T.C. STEELE

b. 1847- d. 1926 / American

T.C. Steele was an American Impressionist painter, best known for his landscape paintings in Indiana. He is one of the most famous members of the “Hoosier Group” which included other American Impressionist painters. Steele first discovered his potential while attending a college prep school, Waveland Collegiate Institute, and by the time he was 13 years old, he was giving other student drawing lessons. He also was enrolled in schools in Cincinnati and Chicago for a period of time. When he moved to Indianapolis, he began his journey as a portrait artist. He began painting portraits of wealthy Indianapolis residents, which provided him with the funds to do five years of studying in Munich, Germany at the Royal Academy, alongside J. Ottis Adams, William Forsyth and Otto Stark, other members of the Hoosier Group. In 1885, he returned to Indianapolis where he opened an art school. He continued his portrait work, although his real passion was painting landscapes and spent a lot of time in the countryside to work on them. 

Steele’s work is displayed in many public collections including Art Museum of Greater Lafayette, Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Memorial Union, Indiana State Museum and Indiana University Art Museum.