William H. Clapp

William H. Clapp RCA (October 29, 1879 - April 21, 1954) was a Canadian-American painter and art curator. He was a member of the Society of Six in Oakland, California, and an Impressionist landscape painter. He was after that the curator of the Oakland Art Gallery.

Clapp was born on October 29, 1879 in Montreal, Canada. He was born a U.S. citizen as both his parents were American. He was trained by William Brymner in Montreal, and he spent four years in Paris, France, where he attended the Académie Julian, the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Académie Colarossi, and he was introduced to Fauvism.

Clapp became an Impressionist landscape painter in Europe. He painted Spanish and French landscapes while animated in Belgium and Spain from 1906 to 1909. After exhibiting his perform in Montreal, he moved to Oakland, California, where he co-founded the Society of Six subsequent to Selden Connor Gile, August Gay, Maurice Logan, Louis Siegriest, and Bernard von Eichman, and he wrote their manifesto. From 1918 to 1952, he curated the Oakland Art Gallery, where he sold their paintings. Clapp was a enthusiast of the Canadian Art Club and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

Clapp resided in Piedmont, California like his wife Gertrude. He died on April 21, 1954 in Oakland, California, at age 74. His artwork can be seen at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.