William Semple
Nationality: American
Date of birth: 17 September 1881
Date of death: 15 September 1962
Place of death: Ohio
Category: collector, classicist
Date of birth: 17 September 1881
Date of death: 15 September 1962
Place of death: Ohio
Category: collector, classicist
Identity:
William Semple was an assistant professor in the classics department at the University of Cincinnati: he was head of the department from 1920-1959. He married Anna Louise Taft (1879-1961).
Life:
Whistler's A Girl by a Shelf y048 was bought in 1940 by William Semple and his wife, Anna Louise Taft Semple. She bequeathed it to the Taft Museum of Art, , Cincinnati, which had been lavishly supported and endowed by her family.
Bibliography:
Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 .
'The Taft Influence', UC Magazine, University of Cincinnati website. 'Department of Classics', website.
