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.)
Barns in the Helderberg, New York (rural 1930s American scene with vintage car)
By Martin Lewis
Located in New Orleans, LA
"Barns in the Helderberg, New York" by Martin Lewis shows neighbors (one in a Model T car) visiting outside a series of barns with a tree in the background...
Chalk, Charcoal
$35,000Sale Price|30% Off
Stoops in Snow
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
Stoops in Snow. 1930. Drypoint and sandpaper ground. McCarron catalog 89.state ii. 9 x 14 7/8 (sheet 13 1/4 x 18 7/16 ). Edition 115 recorded impressio...
Drypoint, Etching
$24,000Sale Price|20% Off
Spring Night, Greenwich Village
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
Spring Night, Greenwich Village. 1930. Drypoint and sand ground. McCarron 85. 10 x 12 3/8 (sheet 13 1/4 x 15 5/8)). Edition 92. A rich, tonal impress...
Drypoint, Etching
$11,000Sale Price|26% Off
Building a Babylon, Tudor City, NY.
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
McCarron 76. 12 7/8 x 7 7/8 (sheet 16 5/8 x 12 1/4). 6th trial proof (McCarron records 84 impressions including 4 trial proofs). Illustrated L'Amérique de la Dépression: Artistes En...
Drypoint, Etching
"Under the Street Lamp" Imp. Etching
By Martin Lewis
Located in Houston, TX
Copperplate etching by Martin Lewis titled "Under the Street Lamp." Edition of 100. Printed on laid paper with watermark and 83 recorded impressions. McCarron catalogue raisonne #70. Signed in pencil with "imp" next to the signature. In the bottom right corner is a penciled 75 and in the top right corner is a 50. The etching is framed and was taken out of the frame for condition report and photographs. The gallery label is on the back of the matte inside the frame. Dimensions without Frame: H 15 in x W 9.5 in. Artist Biography: Martin Lewis (1881-1962) was born in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia on 7 June 1881. He was the second of eight children and had a passion for drawing. At the age of 15, he 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, 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...
Etching, Laid Paper
QUARTER OF NINE - SATURDAY'S CHILDREN
By Martin Lewis
Located in Portland, ME
Lewis, Martin (American, born Australia, 1881-1962). QUARTER OF NINE, SATURDAY'S CHILDREN. McCarron 79. Drypoint, 1929. McCarron says the intended edition was 100 , but 107 were prin...
Drypoint
Martin Lewis Original Etching, 1928 - “Rain on Murray Hill”
By Martin Lewis
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Original drypoint in mint condition printed in greenish black ink on wove paper by well-known New York artist and printmaker Martin Lewis (1881-1962). The print is signed in pencil ...
Paper
Spring Night Greenwich Village
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Spring Night, Greenwich Village--1930, Drypoint and Sand Ground.McCarron 85, only state. Edition 92. Signed in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower rig...
Drypoint
Street Booth, Tokyo, New Year's Eve
By Martin Lewis
Located in Middletown, NY
A superb impression of Martin Lewis's consummate image of Japan. Etching with drypoint on fine cream laid paper, 13 7/8 x 10 3/8 inches (352 x 265 mm); sheet 17 3/4 x 14 1/4 inches ...
Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Drypoint, Etching
"Which Way?" Martin Lewis, Atmospheric, Snowy 1930s Setting, Outdoor Scene
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Martin Lewis Which Way?, 1932 Signed lower right Aquatint etching on pale blue paper Plate 10 1/4 x 15 3/4 inches Sheet 14 1/4 x 19 1/2 inches Edition of approximately 53 Provenance...
Paper, Etching
$20,000Sale Price|20% Off
Fifth Avenue Bridge.
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
Fifth Avenue Bridge. 1928. Drypoint. McCarron 72. 9 7/8 x 12 (sheet 12 3/4 x 15). Edition of 108 recorded impressions. A rich impression printed on cream laid paper, with full margin...
Etching, Drypoint
'Tree, Manhattan' — Classic American Realism
By Martin Lewis
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Martin Lewis, 'Tree, Manhattan', drypoint, 1930, edition 91 (including 10 trial proofs), McCarron 87. Signed in pencil. A superb, atmospheric impression, in warm black ink, on cream...
Drypoint
Martin Lewis Original Etching, 1927 - “Shadows on the Ramp”
By Martin Lewis
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Original etching with drypoint in mint condition by well-known New York artist and printmaker Martin Lewis (1881-1962). The print is signed in pencil lower right. The title is: “Sha...
