James E. SEWARD
1927–2012, USA

James Seward was born in Alabama, and raised in Tennessee. When he was six, his grandfather bought him his first set of oil paints, and as a young child he often painted his grandparents by lamp-light, to their great astonishment. After military service, Seward spent a year studying art under Howard Boyd Johnson at Watkins Institute in Nashville. In 1947, he enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he met his wife, Lyn. A year later they were married. After graduation, Seward apprenticed at two Chicago commercial art studios, but in 1954, the family moved to Cleveland. After a year with an agency, he joined Union Gospel Press for the next six years. Seward completed over 22 illustrations for a Doubleday book entitled "Ancient Greece". In 1987 and 1989, he was one of 100 artists from around the country picked for the National Arts in the Parks Competition. He has had commissions for portraiture by many organizations. His paintings are owned by such corporate collecgtions as the General Motors Corporation, the Wells Fargo Bank, The McDonald Investment Company, and the Will Rogers Museum in Oklahoma.

Source: http://www.aspireauctions.com