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James Henry Moser entered the world on January 1st,
1854, in Whitby, Ontario, Canada, and was the eldest
son of John and Matilda Gordon Moser. His father's
work as an architect necessitated a move to Columbus,
Ohio, in 1864. John Moser hoped his son would follow
him into architecture, but James was far more
interested in sketching, painting and exploring
the studios of area artists.
In 1875, the Moser family moved to Toledo, Ohio.
That same year, James H. Moser began his professional
career at a studio he established in the Ketchum
bank building. Two years later, he met the woman
with whom he'd eventually share the rest of his
life. In April of 1877, he was hired to provide
painting lessons to Martha Scoville, who was
visiting from Connecticut. He later described her
as, "the prettiest thing I ever saw." A friendship
quickly developed between the two and he proposed
marriage June 23, 1877, shortly before she was
scheduled to return home. She didn't categorically
turn him down, but she did not readily accept his
proposal either. During this same period, his
parents, younger sister Eda and brother George
all moved to Galveston, Texas. His sister Augusta
had married Alfred Zucker, an architect, and they
settled in New Orleans. After Martha Scoville
returned home to Connecticut, James joined his
family in Galveston.
The lush, tropical vegetation of the South and
the endless stretches of sandy beaches were an
inspiration to the young artist and vastly expanded
potential subject matter for his work. He and
Martha corresponded regularly, with Moser wooing
her with sketches and intricate miniature paintings
enclosed with his letters. In 1878, trips to New
York and Boston proved fruitful, resulting in the
sale of more than two-dozen paintings.
The entire family was heartbroken when his sister
Gussie died during the yellow fever epidemic in
New Orleans. Following her death, Alfred Zucker
moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was later
joined by the Moser family. After two years in
Galveston, James was more than ready for a change
of scenery. The hills, tall trees and especially
the local African-Americans, offered new fodder
for his brush. While James enjoyed exploring the
Mississippi countryside, business prospects didn't
pan out for his father. In a move that would help
propel J.H. Moser to fame, the family relocated
to Atlanta, Georgia.
He produced a number of paintings that were used
in a book to illustrate scenery along the Alabama
Great Southern Railroad routes. This brought him
a good deal of attention throughout the South.
He then met and became friends with author
Joel Chandler Harris, who hired Moser to
provide illustrations for his book Uncle Remus.
His style of post-Civil War illustrations of
African-Americans became so identified with that
book that similar future illustrations became known
as "Remus style" or "Uncle Remus style." Uncle
Remus brought him to national prominence and
led to work supplying illustrations to major
publications such as Harper's, Leslie's Weekly,
Century, and Atlantic Monthly magazines. He now
had no difficulty finding buyers for his artwork
as a result of his newfound fame.
Now in a position to offer a secure future, he
finally married Martha Scoville. The ceremony
took place October 18th, 1883, in Cornwall,
Connecticut. Their first daughter, Grace, was
born March 27, 1886, followed by Lydia on July
26, 1887. One final addition to the Moser family
was "Aunt Ellen." She was an elderly former
slave hired to assist with household chores
and childrearing.
His work caught the eye of Mrs. Benjamin
Harrison, the First Lady of the United States.
His painting, A Sunny Morning at Salisbury Beach,
was purchased by Mrs. Harrison to hang in the
White House family living room. As an amateur
painter, Caroline Scott Harrison saw an
opportunity and hired Moser to give her lessons.
He said of her, "I have had a great many talented
pupils, but none with more enthusiasm and genuine
love for the art. She is careful and conscientious
in all her efforts to render truthfully such
subjects as she may happen to fancy."
"The Deadly Still-Hunt" and "Where the Millions
Have Gone" are among his best-known paintings.
The former depicts a hunter taking aim of a large
herd of buffalo, while the latter shows the
resulting near-extinction of the American bison.
He completed them in 1888, and two years later,
was hired to produce two large murals of the
paintings for the Indian exhibit room at the
Smithsonian.
His success afforded him the opportunity to
travel the world. He created numerous paintings
while traveling in England, France, the Netherlands,
and Germany.
In 1897, he began supplying illustrations to
the Washington Times. Within a year, he was
also an art critic for the paper and later
acted as art critic for the Washington Post
and also wrote for the Washington Herald.
By 1898, he was instructor of the watercolor
class at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and
continued in that capacity until 1913. Moser
also served as secretary of the Society of
Washington Artists and president of the
Washington Water Color Club.
Over the years, his paintings appeared in over
100 exhibitions and venues. In addition to many
others, his artwork has been displayed by the
National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C.,
the Morrey Gallery in Washington, D.C., the
Corcoran Gallery of Art, the National Academy
of Design, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial,
the Copley Society, the 1901 Pan American Exposition
in Buffalo, the 1904 Universal Exposition in
St. Louis, the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
in Portland, Oregon (1905), the 1893 World's Fair
in Chicago, and the Panama-Pacific International
Exposition in San Francisco.
February 27, 1908, his older daughter Grace married
James Milton Fetherolf at the old First Congregational
Church. His first grandson, James Moser Fetherolf
was born May 13, 1910. His second grandson, Samuel
Scoville Fetherolf, was born November 22, 1912, in
Ogden, Utah. Just four days later, his younger
daughter Lydia married Elmer Vernon Griggs in
Washington, D.C.
His summers were usually spent painting in the
Adirondacks, Berkshires, the Blue Mountains, or
Cornwall, Connecticut. A few years before his
death, JH Moser and his wife had a country home
built on five acres of land they acquired from
her family in Cornwall. Before they were finally
able to set up housekeeping in 1911, Jim suffered
a mild stoke. It had been their lifelong dream
to have a countryside retreat, so it was gratifying
he recovered enough to spend that summer at their
new country house. Jim and Mattie were also able
to spend the next two summers at their hilltop
hideaway in Cornwall.
