William Henry Clapp (1879-1954)

William Clapp was born in Montreal, Canada, to American parents on October 29, 1879.  At age six, Clapp moved to California with his family, settling in Oakland, where he spent his childhood.  In 1900 William Clapp returned to Montreal for four years of study with Wm Brymner, followed by further study in Paris at Académies Julian, Colarossi, and Grande Chaumière.  Clapp then returned to Montreal, where he was elected an associate member of the Royal Canadian Art Academy.

William Clapp lived and worked in Cuba before returning to Oakland in 1917.  He then served as director and curator of the Oakland Art Gallery from 1918-49.  In this position, and as a member of a group of painters called the Society of Six, he arranged exhibitions of their works from 1923-28.  For six years, he operated the Clapp School of Art in Oakland.  His early works reflect the impressionist style of Renoir; whereas, his later works are of the Pointillist technique of Seurat.  William Clapp is as well known in Canada as he is in the U.S.  Clapp died in Oakland on April 21, 1954.

Member:  Calif. Art Club; Oakland Art League; Montreal Art Club; Pen & Pencil Club (Montreal); SFAA; AAPL.  Exh: NAD; Carnegie Institute; PAFA; SFAA, 1918-19; Society of Six, 1923-28; Oakland Art Gallery, 1932; GGIE, 1939; Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), 1937; Oakland Museum, Society of Six retrospective, 1972.

Sources:
Edan Hughes, “Artists in California 1786-1940”
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