Paper
Martin Lewis Signed Limited Ed. Etchng Street Booth, Tokyo New Years Eve, 1927
By Martin Lewis
Located in Studio City, CA
A beautiful and exceedingly engaging limited edition etching/print titled "Street Booth, Tokyo New Years Eve" by famed Australian/American painter/artist/master printmaker Martin Lewis (1881-1962). This image was created in 1927. Lewis was born in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia in 1881 but migrated to the United States in 1900. After working in San Francisco and New York he then traveled to Japan to study Japanese art for two years. Lewis eventually returned to the US and settled back in New York in the early 1920s where he would experience his most artistically productive breakthrough period (between 1925-1935) in which he would create some of his most well-known works including this piece. Today, Lewis is universally considered to be one of the most important American printmakers of the twentieth century - a master of light and shadow. This work is a drypoint etching, printed in black ink on cream wove paper with full margins. A brilliant, luminous, and richly-inked impression. From a noted (McCarron, Paul. The Prints of Martin Lewis: A Catalogue Raisonne, p. 60) edition of 40 recorded impressions. According to McCarron, this is the most accomplished of Lewis' Japan prints: "New Year''s Day is an important holiday in Japan. The Japanese traditionally decorate their streets and homes with shimenawa, knotted straw ropes blessed and purified by Shinto priests...
Wood, Paper
Martin Lewis 20th Century Master Printmaker, Etching, 1932 "White Monday"
By Martin Lewis
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Original drypoint etching and aquatint in mint condition by well-known artist and printmaker Martin Lewis, (1881-1962) The print has full margins with deckle edges and is signed in p...
Paper
Shadows, Garage at Night
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Martin 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...
Drypoint
Little Penthouse
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Martin Lewis (1881-1962), Little Penthouse, drypoint, 1931, signed in pencil lower right [signed in the plate in a rectangle lower left]. Reference: McCarron 91, only state. Printed ...
Drypoint
ICE CREAM CONES
By Martin Lewis
Located in Portland, ME
Lewis, Martim (American, born Australia, 1881-1962). ICE CREAM CONES. McCarron 78. Drypoint, 1928. Edition of 75, of which only 70 were printed. Signed in pencil, lower right. 9 3/4 ...
Drypoint
Break in the Thunderstorm
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Martin Lewis (1881-1962, Break in the Thunderstorm, drypoint, 1930, signed and titled in pencil (also signed in the plate in a rectangle lower left). Reference: McCarron 86, second s...
Drypoint
White Monday
By Martin Lewis
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed in the plate lower left Note: Printed on September 26, 1980 in an edition of 4 restrikes. Reference: Paul McCarron, The Prints of Martin Lewis: A Catalogue Raisonne (Bro...
Drypoint
Tree, Manhattan
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Martin 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...
Drypoint
Rainy Day, Queens
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Martin Lewis (1881-1962), Rainy Day, Queens, drypoint, 1931, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower right]. Reference: McCarron 94, only state, from the edition...
Drypoint
Price Upon Request
Quarter of Nine, Saturday's Children.
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
Quarter of Nine, Saturday's Children. 1929. Drypoint. McCarron 78. 9 3/4 x 12 3/4 (sheet 12 7/8 x 17 7/8). Illustrated: American Etchers: Martin Lewis. Edition 107. A fine impression...
Drypoint, Etching
Tugs on the Hudson
By Charles Frederick William Mielatz
Located in Middletown, NY
Drypoint etching with engraving printed in black ink on Japanese mulberry paper, 4 1/2 x 3 3/8 inches (113 x 84 mm), full margins. In superb condition. A beautiful New York City river...
Handmade Paper, Drypoint, Etching
A Wooded River Landscape; Entry into the Wood
By Anthonie Waterloo
Located in Middletown, NY
A magnificent forest scene with lush, vast foliage along a brook by a master of the Dutch Golden Age. Amsterdam: c1650. Etching on cream laid paper, 5 1/8 x 5 3/4 inches (130 x 147 ...
Laid Paper, Etching
The Flight into Egypt
By Hans Lautensack
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching on handmade cream laid paper with a deckle edge, and an elaborate and large watermark of a crowned figure with a harp, and letters A S, 11 3/4 x 8 inches (298 x 204 mm); shee...
Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Etching
New York Skyline
By Louis H. Ruyl
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching with drypoint on cream wove paper with deckle edges, 4 3/8 x 12 3/4 inches (233 x 323 mm); sheet 9 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches (240 x 338 mm), full margins. Signed and numbered 4/75 ...
