Perkins was born October 16, 1930 in Baltimore, Maryland. His first formal studies where in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art under American landscape painter and etcher, James Hamilton (1819-1898). It was during these studies that he first started exhibiting at the Academy. In 1856, Perkins exhibited his first painting, #306 "Cape Croix, Cuba".

In 1860, Granville Perkins traveled to New York to work as an illustrator for Harper & Bros. in Franklin Square. While working at Harper & Bros., he continued his studies and was invited to exhibit at the National Academy of Design. Perkins became a frequent exhibitor at the National Academy of Design between 1862 to 1883. He also worked as an illustrator for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper in 1874.

As an accomplished water colorist, Granville Perkins became a member of the New York Watercolor Society. He exhibited his watercolors at the National Academy of Design and at the Chicago Art Institute in 1889 and 1894.

Museums:
Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, Connecticut
Peabody Museum of Art, Salem, Massachusetts

Listed:
The Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1888-1950 E. Benezit,Vol.8, pg.224
Dictionary of Marine Artists, Pg.299
Exhibition of the National Academy, 1861-1900, Vol. 2, pg.735
Who was Who in American Art, Falk, pg.479

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton