Born in St Louis, Missouri, young Blendon Reed Campbell moved to San Francisco circa 1893. In 1897 he travelled to Paris, France to study at the Académie Julien under Jean-Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. In 1900, while still in Paris, Campbell exhibited three paintings at the second annual exhibit of the American Art Association in Paris, one receiving third Prize. He would continue to exhibit at the Paris Salons until 1949. He also met James Abbott McNeill Whistler with whom he a took some additional study. He returned to San Francisco in 1900, where he began painting the environs of San Francisco. In 1902 he, and other artists, founded the California Society of Artists, a group that they believed would provide greater opportunities to young artists than that of the existing San Francisco Art Association. Over his career, 19th Century Artist Blendon Reed Campbell would split his time between the east coast and the west coast. A skilled illustrator and print maker, Campbell illustrated covers for Scribner’s and McClure’s magazines during the early years of the 1900s, in addition to providing illustrations for Neil Boyce’s (Mrs. Hutchins Hapgood’s) "Eternal Spring" and Booth Tarkington’s "The Beautiful Lady." In 1908 he taught a class in "Painting and Decorative Composition" at the National School of Art in New York City. In 1910 he was working on the interior design of the Otsego Hotel, followed by a trip to Rockport, Massachusetts where he spent the summer painting. In the 1910s, in addition to painting, Campbell illustrated several more books, including Vernon Lee’s "Vanitas;" William J. Locke’s "A Christmas Mystery;" and Myrtle Reed’s "Master of the Vineyard." During this time, he met, and became friends, with sculptor and art patron Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney when she set up a studio near his in MacDougal Alley. He was a charter member of the Whitney Studio Club (1918), the precursor to the Whitney Museum of American Art. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Campbell was living in New York City. U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had established the Works Progress Administration (WPA), under which a subdivision, the Federal Art Project (FAP), was established to provide economic relief to artists. Campbell was able to acquire commissions through this program, creating lithographs depicting scenes of American life during that time. Campbell moved to Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in the early 1950s and died in Bradenton, Florida in 1969. Campbell was a member of the California Society of Artists; Society of Illustrators (1905); American Art Association of Paris; Architectural League of New York (1911). He exhibited at the Paris Salon(1899); American Art Association of Paris, 1900 (prize); Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1912-1936); Society of Independent Artists (1917); Whitney Museum of American Art (1918-1932); Salons of America (1934); Meridien Arts & Crafts (1949, 1952, prizes).

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painting: 724-459-0612 - Jerry Hawk, Bedford Fine Art Gallery