Martin LewisRainy Day, Queens1931
1931
About the Item
- Creator:Martin Lewis (1881-1962, American, Australian)
- Creation Year:1931
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU51531771633
Martin Lewis
Martin Lewis was born in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia, on June 7th, 1881. He was the second of eight children and had a passion for drawing.
At the age of 15, Lewis left home and traveled in New South Wales, Australia, and in New Zealand, working as a pothole digger and a merchant seaman. He returned to Sydney and settled into a Bohemian community outside Sydney. Two of his drawings were published in the radical Sydney newspaper, The Bulletin. He studied with Julian Ashton at the Art Society's School in Sydney. Ashton was an English-born Australian artist and teacher known for his support of the Heidelberg School and for his influential art school in Sydney.
In 1900, Lewis left Australia for the United States. His first job was in San Francisco, painting stage decorations for William McKinley's presidential campaign of 1900. By 1909, Lewis was living in New York, where he found work in commercial illustration. His earliest known etching is dated 1915. However, the level of skill in this piece suggests he had been working in the medium for some time previously. It was during this period that he helped Edward Hopper learn the basics of etching.
In 1920, after the breakup of a romance, Lewis traveled to Japan, where for two years he drew and painted and studied Japanese art. The influence of Japanese prints is very evident in Lewis's prints after that period. In 1925, he returned to etching and produced most of his well-known works between 1925 and 1935. Lewis's first solo exhibition in 1929 was successful enough for him to give up commercial work and concentrate entirely on printmaking.
Lewis is most famous for his black and white prints, mostly of night scenes of non-tourist, real-life street scenes of New York City. During the Depression, however, he was forced to leave the city for four years between 1932 and 1936 and move to Newtown, Connecticut. His work from this period includes a number of rural, night-time, and winter landscape scenes in this area.
Lewis returned to Manhattan in 1936 and continued to etch and paint. He taught printmaking at the Art Students League of New York from 1944 until his retirement in 1952. Now he is considered one of the most important American printmakers of the twentieth century.
Find original Martin Lewis prints and other art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Allinson Gallery, Inc.)
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Tree, ManhattanBy Martin LewisLocated in New York, NYMartin Lewis (1881-1962), Tree, Manhattan, drypoint, 1930, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower left]. Reference: McCarron 87, only state; 91 recorded impress...Category
1930s American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsDrypoint
- Walking in the WoodsBy Frank Arthur NankivellLocated in New York, NYFrank Arthur Nankivell (18691959), [Walking in the Woods at Night], drypoint, c. 1910, signed in pencil lower right. Printed on a cream laid paper. In good condition, with margins (s...Category
1910s American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsDrypoint
- Shadows, Garage at NightBy Martin LewisLocated in New York, NYMartin Lewis (1881-1962, Shadows, Garage at Night, drypoint, 1928, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower right]. Reference: McCarron 69, only state, from the t...Category
1930s American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsDrypoint
- Erie RR and FactoriesBy Reginald MarshLocated in New York, NYReginald Marsh (1898-1954), Erie RR and Factories, etching and engraving, 1930, signed in pencil lower right and numbered (10) lower left [also signed and dated in the plate]. Refere...Category
1930s American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsDrypoint, Engraving, Etching
- Jersey City LandscapeBy Reginald MarshLocated in New York, NYReginald Marsh (1896-1954), Jersey City Landscape, etching and engraving, 1939, signed in pencil lower right [also signed and dated in the plate]. Referenc...Category
1930s American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsEngraving, Etching
- The Mill, Amsterdam, 1889By James Abbott McNeill WhistlerLocated in New York, NYJames Whistler (1834-1903), The Mill, 1889, etching and drypoint, signed in pencil with the butterfly on the tab and inscribed “imp”, and inscribed “first state” (twice) and annotated “Wunderlich” and signed again with the butterfly verso. Reference: Kennedy 413, first state (of 5). Glasgow 457, second state (of 6; see discussion below) (cf. Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011) On laid paper, in very good condition, trimmed just outside of the platemark all around except for the tab by the artist, 6 1/4 x 9 3/8 inches. A very fine impression of this great rarity, printed in black/brown ink with a slight veil of plate tone. provenance: H. Wunderlich & Co., New York Louis B. Dailey, New York (Lugt 4500) sale, Sotheby’s, New York, October 31, 2003, lot 69 literature; Neue Lagerliste 122: James McNeill Whistler – Etchings...Category
1880s Impressionist Landscape Prints
MaterialsDrypoint, Etching
- Manhattan NocturneBy Armin LandeckLocated in Myrtle Beach, SCA superb, richly-inked, early impression, in warm black ink, on cream wove paper; the full sheet with wide margins (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches). Signed in pencil and dedicated by the art...Category
1930s American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsDrypoint
- 12th Street Walls — 1940s New York CityBy Armin LandeckLocated in Myrtle Beach, SCArmin Landeck, '12th Street Walls', etching, edition 100, first state, 1944, Kraeft 93. Signed in pencil. Initialed in the plate lower left. A superb, early impression, with all the ...Category
1940s American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsDrypoint
- 'Gloucester Harbor 2' — Mid-Century East Coast RegionalismLocated in Myrtle Beach, SCLawrence Nelson Wilbur, 'Gloucester Harbor', drypoint, 1940. Signed, dated, and titled in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower right. Annotated 'PERSONAL...Category
1940s American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsDrypoint
- West Cornwall Station.By Armin LandeckLocated in New York, NYArmin Landeck created this 1936 drypoint was printed in an edition of 100. The image size is 6 7/8 x 10 7/8" and the paper size 12 1/2 x 16". It is Signed and dated in the...Category
Mid-20th Century American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsDrypoint
- BastionsBy Michael Di CerboLocated in Fairfield, CTMichael Di Cerbo was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1947. He received his BFA and MFA from Pratt Institute. He is a member of the National Academy of Art, the Society of American...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsAquatint, Drypoint
- ParapetsBy Michael Di CerboLocated in Fairfield, CTMichael Di Cerbo was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1947. He received his BFA and MFA from Pratt Institute. He is a member of the National Academy of Art, the Society of American...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Landscape Prints
MaterialsEtching, Drypoint, Aquatint
