Born in England on June 24, 1817 into an aristocratic family, the Earls of Wandesforde, Juan Wandesford, when quite young, became a pupil of English watercolorist John Varley and later of Le Capelaine. He taught drawing at Glasgow Collegiate Academy before immigrating to New York in 1850.

There he was one of the earliest members of the Century Club, exhibited oils and watercolors at the National Academy of Design, and developed a fine reputation for his miniatures and portraits of prominent citizens.

In the late 1850s he traveled to Montreal, Canada to paint the portrait of the visiting Prince of Wales and lived in Montreal until settling in San Francisco in 1862. Locally, he was employed mainly with po

Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Overland Monthly, 1868; Yesterday's Artists on the Monterey Peninsula; New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America (Groce, George C. and David H. Wallace); History & Ideals of American Art (Neuhaus); First 100 Years of Painting in California (J. Van Nostrand); From Frontier to Fire; Calif. Landscape Painting 1860-1885; Oakland Tribune, 11-19-1902 (obituary).

Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here....