Henry Alexander was unusual for artists of his time in that he was born in San Francisco to a pioneer California family. The artist recorded the people, places, and professions of his era. At 17, he traveled to Germany for training, studying at the Royal Academy in Munich under Ludwig von Löfftz and Wilhelm von Lindenschmit, who taught him to paint in a precise, academic style. Two years later, he held his first public exhibition in Munich.

Alexander left Germany in 1884 and became recognized for depictions of working people using the tools of their trade. He exhibited The Capmaker in New York City before returning to San Francisco. Shown at the National Academy of Design, it “drew merited attention to him” and was subsequently purchased by Thomas B. Clarke, one of the premier collectors of 19th-century American art. In 1891, when the painting was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy, it was described as depicting the “lofty window of an old mansion which has been converted into a workshop. . . . The composition is replete with detail and with mechanical accessories, all carefully and truthfully rendered. The subject was painted on the spot, in a New York City factory.”(1)

In 1887, Alexander left San Francisco for New York City, taking a studio on West Tenth Street. He committed suicide at age 34, and though his life was short, Alexander left behind a small but extraordinary group of paintings documenting late 19th-century life.