Browse > John M. Gamble

John M. Gamble

Paintings in Inventory

Click on an image for a larger view.

Artist's Biography

A native of New Zealand, John Gamble came to San Francisco to study art at the School of Design under Virgil Williams. He became a favorite pupil and was a pallbearer at Williams' funeral in 1886. Shortly thereafter, Gamble went to Paris for several years of study, returning to San Francisco in 1893. When his studio was destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1906, he moved to Santa Barbara where he was based the rest of his life.

In the first decade of this century, Gamble acquired a national reputation as a painter of fields of California flowers. As the critic of the San Francisco Call wrote in 1907, "the glory of the tender springtime, with its yellow-green hills and the freshness of newly blown blossoms in great patches of brilliancy, has been painted by Gamble as by no other artist..." (Call, Nov. 3, 1907). The same critic noted on September 24, 1908: “(Gamble) returned from Lake Tahoe a few days ago, bringing with him much rich material in the way of sketches and jottings which he intends to make use of later on...” Our painting was probably the result of this trip as it shows the yellow flowers that bloom by the lake in September. In November, the artist held an exhibition at Schussler’s Art Gallery, San Francisco. The Call praised the show, noting: “The paintings of Lake Tahoe, among Gamble’s most recent work, are exquisite in their portrayal of that beautiful country.” (Call, November 22, 1908). By 1908, Glenbrook, on the Nevada shore, had lost the lumber industry that had been its original source of prosperity but had developed into an important resort.