Robert Swain Gifford, an American painter, born in Naushon, Mass., Dec. 23, 1840. He studied in New York with Albert Van Beest, and in 1869 made an extensive sketching tour through California and Oregon, and furnished for Appleton's "Picturesque America" (1872-'3) views of the Columbia river, northern California, and the coast of California. He spent the year 1870 and a part of 1871 in Europe, Egypt, and northern Africa, making sketches. Among his best works are The Rock of Gibraltar" and "A Lazy Day in Egypt."