William Henry Clapp

American, (1879–1954)
William H. Clapp was a Canadian-American painter and art curator. He was a member of the Society of Six in Oakland, California, and an Impressionist landscape painter. He was also the curator of the Oakland Art Gallery. He was trained by William Brymner in Montreal, and he spent four years in Paris, France, where he attended the Académie Julian, the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Académie Colarossi, and he was introduced to Fauvism. In France, his style was transformed into a personal form of Impressionism, verging on Pointillism, depicting the way in which he experienced and saw the world. He became mostly known for his brilliant, high-keyed, colourful landscapes inspired by Monet and for his interest in painting the figure, mostly academic-influenced and idealized nudes.