Guess the Artist

Your clues this week are:

• The artist was born where Samuel L. Clemens grew up, but was raised in Chicago.
• The artist studied in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts during the heyday of the French Impressionists, and admired their style. (Did you notice the smaller paintings on the wall in this painting?) Our artist, though, was too uncomfortable playing fast and loose with technical skills to ever paint ... well ... fast and loose.
• When the artist married, John Singer Sargent's wedding present was one of his watercolors. As if having John Singer Sargent as a friend wasn't present enough.

And


• The sitter (stander?) in this portrait, who went by the nickname "Buck," was a prominent Texan and good human. A sure bet as nominee for Attorney General in the 1876 election, he withdrew his name on learning that the other candidate was a crippled veteran with a large family to support. Do you know his name?

Please email me your guesses over the coming week. I'll post the winner and correct answer with next week's guessing game. Good luck!

The Last Answer:

Two weeks ago the clues were supposed to lead you to Nikolaos Gyzis (1842-1901), the Greek painter who was very, very active in Germany. The portrait, done in 1895, was of his wife, Artemis Gyzi. Megan sent the first email with the correct answer. Congratulations, Megan, and thanks to everyone who participated!