Richard De Treville (1864-1929) was born in Beaufort, South Carolina on November 17, 1864. In 1892, he moved to California and settled in Stockton where he established a small newspaper called Det's Magazine. Shortly after 1910, DeTreville moved to San Francisco where, in addition to painting, he worked as a cartoonist for the Park Presidio News.

His works were handled locally by Schussler Brothers and Sanborn & Vail, and were also available in his Clement Street studio. The last few years of his life were spent across the bay in Alameda where he died on February 25, 1929.

Little is known about his art training; he was possibly self-taught.

De Treville worked in oil and, on rare occasions, in watercolor. He was known to be an excellent portraitist although his portraits are rare. The most prolific of early California painters, his small landscapes are invariably of the San Francisco Bay area, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and northern California.

Member: American Art Bureau. Exhibited: White House Department Store (San Francisco), 1926 (250 oils). Works held: California Historical Society; Oakland Museum; Alameda Historical Society.

Submitted by James Berdan of California, September 2002. The source is Edan Hughes, ARTISTS IN CALIFORNIA, 1786-1940:

This bio accompanied one of De Treville's painting listed on e-bay June 7, 2001.