Walter Shirlaw Art
American, 1838-1909
Walter Shirlaw, born in 1838, was only three when he came to Hoboken, New Jersey from Paisley, Scotland. As a young man, he found work as a bank note engraver, a profession that he continued in Chicago, where he lived between 1865 and 1870. But already in 1861 he was exhibiting genre paintings at the National Academy of Design. In 1868, Shirlaw was a member of the Chicago Academy of Design, which would become the Art Institute of Chicago, after changing its name from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.
Shirlaw spent the years 1870-77 in Munich, at the height of the movement led by Wilhelm Leibl in which a low-keyed, dark palette, combined with bold, virtuoso brushwork, were applied to realist subject matter. Michael Quick defined the time of Shirlaw's arrival as an especially experimental period in progressive German painting. Shirlaw's teachers, however, sided with tradition. The genre painter Arthur Ramberg and Wilhelm von Lindenschmidt, his successor at the Munich Academy, taught Shirlaw composition. The painter of genre scenes and landscapes, Alexander von Wagner was Shirlaw's teacher in painting. T. H. Bartlett mentioned that Shirlaw regarded Leibl as too realistic.
In 1877, the second school year of the Art Students League, Lemuel E. Wilmarth announced that he would be returning to teach at the NAD. Frank Waller took over as president of the ASL, and Shirlaw was hired to teach painting and drawing. The appointment was endorsed by Waller.
The hiring of Shirlaw and William Merritt Chase seemed to signify a preference of Munich over Paris among the members of the Art Students League, however, while Chase was under Leibl's spell, Shirlaw was strictly academic. During the fourth season at the ASL, Shirlaw taught composition. Thomas Wilmer Dewing replaced Shirlaw in this position in 1880. Although an Associate of the National Academy of Design, Shirlaw resigned, explaining that the Academy was too much focused on exhibitions, at the expense of teaching. He turned to the Society of American Artists, a more liberal group founded in June of 1877. Shirlaw himself, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Wyatt Eaton were the artists-founders of the SAA. Within a year, there were twenty-two members. This new, mostly younger group of painters collectively expressed more liberal aesthetic tastes, compared to the less progressive members of the National Academy.
Doll and Richards Gallery in Boston was the setting for Shirlaw's one-man exhibition in 1880. Meanwhile, he was active as an illustrator. The artist published drawings in Scribner's Monthly and Harper's Magazine, and did illustrations for various books. In 1889, Shirlaw visited Crow and Cheyenne reservations to illustrate scenes from the life of these tribes. He was also a muralist and a designer of stained-glass windows. He executed Sciences, a mural for the Library of Congress. Walter Shirlaw was an American artist who helped the younger painters promote French impressionism, by founding the Society of American Artists.to
2
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
1
1
2
1
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
3
9,514
2,711
1,375
1,361
1
2
1
Artist: Walter Shirlaw
Portrait of William Merritt Chase
By Walter Shirlaw
Located in Douglas, Isle of Man
Attributed to Walter Shirlaw 1838-1909, was a Scottish born American painter who lived in America from the age of two years old. Shirlaw studied in Munich where he befriended America...
Category
Early 1900s Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Miriam and Donatello" original etching
By Walter Shirlaw
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original etching. This etching from "The Hawthorne Portfolio" was printed in 1884 and illustrates a scene from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Marble Fawn. Plate size: 5 1/2...
Category
1880s Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Etching
"Hilda and the Doves" original etching
By Walter Shirlaw
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original etching. This etching from "The Hawthorne Portfolio" was printed in 1884 and illustrates a scene from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Marble Fawn. Plate size: 2 3/4...
Category
1880s Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Etching
Related Items
Italian 18th Century Oval Religious Oil on Canvas Painting with Saint Dominic
By Francesco de Mura
Located in Firenze, IT
This beautiful Italian 18th Century old masters oil painting on oval canvas with giltwood frame is attributed to Solimena and features a religious scene.
In this splendid oval-shaped painting are depicted Saint Dominic...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$13,041
H 21.66 in Dm 15.75 in
17th Century Saint Jerome Francesco Fracanzano Saint Skull Oil on Canvas Red
Located in Sanremo, IT
Painting, oil on canvas, measuring 92 x 77 without frame and 107 x 82 cm with frame , depicting a Saint Jerome in ancient philosopher and ascetic version, typical of the greatest tra...
