William Forsyth
| male | 1854-1935 |
| Era: 19th/20th Century |
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| Life city: Irvington, |
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| Work city: Indianapolis, IN |
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| Teachers: Loeffitz Benczur Gysis Lietzenmeyer |
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| Styles: Landscapes Paintings Portraits Rivers Still Lifes Watercolors |
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- Marion County
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Highly regarded for his teaching as well as his art, William Forsyth was one of five members of the �Hoosier Group� which included T.C. Steele, Otto Stark, J. Ottis Adams and R.B. Gruelle. He studied under Loeffitz and Benczur at the Royal Academy in Munich (as did the rest of the Hoosier Group, save Stark).
Returning to Indiana from Munich in 1888, Forsyth taught with J. Ottis Adams in Ft. Wayne and went on to found the Muncie Art School with Adams. He was also a founder of the Society of Western Artists. Forsyth had a very long career teaching at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis from 1906 to 1933.
Known for his landscapes Forsyth also did still lifes and worked in pastels, watercolors and oils.
The following information was submitted by a site visitor:
William J. Forsyth (1854-1935) was born in California, Ohio, but moved to the Indiana town of Versailles in Ripley county in 1864, and then later to Indianapolis. He studied art locally at the now closed Indiana School of Art and then later in Munich where he met up with the other members of the famous “Hoosier Group.” Upon his return to Indiana, he opened an art school in Muncie with J.O Adams and then joined T.C. Steele at the second Indiana School of Art. He joined the faculty of the Herron School of Art in 1906 and remained there until he was let go in 1933. He died in 1935 in his Irvington house and was survived by his artist wife Alice Atkinson and their three daughters. During his lifetime he was known as the Dean of the “Irvington Group’ as well as a member of the “Hoosier Group,” and was a huge advocate for the arts in Indiana. He also helped to form the Society of Western Artists which strived to recognize art produced in this region.
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