporated. |
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