Joseph Raphael, a painter and etcher, was born in Jackson, California in 1869. At age 18 Raphael began a ten year study period at the School of Design in San Francisco under Arthur Mathews and Douglas Tilden. In 1902 he furthered his art studies in Paris at Ecole des Beaux-Arts and Academie Julian under Laurens. Europe remained his home for the next 37 years, spending most of his time in Holland, France, and Belgium while his San Francisco agent exhibited his paintings regularly in local shows.
With World War II approaching, he moved to San Francisco in 1939 and maintained a studio at 345 Sutter Street until his death on December 11, 1950. His early works were influenced by Dutch genre painting, but his proximity to the French Impressionists soon lightened his palette. Internationally known, he was one of the foremost advocates of Impressionism in California. Primarily an oil painter, his oeuvre also includes watercolors, etching, pen and ink drawings, and woodcuts.