Cleveland Rockwell

Cleveland Rockwell was a marine survey illustrator, topographer, mapmaker, and painter known for his coastal and river scenes. Early in his career, he worked for the Coast Geodetic Department, contributing to a survey of New York Harbor and a mapping tour of South America, including charting the Magdalena River in Colombia. Rockwell received childhood art training and studied engineering at the Polytechnic School in Troy, New York, and the University of New York. During the Civil War, he served in the Union Army, including work with General Sherman during his march through Georgia. After the war, he continued with the Geodetic Survey, surveying areas across California, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alaska. His watercolors of southeast Alaska are highly regarded. In 1892, Rockwell retired and became a full-time painter. He was a founding member of the Portland Art Club, and his expeditions provided inspiration for his later oil and watercolor paintings.