Just prior to his graduation from Union College in 1848, William James Stillman began to plan for a career in landscape painting. He first wrote to Thomas Cole, asking to be his pupil. Cole accepted him, but died before Stillman was to commence study. Stillman then applied to Durand who declined to take any students at that time. Finally Stillman was accepted by Frederic E. Church, himself a student of Cole and just beginning to establish his name as a landscapist. Stillman studied with Church in the latter's New York studio during that winter. The following year he decided to study in England, where he met Turner and began his friendship with Ruskin.
The young artist opened a New York City studio in 1851. That same year a meeting with the Hungarian patriot, Lajos Kossuth, inspired Stillman to take part in covert political activity in Kossuth's homeland. The artist returned to New York City the following year. (ABG: all in brackets you have a "?" mark) [In January 1855, he and John Durand, Asher B. Durand's son, founded the nation's first art magazine, The Crayon. Stillman wrote most of the unsigned articles, editorials and reviews for the publication from its inception until he left the staff due to exhaustion in June 1856.] Shortly afterward he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where in 1858 he helped found the Adirondack Club, whose members included Emerson and Louis Agassiz.
In 1859 Stillman left for Europe; aside from occassional visits, he did not return to the U.S. Stillman, apprently because of a negative reaction to Ruskin's criticism of his work, gave up his career in painting in 1860. Stillman was appointed American Consul in Rome in 1862, and held a similar post in Crete from 1865 to 1869. After a year spent in Athens, he moved to London and began working as a free lance reporter. In 1886 Stillman was appointed a staff reporter for the London Times. He wrote on events in Greece and Italy from his residence in Rome for twelve years before retiring to England.
Stillman began exhibiting at the NAD in 1851 and showed regularly until 1859. His only subsequent contribution was a study of the Tyrol sent from Brooklyn, possibly during a return visit to the United States. In addition to showing at the Academy, he exhibited at the Brooklyn Athenaeum, the Washington Art Association, the American Art Union, and the Young Men's Association, Troy, NY. Stillman wrote many articles and books on art, politics and archaeology. His autobiography was published in 1901.
