Painter. He is recognized as an American painter using "oil wash" to capture the Louisiana swamps and countryside. Giving his work a dreamy, foggy appearance, he would dilute oil paint in kerosene to make his famous "oil wash." A prolific painter, he painted at least 10,000 canvases during his career. Born in Georgia as the son of a Reverend Alexander I. Drysdale, an ordained Episcopal priest, his father relocated the family in 1885 to Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans. The young Alexander had his first private art lesson from a Miss Haskell, who was briefly in New Orleans as instructor at the Art Union, and later as a teenager, he studied under well-respected artist Paul Poincy in New Orleans. In 1901 he studied at the Art Students League in New York with teachers Bryson Burroughs, Charles C. Curran and Frank Vincent Du Monde. He never traveled to Europe to study art. Before his art could give him an income, he was a banker. He was a progenitor of the French Quarter Art School that persists to this day. He was a member of the Artists' Association in New Orleans from 1889 until his death. In 1909, he was awarded a gold medal by the Artists' Association. Following his death, Drysdale's atmospheric landscapes in watercolor and oil have become increasingly popular among residence of Louisiana. Today, he is one of the most sought-after Louisiana artists with recent auction listings selling for thousands of dollars. He married and the couple had one son.
Painter. He is recognized as an American painter using "oil wash" to capture the Louisiana swamps and countryside. Giving his work a dreamy, foggy appearance, he would dilute oil paint in kerosene to make his famous "oil wash." A prolific painter, he painted at least 10,000 canvases during his career. Born in Georgia as the son of a Reverend Alexander I. Drysdale, an ordained Episcopal priest, his father relocated the family in 1885 to Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans. The young Alexander had his first private art lesson from a Miss Haskell, who was briefly in New Orleans as instructor at the Art Union, and later as a teenager, he studied under well-respected artist Paul Poincy in New Orleans. In 1901 he studied at the Art Students League in New York with teachers Bryson Burroughs, Charles C. Curran and Frank Vincent Du Monde. He never traveled to Europe to study art. Before his art could give him an income, he was a banker. He was a progenitor of the French Quarter Art School that persists to this day. He was a member of the Artists' Association in New Orleans from 1889 until his death. In 1909, he was awarded a gold medal by the Artists' Association. Following his death, Drysdale's atmospheric landscapes in watercolor and oil have become increasingly popular among residence of Louisiana. Today, he is one of the most sought-after Louisiana artists with recent auction listings selling for thousands of dollars. He married and the couple had one son.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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