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Rebecca Salsbury Strand James, nee Salsbury, was born in London, England in 1891 while her parents traveled. Her father was Nathan Salsbury, the manager of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. After her father’s death in 1902, she settled in New York with her mother, two older brothers, and twin sister. She met photographer Paul Strand and they were married in 1922. Strand and fellow photographer Alfred Stieglitz often photographed her. She became close friends with painter Georgia O’Keeffe, another member of the Photo-Secession circle. It was during a trip with O’Keeffe to Taos, New Mexico that she discovered reverse oil painting on glass as well as colcha embroidery. James received no formal artistic training, but rather, taught herself. She often painted portraits of Indians and large-scale flower compositions. After a tumultuous and suffocating marriage, she divorced Strand in 1933 and moved to Taos, New Mexico. She continued to paint and exhibit her work throughout the 1930s. In 1937 she married William H. James and was politically active in her community. As she grew older, she was overcome by rheumatoid arthritis. The rapidly spreading disease rendered her incapable of painting. She died in Taos, New Mexico in July 1968, a year after the death of her husband.