John Marshall Gamble

John Marshall Gamble (1863 – April 8, 1957) was an American painter who focused on California landscapes and wildflowers. He relocated to Santa Barbara after his San Francisco studio was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. He was an influential in the Santa Barbara art scene, being a teacher and School Board President of the Santa Barbara School of the Arts.

Life and career

John Marshall Gamble was born in New Jersey in 1863, moved to New Zealand with his family in his early years, and then to San Francisco in 1883. He was the grandson of US Marines Lieutenant Colonel John Marshall Gamble. and the Académie Julian in Paris, to study under Jean Paul Laurens and Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant. He first opened a studio in San Francisco which was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake,

During his career he won several awards, such as a gold medal at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, in Seattle. an "exhaustless theme which has won the artist enduring fame". The artist became a faculty member of the Santa Barbara School of the Arts in 1929, and later served as School Board President.

A friend of painter Willis E. Davies, Gamble accompanied him to plein air painting trips, and the 1910 European trip that ended with Davies' suicide on board of the White Star liner RMS Oceanic.

Style and legacy Gamble's had detailed knowledge of California's landscapes, His work is represented by galleries such as Steven Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, William A. Karges Fine Art, and is part of the permanent collections of the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, among others. Gamble was also influential as a teacher and mentor of younger artists, and was considered to be the "dean of Santa Barbara artists".