Backus, Standish

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Backus, Standish

Born in Detroit, Michigan to a wealthy family, Standish Backus studied watercolor while an architecture student at Princeton and at the University of Munich. His formal art training was limited to a brief period of study with Eliot O'Hara.

In 1935, he moved to Santa Barbara, California and became active with the California Watercolor Society. During World War II, he was a naval combat artist in the Pacific and in 1955 participated in Admiral Byrd's expedition to the South Pole. In 1967, he designed the Pacific War Memorial mosaic mural for Corregidor Island in Manila Bay. He was a California scene painter and member of the American Watercolor Society.

He died in Santa Barbara.

Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Gordon McClelland and Jay Last, "California Watercolors 1850-1970"

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