William Henry Clapp

William Henry Clapp was born in Montreal in 1879. The artist's parents lived in several places at the end of the 19th century, but the family returned to live in Montreal in 1900. Aged 21, William H. Clapp began his artistic studies at the Art Association of Montreal under the teachings of William Brymner. His early years of study were accompanied by other promising great artists such as Helen McNicoll and Clarence Gagnon. Under the encouragement of Brymner, Clapp and Gagnon, then good friends, paint outdoors in the Baie-St-Paul region in Charlevoix. These outdoor expeditions were greatly beneficial in the learning of the two young artists and left an indelible mark on their respective artistic careers.

In 1904, William Henry Clapp and Clarence Gagnon left together to continue their apprenticeship in France. Upon his arrival, Clapp enrolled at the Académie Julian to then continue at the Académie Colarossi and finally finish at the Académie de le Grande Chaumière. Clapp will travel to Europe to paint both in France, Belgium and Spain. As of his arrival on the old continent, Clapp adopted the impressionist influences of Claude Monet to then tend towards the pointillism of Seurat and Signac. Anxious to be present on both sides of the Atlantic, Clapp exhibited at the Royal Academy of Canada in 1904 and 1907 and two of his works were exhibited in 1906 at the Salon d'automne in Paris among works by Renoir and Bonnard .

He returned to Montreal in 1908 with several works to present. He then submitted paintings to several major exhibitions including those of the Royal Academy of Canada from 1908 to 1916 as well as to the Art Association of Montreal. He then tried his luck in the United States and moved to a studio in New York. This experience allowed him to exhibit at the National Academy of Design, Carnegie Institute and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

In 1910, Clapp returned to Montreal, he was appointed elected member of the Royal Academy of Canada and was invited to become a member of the Canadian Art Club alongside James W. Morrice, Maurice Cullen and Clarence Gagnon. Despite the good criticism and its notoriety, Clapp does not manage to make a living from his art, Montreal collectors are reluctant to acquire impressionist works. He then began to give private art lessons to students and one of them was none other than Alexander Young Jackson. Disappointed by the public reception for his exhibitions, William H. Clapp left Canada definitively to go first to Cuba and then to California.

Clapp quickly became a teacher at the California School of Arts and Crafts of Berkely. He became a member of numerous groups and clubs such as the California Art Club, Oakland Art League and the San Francisco Art Association. The most important of these groups will be The Society of Six. This group was made up of members such as Selden Connor Gilde, August François Gay who greatly helped the development of the arts in the United States. His greatest role will certainly be his years spent as curator and then director at the Oakland Art Gallery. He actively participated in the creation of large exhibitions, he allowed Kadinsky and Paul Klee to have their first exhibitions on American soil. Clapp's contribution to this museum is undeniable and allowed its rapid development during his years of service until 1949.

William H. Clapp remained faithful to his style ranging from post-impressionist and pointillism throughout his life. He went on to say towards the end of his life that he wished he had never left Paris.

He died in 1954 at the age of 75.