Described by the New Haven Register newspaper as "the artist who refused to part with his works," George Candee was a prolific and highly regarded landscape and still-life painter. His style was realist combined with tonalism and luminism. Between 1865 and 1870, he traveled and sketched extensively in Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut and then created finishing oils and watercolors in his New Haven studio.

He was born in New Haven, where his family's business was the Candee Rubber Company. His father was a conservative businessman, who discouraged his son from becoming an artist, but Candee's uncle, James English, then Governor of Connecticut, recognized his talent and sent him to Rome where he could study at the Umbrian School. His roommate in 1870 and 1871 was George Inness.

While in Italy, Candee traveled the countryside extensively, and unlike many of his contemporaries, was not lacking funds, so he could paint purely for his love of beauty. Upon his return, he painted in New Haven and Long Island, and also traveled to New Hampshire, Martha's Vineyard, and Lake George.

He made no effort to sell his work, and turned down offers for purchase; in fact, during his lifetime, he would not permit any of his work to be sold, and at his death, the body of his collection went to his niece, Mrs. Anna Candee Burton. However, she has sold only a few, and the remainder are in the estate.

Source:
Grogan & Company, 12/2/2001 Auction Catalogue
Who Was Who in American Art by Peter Falk