In 1913, Moser experienced a massive stoke after
returning home to Washington, D.C. It left him
paralyzed and unable to speak. He died November 10,
1913, in his studio at 1814 "G" Street, in
Washington, D.C.
In his own words:
"I say it reverently that I am getting close to
nature where she reveals herself as supreme art.
Undoubtedly, the best art is a direct inspiration
from nature and comes not from the personality
of the artist." (1898)
"When a skilled craftsman with power to perceive
the greater truths hidden in the universe, creates
upon canvas something that awakens in the beholder
the same emotions he himself has experienced, the
painter is an artist." (1906)
Selected paintings and drawings
AN ADOBE HOUSE - SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - 1878
AFTERGLOW ON THE HILLS - 1911
THE ALAMO - 1878
AMONG THE PINES - 1884
APPLE BLOSSOMS
THE ARGUMENT
ATLANTA STUDIO
AUTUMN GOLD
BAND CONCERT - HOTEL CECIL - LONDON - 1896
A BIT OF CORNWALL LAKE - 1897
BLACK BOY - 1882
BLOUNT'S GREENHOUSE - 1892
BLUE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS - 1902
BOAT CARNIVAL
BOLKOBURG CASTLE
THE BOOKWORM
BOWL OF DAISIES
BOWL OF ROSES - 1908
A BREAK IN THE STORM - BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS - 1899
THE BUFFALO STUDY
CABIN, HOT SPRINGS MT. VIRGINIA - 1893
CAPE MAY POINT - LIGHTHOUSE - 1891
CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL, GEORGETOWN, D.C.
CLOUDS OVER THE MOUNTAIN
COLONEL HENRY F. BLOUNT
COUNTRY SING
CUPID BEGGING
THE DEADLY STILL-HUNT
86TH STREET, WESTSIDE, NEW YORK - 1892
ENTRANCE TO SCOVILLE FARM
FIREWORKS ACROSS THE POTOMAC - 1902
THE FLATS, WASHINGTON, D.C. - 1890
FORT McHENRY - BALTIMORE
GEESE IN STREET - BOLKENHAIN
GERMAN ROSES FOR MAMA
GIRL WITH MANDOLIN
GRACE
GRACE AND LYDIA PLAYING SUNDAY SCHOOL - 1890
GRACE HOLDING LYDIA
GRACE MOSER - AGE TWO
GREEN BRIDGE LIGHT
HOME IN ATLANTA
LAKE MOHONK AND HOTEL - 1898
LAKE SCENE WITH BOATS - 1893
LINGERING DRIFTS
THE LITTLE ARTIST
LITTLE DUTCH BOY - HOLLAND - 1896
LITTLE GERMAN BOY
LYDIA
MARKET - BOLKENHAIN
MARKET AND PAPER BOY
MARKET SQUARE - BOLKENHAIN
MARTHA MOSER - JUNE 23, 1892
MARTHA SCOVILLE "THAT LITTLE YANKEE GIRL"
THE MILKMAID
THE MOONSHINER
MORNING ON THE ALLEGHENY RIVER
THE MOSER BUNGALOW
MOUNTAIN STREAM - INTERVALE, NEW HAMPSHIRE - 1895
THE OLD MILL - 1898
THE OLD SMITHSONIAN BUILDING - 1895
OLD VIRGINIA FIREPLACE NEAR KEYSVILLE - 1887
OUR PAPER BOY
POE - THE ALLEN HOUSE - RICHMOND, VA. - 1883
POND HILL IN OCTOBER - 1905
POND WITH WATERLILIES
"THE PRINCESS ANN" - VIRGINIA BEACH - 1889
THE READING CLASS
SCOVILLE FARM - 1908
SELF-PORTRAIT
SETTING THE BOX TRAP
THE SORGHUM PRESS ON THE OLD PLANTATION
SPRING EVENING
STEPHEN CRANE - GORDON'S STUDIO
STORM CLOUDS
STREAM IN THE MEADOW
STREET SCENE - BOLKENHAIN - 1896
STREET SWEEPER - BOLKENHAIN - 1896
A SUNNY MORNING AT SALISBURY BEACH
SUNRISE - VIRGINIA BEACH - 1888
SUNSET - MT. McINTYRE - 1907
SUPPER TIME
TRAIN AT WATER TANK - CHICAGO - 1893
VENUS DE MILO, PARIS - 1896
VIEW OF A SOUTHERN MANSION - 1895
WASH DAY - MAY 1897
WASHINGTON WINTER LANDSCAPE WITH CAPITOL
WEDDING PORTRAIT - GRACE MOSER FETHEROLF - 1908
WHERE THE MILLIONS HAVE GONE
THE WHISTLER
WHITE BIRCHES - 1892
WINTER SUNSET - 1897
WOODS IN EARLY SPRING
Selected "Uncle Remus" illustrations
UNCLE REMUS AND LITTLE BOY
OLD PLANTATION PLAY-SONG
CORN-SHUCKING SONG
BRINGING HOME THE POSSUMS
Residences of James Henry Moser
Note that these residences may no longer exist, and it's
possible the addresses have changed over the years.
This is not to suggest that Moser owned each and
every one of these structures. We're only reporting the
fact that he called them home at one point or another in
his life.
27 1/2 Whitehall Street, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
71 1/2 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
2604 "I" Street, Washington, D.C.
1519 "P" Street, Washington, D.C.
1220 "G" Street, Washington, D.C.
1814 "G" Street, Washington, D.C.
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