James Wells Champney was born in Boston in 1843 and he grew up alongside his father, Benjamin Champney who was revered as the “dean” of White Mountain painters and hundreds of painters traveled to the Saco River – North Conway, NH area to paint with the elder Champney (1817-1907). Learning to paint by watching his father in his studio and on location, James Wells Champney could draw and paint by a very early age and he became a well-known and respected painter, illustrator, sketch artist, engraver and teacher.

James studied as a wood engraver (1859) and then fought in the Civil War (being discharged with malaria). He taught painting at a woman’s school (1964-1866) before leaving for France to study (1870) and wanted to leave the White Mountain area and pursue his own career in New York City and New Orleans, LA (1873-1974). He maintained a studio in Deerfield, MA after he studied at the Lowell Institute (MA) and with Edouard Frére (1866) in France and at the Académie d’Anvers, France and at the Antwerp Academy with van Lerius (1868).  By the time he returned to America (ca. 1869), he was a formidable figure painter, who was highly influenced by the academic work of Bourguerau and Gerômé. In 1873-1874 he went to paint in New Orleans, Louisiana as an illustrator for Scibner’s Monthly for a series of articles about “The Great South” that was published in The Southern States of North America in 1875. He was a painter in oils and watercolor until 1880, when he became a pastellist and he often signed his works “Champ.”

James was a member of the National Academy of Design (Association, ANA 1892); American Water Color Society; Boston Art Club; Salmagundi Club; Boston Water Color Club; National Arts Club; Century Association (NY); the Player’s Club (NY); Metropolitan Museum Association and the American Federation of Artists. He taught painting at Smith College and at the Hartford Society of Design & Art.

His first award was won in 1868 at the Royal Academy in Antwerp and he exhibited extensively throughout his career, including the Boston Art Club (1873-74, 76-78, 1883-1902); Paris Salon (1875, 1894); Cent. Exposition (Philadelphia, 1876), Brooklyn Art Association (1877-1885, 1912); PAFA (1881-1883,1890-1891), the Southern Art Union (1882); Art Institute of Chicago; Columbian Exposition, Chicago (1893) and was given a solo exhibition in 1897 at Knoedler Galleries (NY) and he became famous for his portraits, scenes of rural life and figure painting.

James Wells Champney was one of the first painters to come back from Paris and experiment with Impressionism (ca. 1878). He was a proficient painter and well-liked teacher until his sudden, tragic death in 1903 from a fall down an elevator shaft in New York City.