James Alexander Simpson

James Alexander Simpson (1805 - May 1, 1880) was an American painter, best remembered today for his long association with Georgetown University.

[3] Simpson is well-remembered for his time teaching at Georgetown University; five landscape depictions of the campus which he produced in the late 1820s and early 1830s have been prominently displayed in Carroll Parlor and the president's office, and are used as the basis of advertising posters for the school.

[5][6] Other works in the university's art collection include portraits of Stephen Decatur,[7] George Washington,[8] and Francis Neale;[9] a trompe-l'œil bookcase titled Library Door;[10] and a self-portrait, dated 1847, which was accessioned from his heirs in 2009.

[12] Long displayed in the Peabody Room of the Georgetown branch of the District of Columbia Public Library, it was placed on long-term loan to the National Portrait Gallery in 2016.

A pendant to the Mamout portrait, depicting "Guinea Sarah", is known to have existed at one time, but is currently unlocated; were it to be found, it would be the only extant oil painting of an African-American woman who was brought to America on a slave ship.