Guy Carleton Wiggins, the son of famed Barbizon School painter Carleton Wiggins, was a prodigious talent who, at age 20, was the youngest artist to have a work in the permanent collection at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Best known for his landscape paintings of New York City’s wintry urban scenes, Wiggins is regarded as one of the finest American Impressionist landscape artists of the 20th century.
Born in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, Wiggins displayed an early talent for drawing and, in 1900, attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (now the New York University Tandon School of Engineering) to study architecture and drawing. However, he shifted his focus to painting, which he studied at the National Academy of Design under teachers Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase.
Recognition for Wiggins’s artistic talent came early in his career. In addition to his work being included at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1913, Wiggins won the prestigious Norman Wait Harris Bronze Medal from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1917. He also won several awards from the Art Club of Philadelphia, the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts and the Salmagundi Club.
In 1920, Wiggins established a summer home in Old Lyme, Connecticut, where he became part of a group of painters who were developing their own form of Impressionism. Wiggins, however, had already established his own Impressionistic style that was based on French Impressionism and influenced by American Impressionist Childe Hassam.
During the 1930s, Wiggins divided his time between Connecticut and New York, painting Connecticut landscapes and New York street scenes such as his Winter in New York. Although some critics say his pastoral Connecticut landscapes were his best works, his snowy streetscapes set in Manhattan — brightened by pops of color in Wiggins’s depictions of green cars and rust-red building facades — are among the artist's most notable.
In 1937, Wiggins established the Guy Wiggins Art School in Essex, Connecticut. In the following years, he traveled nationally, painting scenes of Montana and Massachusetts as well as creating two paintings of the White House during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration. One of the paintings hung in the Oval Office during Eisenhower’s term and was eventually moved to the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Texas.
Wiggins’s paintings remain part of public and private collections throughout the United States and elsewhere, long after his death in 1962. They are also highly sought-after among collectors of American Impressionist and early 20th-century art.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of authentic Guy Carleton Wiggins paintings.
Williamsburg VA in Spring
By Guy Carleton Wiggins
Located in Milford, NH
A fine spring scene in historic Williamsburg, Virginia with the Governor’s Palace in the background by American artist Guy Carleton Wiggins (1883-1962). Wiggins was born in Brooklyn,...
Canvas, Oil
$2,750
H 30 in W 26 in D 1.5 in
'River Birch' by James Cobb, Framed 20" x 16" Oil on Canvas Painting, 2020
By Jim Cobb
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
This framed 19.875" x 16" oil painting on canvas by Oklahoma-based artist James Cobb depicts a strand of river birch trees in freshly fallen snow. at the he...
Canvas, Oil
$2,400
H 14 in W 10 in D 0.5 in
"Old Cypresses by Chapelle Saint Marie" Plein-air painting from North France
By Tina Orsolic Dalessio
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
In this plein air painting, Orsolic Dalessio creates a composition reminiscent of The Hudson River School paintings, but with an impressionistic hand. Along with the studied composit...
Canvas, Oil
$4,500
H 22 in W 28 in
"Bookstore from the Bank" 2017 oil painting, impressionist street scene at night
By Viktor Butko
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Painted en plein air, in Sag Harbor, New York. Situated in the People's United Bank parking lot, Butko looks over to the opposite side of Main Street. Beneath tall, fully bloomed trees, illuminated storefronts glisten after they close up for the day. Victor Butko was born into a long line of artists, and has been mentored in painting since the age of 8. He is currently the youngest artist exhibiting at Thomas Kearns McCarthey Gallery, one of the foremost dealers in the United States for Russian Impressionist art...
Canvas, Oil
$8,500
H 38 in W 36 in D 4 in
'Early Morning River Landscape, ' by Harry L. Hoffman, Oil on Canvas Painting
By Harry L. Hoffman
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
This 30" x 32" oil painting on canvas by the American Impressionist painter Harry Leslie Hoffman (b. 1871, d. 1964) depicts a calm, purple-toned waterscape and a semi-open sky. Light...
Canvas, Oil
$4,000
H 18 in W 24 in
"Village View" - 2016 oil painting of famed historic Hamptons village Sag Harbor
By Viktor Butko
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Painted en plein air, in Sag Harbor, New York, in preparation for the popular 2016 exhibition, the Russian American Painting Alliance. A sunny autumn day, situated on a grassy fork b...
Canvas, Oil
$4,038
H 32.68 in W 44.49 in D 1.19 in
Where the Lights Gather - original cityscape impressionism contemporary artwork
By Amylou Jennings
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
$3,984
H 39.77 in W 39.77 in D 1.19 in
Maida Vale - Original realism London cityscape oil painting -contemporary Art
By Jonathan Stewerdson
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
$3,800
H 19.7 in W 15.7 in
"Pond Shorel" Impressionist plein air waterscape of the shoreline of a pond
By Mathias Meinel
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"Pond Shorel" is an impressionist painting grass poking up from the edge of a pond. Painted en pelin air in the German countryside. Meinel is skilled at using texture and color to ac...
Canvas, Oil
$3,309
H 36.03 in W 36.03 in D 1.38 in
Camden Market, Morning- Original realism cityscape oil painting-contemporary Art
By Jonathan Stewerdson
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
$5,000
H 22 in W 28 in
"Evening, Madison Street" oil painting of Sag Harbor charming streetscape night
By Viktor Butko
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
An oil painting by Viktor Butko. Painted en plein air, in Sag Harbor, New York, a nocturne of the shops on Madison Street. A couple approaches the illuminated red building, which hou...
Canvas, Oil
$21,250
H 35 in W 43 in
"Boats Moored at Secret Beach" 2023 impressionist plein air landscape in NY
By Ben Fenske
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
An oil painting of boats at rest as seen from Secret Beach in Sag Harbor. "Secret Beach" is the name Ben Fenske has given to his favorite painting spot in Sag Harbor, NY. A place he ...
Canvas, Linen, Oil
$5,740
H 24 in W 28 in D 1 in
Breaking Atlantic Wave. Contemporary Impressionist Seascape Oil Painting
By Michael Strang
Located in Brecon, Powys
Great seascape from this exceptional and well collected British Impressionist. Oil on canvas Signed
Canvas, Oil