McCloskey, William Joseph (1859-1941).

Florida Oranges by William Joseph McCloskey (1859-1941) 8" x 18", Oil/Canvas, Signed and Dated Est.: $100,000 - $150,000 Sold by John Moran Auctioneers for $546,250 on 02/19/2008 ARTIST WORLD RECORD

Born in Philadelphia, PA on Oct. 5, 1859.

McCloskey studied at the PAFA under Christian Schussele and Thomas Eakins during 1877-82.

In the fall of 1882 he began teaching life drawing and painting at the Denver Academy of Art. At that school he met his future wife, Alberta Binford.

The couple established a portrait studio in Los Angeles in the Child's Grand Opera House in 1884.

He painted in England and Paris in the 1890s and later in Salt Lake City, New York, and San Francisco.

In the early 1920s he was the official portrait painter of the American Legion in Los Angeles, but retired to the home of his daughter in Oregon about 1924.

After returning to California, he died in Costa Mesa on Dec. 30, 1941.

Known works number fewer than 100.

He is best known for his still lifes of citrus fruit wrapped in tissue paper in the trompe l'oeil manner.

Exh: PAFA, 1879; Paris Salon; Royal Academy of British Artists; Chamber of Commerce (LA), 1894; Mark Hopkins Art Inst., 1897-98; Bohemian Club, 1898; Athletic Club (LA), 1924; Bowers Museum (Santa Ana), 1969, 1994 (jointly with wife).

In: LACMA; MM; CHS; Society of Calif. Pioneers; Hudson River Museum (Yonkers, NY); Syracuse Univ.; Orange Co. (CA) Museum.
 

Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
American Art Annual 1903; Painting and Sculpture in Los Angeles, 1900-45; City Directory; California Historical Society; Splitter; Southern California Artists (Nancy Moure); Painters of the Humble Truth; Death record; American Art Review, Oct. 1994.