Waukegan (Illinois), June 1st 1850 – June 13th 1899, New York
Gaylord Sangston Truesdell was born on June 1, 1850 in Waukegan, a village located in the northern suburbs of Chicago.
He was a famous American painter who began his career as an engraver.
At the end of 1876, he rented the apartment and studio of Charles Edouard Frère, in Ecouen.
He studied for three years at the Pennsylvania Academy and then, in 1885, returned to France where he worked under the direction of Ernest Meissonier, Fernand Cormon and Pierre Edouard Frère. He lived in Ecouen in 1890 and 1891 in a « rustic cottage » in the shadow of the Château de la Légion d’Honneur and then in the Hotel du Nord. In 1891, he lived at 6 rue de Paris.
A letter addressed to Warren Cram proves his perfect knowledge of French.
He exhibited at several Paris salons between 1886 and 1895. In 1889, he received a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle de Paris and a second class medal in 1892.
In 1892, his painting « Cows by the River » received the first gold medal awarded by the salon to an American painter.
Gaylord Sangston Truesdell painted rural landscapes, often with sheep.
For further information, please read the book “L’Ecole d’Ecouen, une colonie de peintres au XIXe siècle” (bilingual French-English).
