# Verner Moore White > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Verner_Moore_White > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Verner_Moore_White.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verner_Moore_White > Source revision: 1343436717 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American painter (1863–1923)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Verner Moore White | birth_name = Thomas Verner Moore White | image = Verner White Portrait.JPG | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1863|10|05}} | birth_place = [Lunenburg County](/source/Lunenburg_County%2C_Virginia), [VA](/source/Virginia) | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes| 1923 |08|30|1863|10|05}} | death_place = [Chautauqua](/source/Chautauqua%2C_New_York), [NY](/source/New_York_(state)) | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | field = Painting | training = | movement = | works = ''The Basque Shepherd'', ''The Alamo with Señora Candelaria'', ''The Harbor at Galveston'', | patrons = | alma_mater = [Rhodes College](/source/Rhodes_College) }} '''Verner Moore White''' (October 5, 1863 – August 30, 1923), born '''Thomas Verner Moore White''' but informally known as '''Verner White''', was an American landscape and portrait [painter](/source/Painting). White painted works for many of the business and political leaders of his time including commissions for three [United States President](/source/United_States_President)s. ==Background and early career== White was born in [Lunenburg County](/source/Lunenburg_County%2C_Virginia), [Virginia](/source/Virginia) to Thomas and Alice White. His father, Thomas Ward White, was a [Presbyterian](/source/Presbyterian) chaplain in the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War) and later served as President of the Reidville Female College and the [Greensboro Female College](/source/Greensboro_College) in [South Carolina](/source/South_Carolina).Forrester-O'Brien, Esse. ''Art and Artists of Texas''. Tardy Publishing Company, 1935, p. 222-223. White was taught by private tutor until when at seventeen he attended [Southwestern Presbyterian University](/source/Rhodes_College) in [Clarksville](/source/Clarksville%2C_Tennessee), [Tennessee](/source/Tennessee) to study art.Baker, James Graham. ''Southwestern Historical Quarterly'' Vol CXIII, April, 2010, p. 423. White graduated in 1884 to become a full-time artist in [DeLand](/source/DeLand%2C_Florida), [Florida](/source/Florida). The forests and swamps of north Florida and south [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)) were the subjects of many of White's early works as he developed his interest and skill in landscape painting during this period. In 1885, White turned his attentions to portraiture when he opened a studio in [Mobile](/source/Mobile%2C_Alabama), [Alabama](/source/Alabama). While in Mobile, White painted portraits of some of the most influential people in [The South](/source/Southern_United_States) including his painting of the last live portrait of [Jefferson Davis](/source/Jefferson_Davis), the former President of the [Confederacy](/source/Confederate_States_of_America). Jefferson Davis' daughter, [Winnie Davis](/source/Varina_Anne_Davis), had studied in [Germany](/source/Germany) and [France](/source/France) and recommended that White go to [Europe](/source/Europe) in order to further study his craft before completing her portrait. In 1887, White took her advice and moved to Europe to further his artistic studies. White studied in [Paris](/source/Paris) for four years, and spent three more years traveling and painting in other European cities including in [Brussels](/source/Brussels), [Antwerp](/source/Antwerp), [Rotterdam](/source/Rotterdam), [Liege](/source/Li%C3%A8ge), [Rouen](/source/Rouen), [Biarritz](/source/Biarritz) and [Pau](/source/Pau%2C_Pyr%C3%A9n%C3%A9es-Atlantiques).''The National Cyclopedia of American Biography'' Volume XX. James T. White & Company, Publisher, 1929, p. 476. While in Biarritz, White painted ''The Basque Shepherd'', a painting of the dog of [Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich](/source/Grand_Duke_Alexei_Alexandrovich_of_Russia), of [Russia](/source/Russia). The $300 sale of that painting to the Grand Duke financed his remaining travels, and for the rest of his career White would have an affinity for the painting of hunting dogs. ===Gallery of hunting dog paintings by White=== File:Verner White Dogs.jpg File:Verner White dog scene.jpg File:White hunt scene.jpg File:Verner White Hunt Scene.jpg ==White's work in Texas== thumb|right|400px|''The Harbor at Galveston'', Courtesy Houston Public Library White returned to the United States in 1895 and spent the next nine years living and working in [Texas](/source/Texas). For a couple years, White traveled and painted his way through towns primarily in southeastern Texas and southwestern [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana). During this period, the [Houston Post](/source/Houston_Post) reported that while in [Galveston](/source/Galveston), he "completed an excellent picture in oil depicting [William J. Bryan](/source/William_Jennings_Bryan) on a duck hunt, critics pronounce it a real work of art." In 1897, White moved to [San Antonio](/source/San_Antonio) where he set up a studio in San Pedro Park and attracted increasing attention and notoriety. The city fathers of San Antonio awarded White the commission for a painting of [The Alamo](/source/Alamo_Mission_in_San_Antonio) to be given to U.S. President [William McKinley](/source/William_McKinley) and [Mrs. McKinley](/source/Ida_Saxton_McKinley) during their visit to the city in 1901. White garnered significant public recognition with his painting titled ''The Alamo with Señora Candelaria''. The original of the painting was given to President McKinley, and the lithograph of the image was hung in hundreds of public schools throughout Texas.''Galveston Daily