Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (1833 - 1922)

Artist. He was considered to be one of the most celebrated portrait artists of his day, receiving commissions from many of the wealthiest and most influential families of the period. His subjects included Victor Hugo, Louis Pasteur, and French President Adolphe Thiers. He was heavily influenced by the Spanish Old Masters Velasquez, Murillo, and Zurbarán, […]

Jean-Marie Bonnassieux (1810 - 1892)

Sculptor. One of his most famous work is the Statue of Notre Dame in  Le-Puy-en-Velay (Departement Haute-Loire) made out of canons “taken” in the battle of Sebastopol. The Virgin holds the Jesus Child on her right arm, so that he can easily bless the City down the volcano hill  with his right arm.

Ricard Boix Oviedo (1904 - 1994)

Sculptor. He was born and died in Valencia (Spain). He studied in Academia de San Carlos and was friend of the artists Josep Renau, Francesc Badía and Rafael Pérez Contel. He also was the brother of sculptor Arturo Boix. In 1930, he moved during two months to Paris where discovered the egyptian sculpture. When he […]

Marguerite Chapman (1918 - 1999)

Actress. She played tough but alluring leading ladies in B and occasional A films of the 1940s, including “Spy Smasher” (1942), “Murder in Times Square” (1943), “Destroyer” (1943), “Appointment in Berlin” (1943),  “The Walls Came Tumbling Down” (1946),  “Relentless” (1948),  and “The Green Promise” (1949).  Chapman was born in Chatham,  New York,  and made her […]

Arturo Boix Oviedo (1970 - 1965)

Artist. He was born in Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana. In 1915, he moved to Cuba, where began his work as sculptor and painter. When he returned to Valencia, he continued his career, and he participated in the International Exhibition of Paris in 1937. Among his works “La Serpiente,” “Hermanos y Qué Diferentes” and “Savia Nova.” He […]

Francisco Boix (1920 - 1951)

Photographer. He was born in Barcelona (Catalunya). During and after Spanish Civil War, he fought against Franco’s dictatorship, and was forced to exile. In Second World War, he was interned in Mauthausen’s Death Camp. After the liberation, his photos of the nazi’s atrocities in the camp hardly reflected the horror of Holocaust. He moved to […]

Abraham Jacob “A.J.” Bogdanove (1886 - 1946)

Painter, Educator. He is best known for his Maine seascapes. Bogdanove came to America on December 25, 1900 with his parents and two brothers. He won a scholarship to Cooper Union and later to Columbia University to study Art.  After graduating, he apprenticed with C.Y.Turner and F.C. Jones as a muralist, often working with the […]

Marie Champmesle (1642 - 1698)

French Actress. The daughter of an actor, she married actor Charles Chevillet Champmesle in 1666. By 1669, they were both members of the Theatre du Marais in Paris. In 1670, they joined the Hotel de Bourgogne, where she had her first success as Hermione in Jean Racine’s “Andromaque.” It was with great difficulty that Racine’s […]

Maud Humphrey Bogart (1865 - 1940)

Artist. Mother of motion picture legend, Humphrey Bogart. She was renowned in her own right as a popular artist and illustrator. Her “Humphrey Baby,” a series of watercolors romanticizing infants wearing long curls, period garments, and innocent smiles, was famous in America and throughout the world. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Spouse:  Belmont DeForest […]

James Bogardus (1800 - 1874)

Architect. Initially a watch engraver, he was largely self-taught in architecture. He became a prominent designer and promoter of cast-iron architecture as fireproof, efficient, and transportable. He built structures in New York City, where several survive, as well as in Charleston, South Carolina and the District of Columbia.  Four of his five surviving buildings are […]

Shirley Chambers (1913 - 2011)

Actress. One of Hollywood’s earliest typecast ‘dumb blondes’, she is probably best remembered for her part in 1939’s Oscar-winning classic “Gone with the Wind”. Raised in Northern California from infancy, she became a model as a teenager, in 1930 was signed by MGM as a Goldwyn Girl, made her silver screen bow in the 1930 […]

Edward Marshall Boehm (1913 - 1969)

Artist.  Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1913. His surname is pronounced “Beam”. His parents separated before he was born. His mother, Elsie Boehm, died when he was seven years old. (He was not to meet his father until he was in his twenties.) Friends enrolled him in an all boys school for orphans and the […]

Joseph Bodner (1925 - 1982)

Artist. Compared to the “Great Masters”, his oils have been collected by numerous celebrities and dignitaries. He graduated Art Center and was selected most likely to succeed by Norman Rockwell. His work was best known for Monochromatic Westerns, Majestic Horses and Dramatic Skies. He was in Who’s Who in France. His paintings are still collected […]

Elise Cavanna (1902 - 1963)

Actress. Appeared in motion pictures primarily during the 1930s. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Parents:  Thomas M. Seeds (1865 – 1916)  Sallie D. Burk Seeds (1863 – 1913)

Aubrey Bodine (1906 - 1970)

Aubrey Bodine was an American photographer and photojournalist for the Baltimore Sun‘s Sunday Sun Magazine, also known as the brown section, for fifty years. Bodine is known for his images of Maryland landmarks and traditions. Bodine’s books include My Maryland, Chesapeake Bay and Tidewater, Face of Maryland, Face of Virginia, and Guide to Baltimore and Annapolis. He was born July 21, 1906, in Baltimore, Maryland. After entering professional photography […]

Anna Boch (1848 - 1936)

Painter. She was the only person who bought (in 1890) a painting from Vincent Van Gogh when he was alive : “Les Vignes rouges.”

