James Wells Champney was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 genre and portrait painter.

He was born in Boston and first studied wood engraving there, then went to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and studied at the Antwerp Academy and under Edouard Frère

Pierre Edouard Frere

Pierre Edouard Frère , French painter, studied under Hippolyte Delaroche, entered the école des Beaux-Arts in 1836 and exhibited first at the Salon in 1843. The marked sentimental tendency of his art makes us wonder at John Ruskin's enthusiastic eulogy which finds in Frere's work the depth of...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. His paintings include landscape and genre subjects, but he is best known for his excellent pastel portraits, among which are those of William Winter

William Winter (author)

William Winter was an American dramatic critic and author.-Biography:Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Winter graduated from Harvard Law School in 1857...

, Henry M. Stanley

Henry Morton Stanley

Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands , was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, Stanley allegedly uttered the now-famous greeting, "Dr...

, and Mary Mannering

Mary Mannering

Mary Mannering was an Anglo-American actress, born in London. She studied for the stage under Hermann Vezin. She made her debut at Manchester in 1892 under her own name of Florence Friend....

 as "Daphne." His etching

Etching

Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...

s and illustrations were also very popular. He was the husband of Elizabeth W. Champney

Elizabeth Williams Champney

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Williams Champney was an American author of numerous articles and novels, most of which focused on foreign locations...

.