John Gadsby Chapman was born in Alexandria, Virginia. Searching for instruction in art, he first went to the studio of Charles Bird King in Washington, D.C., then to that of the drawing master, Peter Ancora, in Philadelphia, and finally to Italy, where he took two sketching trips with Samuel F. B. Morse, took a life class in one of the academies in Rome, and made the usual copies of Old Masters. He returned to the United States and settled in New York in 1831, and in 1832 was elected an Associate at the National Academy of Design. Full membership at the N.A.D. came 1836. For the next dozen years, Chapman remained in New York and became an important part of artist life in the city, including membership in the Sketch Club. He also published an instructional manual titled American Drawing Book in 1847, which was meant to be useful in the teaching of drawing to both professional and amateur artists.