Umberto Boccioni (1882 - 1916)

Painter, Sculptor, Theorist. The greatest of the Italian Futurists, he celebrated the vitality of the industrial age by seeking to depict time, space, energy, and even sound in his work. Although he was active with that movement only a short period before his premature death, Boccioni’s ideas had far-reaching consequences in the development of 20th […]

Peggie Castle (1927 - 1973)

Actress. Starting out as a magazine model, she made her first film in 1947, and within three years, she was prominently cast as a succession of gun molls, b-girls and murderesses. She was married for a time to producer William McGarry. After abruptly ending her career in 1962, she died in obscurity of cirrhosis of […]

Edward Blore (1787 - 1879)

Architect. Edward was born in Derby. The eldest child of Thomas Blore, a topographer and antiquary. Edward began in his fathers footsteps, becoming apprenticed to an engraver, he became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1823. His precise and atmospheric illustrations for the Rev. Philip Bliss’s Monumental Remains of Noble and Eminent Persons […]

Movita Castaneda (1916 - 2015)

Actress. Born Maria Castaneda, to parents of Mexican-American descent, she had the distinction of being born on a train which was traveling from Mexico to Arizona. Her exotic beauty caught the attention of Paramount Studio which led to her film debut at the age of thirteen in a Spanish-speaking film in 1930. She was cast […]

Enid Lillian Bloom (1924 - 1996)

Highly regarded British sculptor. Born in London, she lived and worked in Hampstead. After training at St. Martin’s School of Art, she became a commercial artist and later studied sculpture with the well known sculptress, Karin Jonzen. Inspired by the human form, her classical bronze and terra cotta figures were modelled in the contemporary fashion. […]

Rudolf Blind (1970 - 1916)

Artist,  Translator. He was born in Brussels to Karl Blind and his wife Friederica (nee Ettlinger), who were from Mannheim in Germany but had been expelled from France for plotting against Louis Napoleon. In 1852, they arrived in England, where Rudolf was educated at University College School in Frognal, North London, and at the Royal […]

Rosalind Cash (1938 - 1995)

Actress. Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Cash graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1956. She made her Broadway debut in “The Wayward Stork” in 1966. In the late 1960s, she co-founded the Negro Ensemble Company. Her film career began when she was tapped by Charlton Heston to co-star in “The Omega Man” with […]

Erik Blegvad (1923 - 2014)

Literary illustrator. Mr Blegvad began illustrating books when he immigrated to the United States in 1951, and illustrated over 100 children’s books, some of which are “Bedknob and Broomstick,” which may be his most famous, “This Little Pig-a-Wig and Other Rhymes About Pigs,” which was named one of the best illustrated children’s books of the […]

Jesús Blasco (1919 - 1995)

Illustrator. He was born in Barcelona, Catalunya. He is considered to be one of the masters of Spanish comics, making his debut in 1935, when his first illustrations were published in the Spanish version of the magazine “Mickey.” For “Boliche” magazine, he created “Cuto” one of his best-known characters. In the beginning of the 1950s, […]

María Blanchard (1881 - 1932)

Artist. A leading Cubist painter in the early 20th century. Born in Santander, Spain, Blanchard moved to Madrid to become a painter in 1903,  and continued her studies in Paris on 1909. During this time she was introduced to Cubism after meeting painter Juan Gris. The following year, Blanchard received a medal in the National […]

Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847 - 1919)

Artist. American romantic painter. One of the great original romantic artists of late-19th-century America. After attending a year and a half of college, he dropped out and inspired to take up painting. His highly original work, often painted from memories, was not highly popular among contemporaries. His favorite theme was the deep forest with its […]

Mrs Leslie Carter (1862 - 1937)

Actress. Popular stage actress of the late 1800s, often called “the American Sarah Bernhardt.” She used her married name, “Mrs. Leslie Carter,” as her stage name. Most noted for her roles in “The Heart of Maryland,” “Zaza,” “Du Barry,” and “Adrea.” She is also known for her ‘scandalous’ divorce.  Family links:  Children:  Leslie Dudley Carter […]

Chief Archie Blackowl, Sr (1911 - 1992)

Artist, Cheyenne chief. A descendant of Cheyenne chiefs Crow Necklace and Roman Nose, he became interested in art at the age of six. He studied at Fort Sill, Haskell Indian School, the University of Kansas, the University of Oklahoma, the Chicago Art Institute, and he studied painting under Olaf Nordmark. His art was traditional style, […]

George Caleb Bingham (1811 - 1879)

American painter of landscapes and realistic genre paintings, concerned with the effects of light. Work includes, “Fur Traders Descending the Missouri” (1845). (bio by: Bill Walker)  Family links:  Parents:  Mary J. Amend Bingham (1790 – 1851)  Spouses:  Sarah Bingham (1820 – 1849)*  Martha A. Livingston Bingham (1824 – 1890)*  Martha A Livingston Bingham (1824 – […]