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James Albert Clark was born 17 February 1863 to animal painter James Clark and his second wife Frances. They lived at 21 Walbrook Street, Hoxton, and later at 67 Riversdale Road, Islington. He had four older half-brothers who were also artists: Samuel James, Albert, Charles Lawrence and Octavius Thomas Clark. James Albert is best known for his horse portraits.
The family's census return of 1881 gives eighteen year-old James' occupation as artist/animal painter. Eight years later he married Mary Ann Blight and the couple had one daughter and one son. Mary died in the late 1890's and James subsequently married his cousin Frances Charlotte Parsons. They had one son and one daughter, and the family moved to Landseer Road in Holloway. James' eldest son Horace also worked as an artist but there are no auction records of paintings by him.
In his youth, James Albert Clark worked with his father as a team, signing their paintings "James Clark and Son" with their home address carefully written below the signature. Later he would sign his own work as J. A. Clark, J. Albert Clark, or James Iii Clark (his grandfather, a schoolmaster and artist, was also named James). After the death of his father, James was also employed as a picture restorer by James Lawrence Castiglione, a fine art auctioneer and picture dealer for the Clarks. In 1912 Castiglione was charged with perjury, and Samuel James Clark spoke on behalf of the Clark family at his trial* at the Old Bailey:
"I have a half-brother named James Clark; he has been brought up to paint, but mostly he is employed by [Castiglione] to go into the country and see if there are any pictures worth purchasing and to repair and restore pictures. He lives at 6 Landseer Road, Holloway."
During World War I James Albert Clark parted from his second wife Frances. He moved to 79 Hanley Road, Islington, with his two eldest children and lived with Annie Keen, with whom he had another son and daughter. A friend of the family recalls that James used the middle floor of the house as his studio. There he painted country scenes with unfinished cows, bulls, pigs, or horses, etc. He would then travel to the Islington Agricultural Hall with several of these canvases under his arm, whenever a show was happening. He would sell these paintings to the winners, finishing details of their animal on the day. He also continued to work for the Castiglione family as a restorer, and "alterist" (adding subjects to others' paintings), until the 1930's, but eventually he gave up painting and became an antiques dealer.
Like his half-brothers and father, James Albert Clark is not known to have exhibited with any of the major art societies. He died in 1955, aged 92.
"Portrait of a Working Cob" 1895 Reproduced by kind permission of James McIver
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