Joseph Dwight Strong

Joseph Dwight Strong, Jr. (1853–1899) was an American artist and illustrator, known for his paintings. He was active between 1870s until 1899, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey, Kingdom of Hawaii, and Samoa. Early life and education Strong was born September 15, 1853, in Westport, Connecticut, to father Reverend Joseph Dwight Strong and mother Margaret Dewing Bixby Strong. He had six siblings, his sister was painter Elizabeth Strong. His childhood was spent in Honolulu with his family for a few years before moving to Oakland, California, in 1859. He was an early photographer, taking many photos of Berkeley. He enrolled at the California School of Design (now known as San Francisco Art Institute) with his sister Elizabeth. At California School of Design he studied with Virgil Macey Williams and Tobias Edward Rosenthal. The residents of Oakland and the Mayor, raised funds to send Strong to Munich for four years of further study under Karl von Piloty and Alexander Wagner. Strong left for Munich, Germany in 1872. Career In 1878, Strong shared a house in Monterey, California, with his sister Elizabeth. While he was in Monterey, he courted his future wife Isobel Osbourne and made many portraits of her. Returning to San Francisco a few months later, the couple got an apartment at 7 Montgomery Street. He worked as an illustrator for Elliott and Co., working on the book the Illustrated History of Monterey County.