Samuel H. Crone

Samuel Crone was virtually unknown until a 1997 exhibition of his work was held in Memphis, Tennessee, his childhood home. We know almost nothing about his early life and training except that he worked in a Memphis photographic studio. In 1877, while still a teenager, he was listed as an "artist" in the city registry. By the end of that same year he had enrolled at the Bavarian Royal Academy of Art in Munich, Germany. Crone spent most of his life in Europe and supported himself and his wife, Sarah (known as Sadie), through the sale of his oil paintings. He showed paintings at major...