Evening star., 1916-05-07

peared under the titles Portrait Girls,
| Portrait Noir' and Portrait Jaune.
were hung as a group. marked number
/ one. and became the feature of the salon.
! Immediately thereafter the painter was
elected associate of the society. This sue
cess was followed by the exhibition at the
| Grafton Gallery. London. of two portraits
| which We're given a place of honor. The
| next year he exhibited a group of five
| portraits and two compositions at the
salon of the Societe Nationale des Beaux
Arts and in the following June was elected
| to full membership in the society with the
privilege of exhibiting ''hors concours." of
voting with the society and of serving on
ltS JuiieS.
! This distinguished honor" one of his
blographers has said, placed Mr.. Alex
ander at once in the front rank of the
/ younger painters. His ability was
ognized and his success painter was
assured. Recognition in other cities fol-
! lowed closely upon the Paris success. He
was invited to contribute to the exhibi-
tioHs of Europe and in the United States
Medals and awards came to him from
most distinguished sources and today
scarcely permanent collection. national
or civic. but contains an example of his
work. He is represented in the LuXem-
bourg in Paris. museums in Petrograd
Odessa and Vienna. in New York Chi
caso. Philadelphia. Washington. St
Louis. Pittsburgh. Minneapolis and Provi-
dence, Stevens Institute of Technology
Yale. Princeton. Harvard and Columbia
Universities. to name but those which are
most conspicuous.
John White Alexander began life in
Pittsburgh. or more properly. Ale
eheny. October !. 1856, and not, it must
have seemed at first. under a lucky
star. His parents died when he was
llttle more than baby and he was
left to the care of his grandparents At
the age of twelve he left school and
took position messenger in the
Pittsburgh office of the Atlantic and
Pacific Telegraph Company. BY his
| personality, the lad attracted the at
pany. and. what Is more, won his re-
gard SO that when his grandfather died
! he was adopted by Col. Allen. with
whom he lived until he was eighteen
l. But John White Alexander was not
one to accept charity or to ask favors;
he was eager to make his own way and
met the world squarely. He was just
eighteen when he went to New York
to study art but the first thing he did
upon reaching there was to secure
position in the illustrating department
of Harper L. Bros 1T is said that when
he applied for the place he was told
there were no vacancies, and, insisting
upon his wish for employment, was
given to understand that at the time
he only position open was that of Of
flee boy and sweep, which, to the sur
prise of the spokesman, he Immediately
accepted and promptly filed. In a very
short time promotion followed, and
soon thereafter he was working in the
illustration department. In the Harper
, publica tions of 1875. '76 and II appear
several political cartoons signed by
him.
, Mr.. Alexander worked for about
three years with Harper Bros. COM
ing in contact there with Thomas Mast
F.. a. Abbey, a. p. Frost and Stanley
Reinhart during which time he saved
5000 With this capital he set sail for
Europe in the summer of 1877, accom-
epanied by his friend. Albert G. Rein
hart. They went almost directly to
Paris but finding the Ecole des Beaux