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Martin Lewis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

American, Australian, 1881-1962

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.)

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Artist: Martin Lewis
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...
Category

1930s American Modern Martin Lewis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Charcoal

[Man with cigar]
By Martin Lewis
Located in Boston, MA
Initialed lower right: "M.L.". Estate stamp verso, lower left: Lucille Deming Lewis Collection. Inscribed verso, lower left: "LDL-803". In fine condition.
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1930s American Realist Martin Lewis Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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Martin Lewis drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Martin Lewis drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Martin Lewis in charcoal, chalk, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1930s and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Martin Lewis drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 11 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Raphael Soyer, Charles Ragland Bunnell, and Alfred Bendiner. Martin Lewis drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,400 and tops out at $11,500, while the average work can sell for $6,450.

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