Handmade Paper, Etching, Drypoint
Coenties Slip
By Charles Frederick William Mielatz
Located in Middletown, NY
Lower Manhattan and the Seaport as the artist imagined it would have appeared before 1835. New York: 1907. Etching with drypoint on Japon paper, 13 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches (353 x 248 mm...
Etching, Drypoint, Handmade Paper
$1,680
H 16 in W 20 in D 0.25 in
Bowling on the Green (from the Bicentennial Pageant of George Washington)
By Childe Hassam
Located in Soquel, CA
Bowling on the Green (from the Bicentennial Pageant of George Washington) 'Bowling on the Green', by printmaker Frederick Childe Hassam, depicts George Washington and friends lawn b...
Ink, Etching, Laid Paper
$22,800Sale Price|20% Off
H 28.5 in W 21 in
Téléphone-homard cybernétique (Michler/Löpsinger 822-831; Field 75-13)
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Salvador Dali (1904-1989) Title: Téléphone-homard cybernétique (Michler/Löpsinger 822-831; Field 75-13), Imaginations et Objets du Futur (Cybernetic lobster phone, Imaginatio...
Mixed Media, Drypoint, Lithograph, Screen
Cortland Street
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching with drypoint on antique handmade laid Japon paper, 12 7/8 x 7 1/2 (327 x 191 mm); sheet 15 5/16 x 10 7/16 (389 x 265 mm), full margins. Signed in pencil in the lower margin....
Drypoint, Etching
$6,000Sale Price|20% Off
H 28.5 in W 21 in
Baignoire à tornade liquide (Michler/Löpsinger 822-831; Field 75-13)
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Salvador Dali (1904-1989) Title: Baignoire à tornade liquide (Michler/Löpsinger 822-831; Field 75-13), Imaginations et Objets du Futur (Liquid tornado bathtub, Imaginations a...
Mixed Media, Lithograph, Drypoint, Screen
$500
H 9.73 in W 12.84 in
Venus abducting Adonis.; Plate 2 from The Story of Adonis
By Herman van Swanevelt
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching with engraving on thin laid paper with an unidentified ovoid purple ink stamp (not in Lugt), 9 3/4 x 12 7/8 inches (247 x 326 mm), thread margins. Uniform age tone with scatt...
Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching
$1,500
H 9 in W 12 in
Modernist Conte Crayon Drawing Beach Scene David Burliuk Russian Futurist
By David Burliuk
Located in Surfside, FL
David Burliuk (Ukrainian, 1882-1967) Three figure on the beach (Hamptons, Long Island New York) Conte crayon drawing on paper. Hand signed lower left. Unframed Provenance: Bloomsbury Auctions David Davidovich Burliuk (Дави́д Дави́дович Бурлю́к; 1882-1967) was a Russian poet, artist and publicist of Ukrainian origin associated with the Futurist and Neo-Primitivist movements. Burliuk has been described as "the father of Russian Futurism." David Burliuk was born on 21 July 1882 in the village of Riabushky (near Lebedyn, Ukraine) in the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire. Burliuk's family was artistically inclined; two of his brothers were talented artists as well, Nikolai and Volodimir Burliuk. The Burliuk family partly descended from Ukrainian Cossacks on their father's side, who held premier positions in the Hetmanate. His mother, Ludmyla Mikhnevich, was of ethnic Belarusian descent. From 1898 to 1904, he studied at Kazan and Odesa art schools, as well as at the Royal Academy in Munich. His exuberant, extroverted character was recognized by Anton Azhbe, his professor at the Munich Academy, who called Burliuk a "wonderful wild steppe horse". During a time of significant industrialization and political change, movements such as the famed Der Blaue Reiter, a group Burliuk associated with in 1912, while he was in Munich, emphasized a shift away from the classical styles of the past, prioritizing the innovations of the future. In 1907, he made contact with the Russian art world; he met and befriended Mikhail Larionov, and they are both credited as being major forces in bringing together the contemporary art world. In 1908, an exhibition with the group Zveno ("The Link") in Kiev was organized by David Burliuk together with Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine, Alexander Bogomazov, his brother Volodymyr (Wladimir) Burliuk and Aleksandra Exter. The exhibition was a flop, especially because they were all unknown painters. The Burliuks and Larionov left for the aforementioned brothers' home in Chernianka, also known as Hylea; it was during this stay that their work became more Avant-Garde. That autumn, while visiting Ekster, they organized an exhibition which took place in the street; it was a success, and enough money was raised to go to Moscow. In 1909, Burliuk painted a portrait of his future wife, Marussia, on a background of flowers and rocks...
