Frederick Stuart Church
A Grand Rapids native whose witty animals and winter fantasies filled American magazines.
Church was born in Grand Rapids, the son of a prominent lawyer and politician. He left school at 13 to work for American Express in Chicago and served in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war he chose art, studying drawing with Walter Shirlaw in Chicago.
He moved to New York in 1870, studied at the National Academy of Design and joined the Art Students League. His illustrations ran in Harper's Weekly, Harper's Bazaar, Century Magazine and Ladies' Home Journal. Animals, both real and allegorical, and cheerful holiday scenes became his signature.
He was elected a full National Academician in 1885. His patrons included Charles Lang Freer, founder of the Freer Gallery in Washington.