William Wilson Cowell (American, 1848-1910), Long Island Sound

Oil on panel, 1875, signed at lower right, inscribed dated to verso "Long Island Sound / G. L. Baldwin NY / 1875," presented in a period giltwood composition frame.

Panel 6 5/8 x 11 in.; Frame dimensions 15 1/8 x 19 1/2 in.

From the Collection of Dr. John Wessels, Durham, North Carolina
Leland Little Auctions, December 11, 2024, Lot 4053
Private Collection, Raleigh, North Carolina

William Wilson Cowell was born in Boston to William Cowell and a well-known Chicago actress, Anna Cruise Cowell. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under the noted marine artists Edward Moran and John Faulkner.

Cowell embraced the luminist style, with paintings characterized by low horizons and diffused, glowing light, often depicting ships at sunset or under moonlit skies. He worked primarily in the Northeast - the Adirondack Mountains and Hudson River in New York; Newport and the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island; Marblehead, Massachusetts and the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.

Cowell exhibited work at the Brooklyn Art Association, the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Age cracking; natural separations and minor losses to the frame.