Minerva J. Chapman

Minerva Josephine Chapman (1858–1947) was an American painter. She was known for her work in miniature portraiture, landscape, and still life. Early life Minerva Josephine Chapman was born December 6, 1858, in Sand Bank, now called Altmar, New York. Her parents were Josephine and James L. Chapman. Nicknamed Minnie, she grew up on Vernon Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. She had younger brothers Wilbert, Irving and James and a younger sister, Blanche. Education Chapman was financially able to live an independent life and pursue college and art education due to her father's success as a banker and tannery owner. At the same time, women were allowed entry into prestigious art academies in the United States and in France. She studied at the Mount Holyoke College where she was in the junior class in 1867 and in the graduating class of 1878 In 1875 she attended the University of Chicago. Between 1880 and 1886 she studied privately with Annie C. Shaw and then with John Vanderpoel at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During that time she also traveled and was educated in the eastern United States.