William Lewis Marple was born in NYC on Feb. 16, 1827. Sailing by clipper ship to San Francisco via Panama in 1849, Marple mined for a while in the Mother Lode country around Placerville. Abandoning his pursuit of gold, he worked as a sign and house painter in that area and, as a self-taught artist, began painting landscapes. After moving to San Francisco in 1866, he established a studio at 432 Montgomery and in 1867 participated in a sale of paintings with several other artists including Denny, Young, Holdredge, and Bush. In 1869 he made a trip to Europe to study the Old Masters. He visited Paris, Munich and, after a short stay in NYC, returned to San Francisco in 1871. In that year he was instrumental in cofounding the San Francisco

Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Interview with the artist or his/her family; California State Library (Sacramento); Calif. Landscape Painting 1860-1885; Art and Artists in Santa Cruz cat.

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