Category
Mid-17th Century Italian School Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$10,533
H 36.23 in W 30.32 in D 1.58 in
Male and female portrait, both in silk kimono, possibly textile dealers
By Christoffel Lubieniecki
Located in Amsterdam, NL
CHRISTOFFEL LUBIENIECKI (1659-1729)
Pair of portraits of a gentleman and a lady, both in silk kimono, before a country house (circa 1680)
Indistinctly signed “C.......” on a box under the man’s left hand
Oil on canvas, 79.5 x 67 cm each
Both sitters are portrayed wearing a silk “Japanese” coat. During the second half of the seventeenth the Japanese silk coat, an adapted Japanese kimono, became a real vogue in the Dutch elite. The exclusive Dutch trade contacts with Japan can explain the popularity of the kimono-style silk coats in the Netherlands. Everybody who could afford one, dressed in such a fashionable and comfortable coat and, like the present sitters, some proud owners had themselves portrayed in a “Japanese” coat often together with an oriental carpet to underline their standing and international connections. These portraits are the work of the Polish-born portraitist Christoffel Lubieniecki (also known as Lubienitski, Lubinitski or Lubiniecki)
Lubieniecki was first trained in Hamburg under Julian Stuhr and after 1675 in Amsterdam under Adriaen Backer and Gerard de Lairesse. He specialized in landscapes, generally of an Italianate character, and in portraits. The loving execution of these contented burghers, enjoying the garden vistas of their country house, places him alongside Amsterdam portraitists such as Constantijn Netscher and Michiel van Musscher...
Category
1680s Old Masters Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$37,871
H 31.34 in W 26.38 in D 1.97 in
"Femme et Homards" (Woman with Lobsters), 1948 -André Minaux (French, 1923-1986)
By Andre Minaux
Located in Berlin, MD
Behold a mid-century marvel by André Minaux, a titan of the French School whose stylized Social Realist visions continue to captivate the art world. Painted in 1948, “Femme et Homard...
Category
Mid-20th Century French School Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil
$5,135
H 62.25 in W 43.5 in D 3 in
CONRAD MARCA-RELLI Limited ed. Etching & Aquatint American Modern, Contemporary
By Conrad Marca-Relli 1
Located in Madrid, Madrid
Conrad Marca Relli - Composition XIII
Date of creation: 1977
Medium: Etching and aquatint on Gvarro paper
Edition: 75 + AP + HC
Size: 56 x 76 cm
Condition: In very good conditions an...
Category
1970s Modern Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
$1,952
H 22.05 in W 29.93 in
Venice Landscape Italian Oil on Canvas Painting in Gilt Wood Frame, Belle Epoque
Located in Firenze, IT
This delightful turn of the century (early 20th century) oil on canvas painting represents an Italian landscape with one of the most famous squares in the world: Piazza San Marco in ...
Category
Early 20th Century Impressionist Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Venice Landscape Italian Oil on Canvas Painting in Gilt Wood Frame, Belle Epoque, Early 20th Century
$8,447 Sale Price
25% Off
H 51.19 in W 33.47 in D 1.19 in
“Enfant A La Collarette” The Child in the Collar.
By René Genis
Located in Berlin, MD
Rene Genis (French 1922-2004) “Enfant A La Collarette” The Child in the Collart. Portrait of a disturbing young man with a rather defiant, petulant look in his expression. Dark eye...
Category
Mid-20th Century Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Laid Paper
$2,025 Sale Price
48% Off
H 24 in W 16 in D 1 in
Mary Cassatt "By the Pond"
By Mary Cassatt
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mary Cassatt 1844 - 1926
"By the Pond" (Breeskin 161; Matthews & Shapiro 21)
Drypoint and aquatint printed in colors, circa 1896, on laid paper, framed
Fourth state of four.
Plate:...
Category
1890s Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Drypoint, Aquatint
Portrait of Julien Prieur the bailiff of the Marquis d'Armentières as a Hunter
By Jean-Baptiste Oudry
Located in PARIS, FR
This portrait depicts us the trusted confidant of the Conflans d'Armentières family. More precisely, Julien Prieur was the fiscal procurator of the Marquisate of Armentières, playing...
Category
1730s Old Masters Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$11,618
H 39.19 in W 33.07 in
Pierre-Auguste Renoir "La danse à la campagne
By Pierre Auguste Renoir
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919)
"La danse à la campagne"
Conceived 1883
Soft ground Etching on paper
Image: 8-5/8 x 5-1/4 inches (21.9 x 13.3 cm) (plate)
Sheet size : 1...
Category
Late 18th Century Impressionist Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Paper, Etching
$36,000
H 19.5 in W 15.5 in D 1.5 in
Oil on Canvas Painting Portrait of the Italian Noble Family of Zanardi Count
By Lucia Casalini Torelli
Located in Firenze, IT
This museum quality old master oil on canvas formal portrait painting depicting the family of the Count Zanardi is signed by the artist- the female painter Lucia Casalini Torelli- and published in a book dedicated to Casalini Torelli’s workshop and academy.
This palatial masterpiece artwork comes directly from the ancient Villa Maraini Guerrieri - Palidano di Gonzaga (Mantua), an historic Italian heritage building owned by the descendants of the family portrayed for more than two centuries, until 1998.
The big scale of this oil on canvas masterpiece painting states the relevance of Lucia Casalini Torelli as a painter. The present artwork is a formal family portrait painting that aim to introduce the characters depicted according to their social role in the society. The noble family is all gathered under a loggia overlooking a park, the landscape in the background is partially covered by a beautiful red cloth on the right side.
The father stands up and holds the hand of his eldest son, proudly introducing his future heir. The son wears a light-blue dress and red boots, he is depicted in a serious pose holding a black tricorn hat under his arm and a rapier sword on his belt.
