Wesley Webber

“Misty Morning”

Circa 1890

Beautiful oil on canvas painting by the American Impressionist artist Louis H. Richardson. Signed lower right and dated 1917. Overall framed measurements in original Newcomb Macklin frame 27.5 by 31.25 inches. Louis H Richardson [1853-1923] American Impressionist : Louis H. Richardson was born in New Bedford, MA, where he lived and worked until his death in 1923. Richardson was a self-taught Impressionist artist, most known for his sensitive paintings of the landscape surrounding New Bedford and the Dartmouth area. From his shanty shack studio at Salters Point in South Dartmouth, he would paint the wetlands and feature water, trees, the sky and land. In 1917, Richardson was part of a two-man show in New York City with artist Clifford W. Ashley at the Arlington Art Galleries on Madison Avenue. Of his show, The New Bedford Sunday Standard wrote: “His style is so absolutely his own that the simple mention of his name recalls to mind vividly the salt marshes, the soft browns of silent reaches near the sea, wind-blown inlets, flying clouds. … Some of it reaches a height of charm and truth that it would be impossible to surpass.” Richardson believed in the art community and founded the New Bedford Arts Club and its successor the New Bedford Fine Arts Society. When not painting, Richardson worked at the New Bedford Water Company and later as a plumbing inspector for the city’s Board of Health. He was an avid baseball player and would be known as “the Babe Ruth of New Bedford.” On his death, the local newspaper declared him “one of the best-known artists in New Bedford” and “one of the art pioneers in building up a more widespread appreciation of art in the community.” His work is in the permanent collection of the New Bedford Whaling Museum...

Oil on artist board Circa 1930 -1935 Signed verso and dedicated to JF (possibly John Folinsbee, fellow artist and neighbor). Overall size encased in custom 22K gold leaf frame wit...