Charles Henry Gifford

Gifford was born on July 13, 1839, in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. He was initially apprenticed as a ship's carpenter, the same profession as his father. However, Charles soon quit that to become a shoemaker.^[1] Gifford taught himself how to paint after seeing one of Albert Bierstadt's paintings.^[1][2]

Gifford served in the American Civil War and became a prisoner of war at the Confederate-run Libby Prison, where he developed lifelong health problems.^[1][2] He became a painter full-time after the war.^[2][1] Gifford worked in the luminist style, and has also been considered a member of the Hudson River School art movement.^[1] He built a tower at his house in Fairhaven for better views of the sea and sky.^[2]

Gifford died on January 20, 1904, at his home in Fairhaven.^[1][2] He was survived by his wife and five married daughters.^[2]

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