The mother wears an elegant gold and dark green brocade dress, she is sitting with her youngest daughter on her knees while her second son is by her side. The little daughter wears a lovely long red and dress with white lace and holds an apple on her hand. The son stands next to his mother and is dressed in a brown priestly clothes.
This palatial old masters piece was probably painted in 1740 due to the similarities with Cardinal Doria’ s portrait, now on display at the Doria Palace Museum, the official residence of the Prince of Genoa.
The painting features original canvas (“prima tela”) and antique original patina, it is in excellent overall condition considering the age, use and its large scale. A formal detailed condition report and the results of the inspection with the UV lamp accompanied by photos is available on request.
As well as for its exceptional quality and quite perfect state of conservation, this painting is particularly important and even more valuable both for the artist who painted it and for its absolutely exclusive provenance.
Lucia painted the most prominent and powerful noble families of her time, the location of these paintings is unknown to the art market as it is extremely likely that the portraits are still kept in private collections.
Furthermore, Lucia was one of the most appreciated artists of her time, so important that she was admitted as a member of the academy at a time when women were forbidden to attend these studies.
In 1706, Felice Torelli...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$171,904
H 94.49 in W 85.44 in D 1.19 in
Self-portrait in Indonesian Landscape
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Abraham Johannes Romswinckel (1810-1856)
Self-portrait in Indonesian landscape
Inscribed Abr. Joh. Romswinckel, geb. Batavia 17 Oct. 1810, overl...
Category
1820s Romantic Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$9,467
H 27.37 in W 22.96 in D 1.97 in
Previously Available Items
"The Coming Storm, " Walter Shirlaw, Flock of Birds in a Landscape
By Walter Shirlaw
Located in New York, NY
Walter Shirlaw (1838 - 1909)
The Coming Storm
Oil on canvas
18 x 26 inches
Signed lower right
Exhibited:
The Boston Art Club.
Walter Shirlaw, born on August 6, 1838, was only three (fourteen according to one obituary) when he came to Hoboken, New Jersey from his place of birth, Paisley, Scotland. As a young man, he found work as a bank note engraver, a profession that he continued in Chicago, where he lived between 1865 and 1870. But already in 1861 he was exhibiting genre paintings at the National Academy of Design. In 1868, Shirlaw was a member of the Chicago Academy of Design, which would become the Art Institute of Chicago, after changing its name from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.
Shirlaw spent the years 1870-77 in Munich, at the height of the movement led by Wilhelm Leibl in which a low-keyed, dark palette, combined with bold, virtuoso brushwork, were applied to realist subject matter. Michael Quick (in Quick, Ruhmer, and West, 1978, p. 28) defined the time of Shirlaw's arrival (1870-73) as an especially experimental period in progressive German painting. Shirlaw's teachers, however, sided with tradition. The genre painter Arthur Ramberg (1819-1895) and Wilhelm von Lindenschmidt (1829-1895), his successor at the Munich Academy, taught Shirlaw composition. The painter of genre scenes and landscapes, Alexander von Wagner (1838-1919) was Shirlaw's teacher in painting. T. H. Bartlett (in American Artists and Their Works, 1889, vol. 1, p. 23) mentioned that Shirlaw regarded Leibl as too realistic.
Shirlaw won a scholarship at the Academy in 1874, the year in which he executed Toning the Bell (Art Institute of Chicago). Meanwhile, he was active as one of the "Duveneck Boys" in Polling. Sheep Shearing in the Bavarian Highlands (Private collection), painted under Lindenschmidt's direction in 1876, is regarded as one of Shirlaw's most important pictures. He exhibited it upon his return to America at the National Academy in the following year; in 1878, it won an Honorable Mention in Paris.
In 1877, the second school year of the Art Students League, Lemuel E. Wilmarth announced that he would be returning to teach at the NAD. Frank Waller (1842-1923) took over as president of the ASL, and Shirlaw was hired to teach painting and drawing. The appointment was endorsed by Waller: "In Munich . . . he was regarded as one of the strongest of the American students and had the strong personality which would attract and influence others to have confidence in him, was so genuine in his artistic impulses and in his interest in the development of art in this country. . . ." (quoted by Landgren, 1940, p. 32).
The hiring of Shirlaw and William Merritt Chase seemed to signify a preference of Munich over Paris among the members of the Art Students League, however, while Chase was under Leibl's spell, Shirlaw was strictly academic. During the fourth season at the ASL, Shirlaw taught composition. Thomas Wilmer Dewing...
Category
Late 19th Century Impressionist Walter Shirlaw Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Walter Shirlaw art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Walter Shirlaw art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Walter Shirlaw in etching, canvas, fabric and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 19th century and is mostly associated with the Impressionist style. Not every interior allows for large Walter Shirlaw art, so small editions measuring 4 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Alfred Wands, Marion Huse, and Thomas Cardone. Walter Shirlaw art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $50 and tops out at $8,500, while the average work can sell for $100.