Putnam was born when his parents made a journey through Waveland, Mississippi in 1873. His father, a member of a prominent New England family, made a living as a civil engineer in the South after the Civil War, which meant the family had an itinerant existence. The father died in 1880, leaving young Arthur Putnam, age seven to be raised by his mother and aunt in Omaha, Nebraska.

In his early youth he was not interested in school but was an intelligent boy. His mother tried to curb his discipline problems by sending him to the Kemper Hall Military Academy, but he only lasted a year there. Instead of pushing for him to go to school, his mother decided he should work. Putnam took a job as an elevator boy and worked in a photoengraving office where he learned the basics of drawing. Eventually the family moved west to California where Mrs. Putnam bought a lemon ranch in San Diego. Putnam spent most of his teenage years working on the ranch and sketching the wildlife of the Southwest. He also trapped pumas for the San Diego Zoo.

In 1894 he went to San Francisco to see the Mid-Winter Fair, and he stayed to take art lessons from Julie Heyneman at the Art Students League. Living at the ASL, he slept on the couch, sweeping the rooms in return for lodging. He dreamt of getting a job to support his art study and even worked briefly at a slaughterhouse while working for Rupert Schmid.

In 1898 Putnam returned to San Diego, where he was a surveyor for the building of the Mesa Dam. He also met his future wife, Grace Storey, at the San Diego Art School. He made a short trip to Chicago, around 1898, to study and work for Edward Kemeys, but returned to marry Storey in 1899. Putnam and his new wife settled in San Francisco where he and a friend, Bruce Porter, promoted his artwork as did former teacher, Julie Heyneman. (Later she wrote a biography about Putman titled "Desert Cactus".) He shared a studio space in San Francisco with Earl Cummings and Gottardo Piazzoni. Putnam's work improved and gained recognition by the early 1900s, and it was between 1900 and 1905 that he did the work for which he is most recognized.

In 1905 Putnam, his wife, and daughter traveled to Paris where he exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1906. He saw the work of the famous sculptor Rodin and was greatly inspired by his realistic/impressionist style. And in turn, Rodin is said to have described Putnam as the "world's greatest animal sculptor". (Hughes 904).

InPutnams returned from Paris in 1906 to a San Francisco including his studio destroyed by the great earthquake. They lived in a tent near Cliff House and eventually built a house on the outskirts of the city, near Ocean Beach. In 1916, when the city was rebuilding, his sculptures of lions and pioneers were used along Market Street.

In 1911 the sculpting career of Arthur Putnam ended as a result of paralysis after he underwent brain surgery. He was still able to draw but would never recapture the skill he once had. To ease his pain and frustration, he turned to alcohol, which drove away his wife and children, and in 1921, he returned to France where he lived until his death in Paris on May 27, 1930.

Over his career he exhibited at the Oakland Museum (1978), the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (1930, 1932, 1940, 1956, 1958), the Rome Salon (1906), and at the San Francisco Museum of Art (1935).


Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Peggy and Harold Samuels, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West"

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