Reuben Kirkham
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Reuben_Kirkham.jpg/155px-Reuben_Kirkham.jpg)
Reuben John Kirkham (13 October 1845, Spalding, Lincolnshire - 17 April 1886, Logan, Utah)[1] was an American landscape painter.
Biography
His family emigrated to the United States while he was still a child. His sister, Ann, married a member of the LDS Church and, eventually, the entire family converted.[2] Various problems kept them from reaching the Salt Lake Valley for almost a decade, but they finally arrived in 1868.[3]
The gift of a paint box several years earlier had given him the desire to become an artist, and he taught himself while performing odd jobs. After a time of wandering, he made friends with the painter, Alfred Lambourne, a fellow Englishman, and they painted scenes for the Lehi Music Hall. Many of his later landscapes would contain imaginary features. A trip back East in 1874, with the intent of taking formal lessons, ended with his money bring stolen.[2]
In 1876, he married Echo Levinia Squires (1856-1943), from an early pioneer family. They had five children.[1]
Inspired by his early theatrical work, he began creating panoramas. The first, created together with Lambourne, featured scenery from throughout the United States. Later, he spent two years (1883-1885) touring Utah with a nineteen scene panorama, based on episodes and places from the Book of Mormon.[3] The presentation included live performances.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Kirkham-Sunset.jpg/375px-Kirkham-Sunset.jpg)
Never in very good health, he died in 1886 from what was officially diagnosed as "typhoid pneumonia". Echo maintained that he died from exposure to the chemicals in his paints.[2]
References
- ^ a b Listing @ Find-a-Grave
- ^ a b c Review of Poulton's book (op.cit.) @ 15 Bytes
- ^ a b Entry @ the Marriott Library
Further reading
- Donna L. Poulton, Reuben Kirkham: Pioneer Artist, Cedar Fort Inc., 2012 ISBN 978-1-59955-380-1
External links
Media related to Reuben Kirkham at Wikimedia Commons