John Kavanagh

Born in Canada to Irish immigrant parents, John Kavanagh’s name is first mentioned in Cleveland’s historical record in 1875, listed as a phographic printer. Two years later he advertised himself as an artist. After studying briefly at the National Academy of Design in New York, he returned to Cleveland and established a reputation as a crayon portrait artist. From 1882 to 1884 he lived in Munich, studying with genre painters Nikolaus Gysys and Ludwig von Löffitz. Kavanagh returned to Cleveland for two years, where he held a week-long solo exhibition at the James F. Ryder Gallery before...