Paper, Conté, Crayon
$1,200
H 12.21 in W 15.36 in
Brooklyn Bridge, New York, signed etching by William Walcot, c1925
By William Walcot R. E. Hon. R. I. B. A.
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Signed in pencil by the artist lower right. William Walcot was born in Russia and moved to London in 1907. He trained and practiced as an architect before devoting himself to archite...
Drypoint, Etching
Dock Workers under the Brooklyn Bridge
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
Martin Lewis, N.A. (Dock Workers under the Brooklyn Bridge). c. 1916-18. Aquatint and etching. McCarron 15. 17 3/4 x 23 3/4 (sheet 26 x 31). 5 recorde...
Etching, Aquatint
Shadows -- Garage at Night
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
Shadows -- Garage at Night. c. 1928. Conte crayon drawing. Study for the drypoint, McCarron 69. 10 1/8 x 12 3/4 (the drypoint measures 9 7/8 x 11 7/8). The drypoint is illustrated in...
Crayon
The Great Shadow
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
The Great Shadow. 1925. Drypoint. McCarron 44. 9 7/8 x 7 inches (sheet 13 3/4 x 10 1/4). Edition of 86 recorded impressions (intended edition 100). A superb impression with carefully...
Drypoint, Etching
CHANCE MEETING
By Martin Lewis
Located in Portland, ME
Lewis, Martin. CHANCE MEETING. McCarron 131. Drypoint, 1940-41. Edition of 105. Signed in pencil, lower right. 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, 265 x 188 mm. In excellent condition.
Drypoint
Oncoming Rain
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Martin Lewis created the copper plate for "Oncoming Rain" in 1929 using drypoint and sand ground techniques. The intended edition size was 50 impressions but only 19 have been record...
Drypoint
Down to the Sea.
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Martin Lewis created the copper plate for "Down to the Sea" in 1929, using drypoint and sand ground techniques. The edition size is listed as 75 impressions but only 65 have been re...
Drypoint
Strength and Beauty.
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
This drypoint with sand ground by Martin Lewis was created in 1937. It is signed, lower right, in pencil. The printed image size is 10 7/8 x 13" (27.5 x 33 cm). Edition unknown wi...
Drypoint
Politics
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
Politics. 1936. Drypoint and sand ground. McCarron catalog 118 state ii. 9 3/4 x 10 5/8 (sheet 13 7/8 x 15). Trial proof 10, edition 27 (including 11 trial proofs). McCarron cites this impression to describe the second state. A rich, tonal impression printed on 'FJ Head & Co' cream wove paper with full margins. Provenance: estate of Delores D. Di Paola. Signed and annotated 'trial proof 10' in pencil. Housed in a subtle 17 3/4 x 18 1/2-inch silver-gold modern frame that enhances the tonality of the evening sky. The scene is Kent Hollow, a valley in the Appalachian Mountains in the town of Kent in Litchfield County, Connecticut. It is situated in the upper reaches of the West Aspetuck River, one of the cleanest rivers in Southern New England. Martin Lewis (1881–1962) was born in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia on 7 June 1881. He was the second of eight children and had a passion for drawing. At the age of 15, he 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, a famous painter, was also one of the first Australian artists to take up printmaking. In 1900, Lewis left Australia for the United States. His first job was in San Francisco, painting stage decorations...
Drypoint
Trade Winds
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
McCarron catalog number 25. Image: 7 7/8 x 11 3/4. Sheet 12 x 15 1/4. Edition of 22 recorded impressions (intended edition 50). A rich impression with drypoint burr printed on cr...
Arc Welders at Night.
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Printed on light blue paper. This original print by Martin Lewis was made using drypoint and a sand ground on a copper plate in 1937. The exact edition is unknown - 33 impressions ...
Drypoint
Sunday Garden Inspection.
By Martin Lewis
Located in Plano, TX
Sunday Garden Inspection. 1927. Drypoint. McCarron catalog 67 state ii. 11 3/4 x 8 (sheet 16 x 11 5/8). Edition of 34 recorded impressions (intended edition 50). A rich, well-inked...
Drypoint, Etching
Little Penthouse.
By Martin Lewis
Located in New York, NY
Drypoint, 1931. Signed in pencil. Edition 75, recorded impressions 84. Image size 9 7/8 x 6 13/16" (25.2 x 17.3 cm). McCarron #91. Very good condition. Framed. This print was...
Drypoint