Joseph Raphael, a painter of sunlit floral landscapes and a graphic artist of some renown, was born in San Francisco, California in 1869. He demonstrated an early affinity for art by copying the works of such popular illustrators as Charles Dana Gibson. In 1888, Raphael entered the Mark Hopkins Institute of the San Francisco Art Association. During his four-year course of study, he won a prestigious scholarship, in addition to receiving employment as a teaching assistant.

Raphael was active in the San Francisco area during the 1890s, first as a newspaper illustrator and later as a sign painter. By 1903 he had saved enough money to pursue studies in Paris. He attended classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie Julian under Jean-Paul Laurens. During this Parisian interval, he supported himself by creating illustrations for a number of French magazines. The same year Raphael discovered the artist's colony in the charming town of Laren, southeast of Amsterdam, and until 1911, he divided his time between that community and Paris. During his sojourn in Laren he produced work that reflects the sombre, tonal genre scenes of the Hague School artists. Its merit was acknowledged in 1906 when Raphael received an honorable mention at the Paris Salon for The Feast of the Burgomaster. Also in 1906, his oil The Town Crier was purchased from a San Francisco Art Association exhibition and donated to the M. H. de Young Museum.

In 1910, Raphael stayed for eight months in San Francisco, where he exhibited his predominantly figural Dutch series at the Art Association. Following his return to Laren in 1912, he married Johanna Jongkindt and moved to a small cottage in Uccle, a suburb of Brussels. Raphael's Uccle works are characterized by luminous renditions of his bountiful flower and vegetable garden, painted with a light palette and broad divisionist strokes, reflecting his study in Paris. This vibrant style earned the artist the silver medal at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, where six of his canvases were displayed.

In the teens, Raphael discovered a new outlet for his talents, that of etching. By 1913, his first prints began appearing at the California Association of Etchers. A war-induced shortage of art materials, beginning around 1918, prompted the artist to turn to alternate media, and he began to work in pen and ink, watercolor and woodcut, for which supplies were more available.

Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, Raphael continued to send oils, etchings, watercolors and woodcuts to exhibitions in California, establishing a continuing reputation in the Bay area in spite of his prolonged absence.

The Depression years were difficult for the Raphael family. In 1934, increasing rent forced them to move to Oegstgeest, a suburb of Leiden, where the artist again had space for a vegetable and flower garden, by now a favorite subject. In 1939, Raphael visited San Francisco, taking along many paintings and prints created during the 1930s. The outbreak of World War II prevented his return to Europe and unfortunately he was unable to see his wife before she died in 1945. Instead, he remained in San Francisco, continuing his successful career with sunlit scenes of Northern California, until his death in 1950.

Although Joseph Raphael spent most of his life in Europe, he is considered one of the foremost exponents of Northern California Impressionism. He is widely acclaimed for his original and vigorous outdoor scenes. Raphael's work is represented in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the M. H. de Young Museum, San Francisco; the Oakland Museum of California; the San Diego Museum of Art; the Stanford University Museum and Art Gallery; and many other public and private collections.


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