James Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917): A Life Etched in Realism James Carroll Beckwith, born September 23rd, 1852, in Hannibal, Missouri—a town steeped in literary history thanks to Twain’s *Huckleberry Finn*—was an American landscape, portrait and genre painter whose naturalist style cemented his reputation as a respected figure in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century American art. His journey began amidst considerable hardship; the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871 tragically destroyed much of his initial artistic endeavors, forcing him eastward toward New York City and ultimately propelli…