Edmund Darch Lewis (American, 1835-1910), Landscape with Figures and Cattle

Watercolor and whitening on paper (laid on fine linen), 1885, signed and dated at lower left, presented under glass in the likely original gilt composition frame with wide sanded liner.

Stretcher size 40 x 30 in.; Frame dimensions 57 x 47 in.

From the Collection of James H. Craig and Randy S. Johnson, Sarasota, Florida and Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Leland Little Auctions, Hillsborough, North Carolina, March 14, 2020, Lot 299

Edmund Darch Lewis was a most prolific and commercially successful American landscape painter, best known for his crisply detailed and luminous views of waterways, shorelines, and rural scenery in the Northeast. Born in Philadelphia, he began studying art at age fifteen with the German-born landscapist Paul Weber and first exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1854; he was elected an associate in 1859 and a full Academician in 1862. He also showed at the Boston Athenaeum, the National Academy of Design, and the Brooklyn Art Association. Early in his career he focused on the Lehigh, Susquehanna, and Wissahickon Rivers, earning praise for his “tremendous talent” and quickly establishing a national following.

Although best known for scenes around Philadelphia, Lewis also painted views of New York, New England, and Cuba, later concentrating on coastal subjects at Cape May, New Jersey, and Narragansett, Rhode Island. He frequently depicted schooners in calm harbors, working mills, and secluded cottages. Influenced by contemporaries such as Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt, his large, romantic landscapes align with the Hudson River School tradition. While he worked in oil and gouache, he increasingly favored watercolor. His artistic success brought him considerable wealth, enabling him to assemble a collection of fine and decorative arts that he displayed in his Philadelphia residence. Today, his paintings are held in numerous public collections.

Overall toning to sheet; blistering to color; some surface damage to paper along center left edge; minor chipping to frame.