News''. October 5, 1902, p. 12. White later painted an original copy of the painting that today hangs in the Alamo Museum. He briefly returned to Galveston where he had a studio which he left behind when he moved out of the city the day before the [1900 Galveston hurricane](/source/1900_Galveston_hurricane). While he survived, his studio and much of his portfolio were destroyed. In 1902, White was awarded the commission by the World's Fair Commission for Texas to paint a series of twelve large oil paintings, that represented the natural resources and industries of Texas, to adorn the Texas exhibit at the 1904 [Louisiana Purchase Exposition](/source/Louisiana_Purchase_Exposition) (also known as the St. Louis World's Fair). The scenes included artistic representations of oil fields, agricultural fields, pecan groves, granite quarries, and ranch scenes.''The New York Times''. September 18, 1903, p. 8. To date, only one of White's World's Fair Commission paintings is known to survive. It is thought that maybe the others were destroyed by a fire in his St. Louis studio in 1915.''St. Louis Post Dispatch''. July 25th, 1915. The surviving panorama, ''The Harbor at Galveston'' was donated to the [Houston Public Library](/source/Houston_Public_Library) by White's widow, Mertie Boughton White, after his death. ==White's work in St. Louis== White moved to [St. Louis, Missouri](/source/St._Louis%2C_Missouri) with his newlywed wife, Mertie Boughton White, in 1904 to curate the Texas exhibit in the World's Fair. While White's Texas panoramas represented the majority of the exhibit, works from other well-known Texas artists were also included such as those from [Elisabet Ney](/source/Elisabet_Ney), [Pompeo Coppini](/source/Pompeo_Coppini), and [Robert Jenkins Onderdonk's](/source/Robert_Jenkins_Onderdonk) ''The Fall of the Alamo''. White earned praise at the fair including being awarded a first prize for a still life titled ''Basket of Peaches in the Love Orchard at [Jacksonville](/source/Jacksonville%2C_Texas)''.Obituary, "Mr. Verner White," ''The Chautauquan Weekly'', Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, New York, 1923. After the closing of the fair, the Whites decided to stay in St. Louis and bought a home near the former fairgrounds in the St. Louis suburb of [Richmond Heights](/source/Richmond_Heights%2C_Missouri). White spent the remainder of his life living and working primarily in St. Louis. He opened a studio in the city, and worked as a staff artist and special correspondent for the [St. Louis Globe](/source/St._Louis_Globe-Democrat) newspaper. thumb|right|400px|''St. Louis Waterfront at Celebration of Opening of Mississippi Deeper Waterway'', Courtesy of The Mariners' Museum In 1907, White was awarded a commission from the Keokuk Commercial Club to create an aerial view painting of the [dam](/source/Lock_and_Dam_No._19) and city of [Keokuk](/source/Keokuk%2C_Iowa), [Iowa](/source/Iowa) that was given to President [Theodore Roosevelt](/source/Theodore_Roosevelt). White painted for a third United States President in 1909 when he painted a large oil of the fleet of steamboats that President [William Howard Taft](/source/William_Howard_Taft) and his entourage took on a [Mississippi River](/source/Mississippi_River) tour from St. Louis to [New Orleans](/source/New_Orleans). The painting was later given to Taft by the [St. Louis Chamber of Commerce](/source/Regional_Chamber_and_Growth_Association), and now resides in [The Mariners' Museum](/source/Mariners'_Museum) in [Newport News](/source/Newport_News%2C_Virginia), Virginia. White painted his second work for [William Jennings Bryan](/source/William_Jennings_Bryan) when the [Chautauqua Association](/source/Chautauqua) commissioned him to paint a large oil titled ''Bryan Day at Chautauqua'' which was presented to Bryan at a conference near [Elsah](/source/Elsah%2C_Illinois), [Illinois](/source/Illinois). During his St. Louis period, White continued to paint marine and hunting scenes, but may have been best known for his depictions of blossoming fruit trees. The apple trees near his home in St. Louis would become one of his favorite motifs, and White would become widely recognized for the theme. White's paintings were distributed by galleries in St. Louis, [Chicago](/source/Chicago), [New York City](/source/New_York_City), and [Boston](/source/Boston), and special catalogues were produced for sales in Texas where he remained popular. In his later years, White spent much of his time teaching in St. Louis and became very involved with the Chautauqua Association. On August 30, 1923, Verner White died of a heart attack at the [Chautauqua Institution](/source/Chautauqua_Institution) in [Chautauqua](/source/Chautauqua%2C_New_York), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)) while at a banquet being given in his honor. ===Gallery of apple blossom paintings by White=== File:Verner Moore White Apple Blossoms.JPG File:Verner White Trees.jpg File:Verner White scene.jpg File:Verner Moore White Apple Blossom Scene.jpg ==References== {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Verner Moore}} Category:1863 births Category:1923 deaths Category:American landscape painters Category:American portrait painters Category:People from Lunenburg County, Virginia Category:Painters from Texas Category:Painters from Missouri Category:St. Louis Globe-Democrat people Category:Artists from St. Louis Category:Rhodes College alumni Category:19th-century American painters Category:American male painters Category:20th-century American painters Category:Painters from Virginia Category:Journalists from Virginia Category:19th-century American male artists Category:20th-century American male artists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Verner Moore White](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verner_Moore_White) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verner_Moore_White?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.