Born in Morristown, New Jersey, John Gamble, influenced by French Impressionist painter, Claude Monet, is known for his California floral coastal and landscape paintings, especially fields of poppies and lupines. From Santa Barbara, he was one of the leaders of the California plein-air painting movement, and he was also a successful portrait painter.

Another favorite painting subject was coastal views of Pacific Ocean sunsets, and judging by his auction records, he occasionally painted in Arizona and Utah. One of his closest painting companions was Elmer Wachtel.
His father worked for a steamship company, and as a teen teenager, Gamble moved with his family to Auckland, New Zealand, and then in 1883, when he was...