Wilson Irvine
Encyclopedia
Wilson Henry Irvine was a master American Impressionist
landscape
painter.
Although most closely associated with the Old Lyme, Connecticut
art colony headed by Florence Griswold
, Irvine spent his early career near Chicago, a product of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Irvine also painted across Western Europe — where he produced outstanding American Impressionist versions of the local countryside.
Today, Wilson Irvine's paintings grace the collection of Chicago's Art Institute, Florence Griswold Museum; National Portrait Gallery
, Corcoran Gallery of Art
; and Union League Club.
Irvine is best known for his mastery of light and texture — a 1998 exhibit of his work was called Wilson Henry Irvine and the Poetry of Light. To capture subtle effects of light, Irvine often painted en plein air
— wearing his trademark cap, knickers, and goatee, with his easel and his paints set up in the field.
Sometimes Irvine's obsession with light led him to paint rather pedestrian subjects — landscapes depicting little more than some trees, or a road or fence. But a number of Irvine masterpieces depict well-composed scenes including houses, boats, bridges — even a handful of portraits, including at least one self-portrait and a nude.
, was a descendant of early Illinois settlers and farmers. He graduated from Rockford Central High School
.
He worked at the Chicago Portrait Company.
He studied at The Art Institute of Chicago
.
From the beginning, Irvine's interest in painterly subjects was equalled by a parallel focus on artistic technology. While still in his 20s, Irvine was a pioneer of the airbrush
as artistic medium — a medium which had just been developed and marketed by Liberty Walkup, Irvine's Illinois neighbor, mentor, and teacher.
Having mastered the airbrush, in 1888, Irvine moved to Chicago to make his reputation. Irvine's "day job" during this period was as an illustrator/graphic designer, often employing the still-novel airbrush. But simultaneously, Irvine built a career as a serious painter. He worked his way up Chicago art society — he led the Palette and Chisel Club and Cliff Dwellers Club, along with sculptor Loredo Taft.
During these years, Irvine gravitated to the night school of the famed Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied for over seven years. Indeed, the Art Institute was to remain a loyal patron. By the turn of the century, the Institute often showed Irvine's work, and gave him a prestigious solo show over the 1916-1917 Christmas season. To this day, the Art Institute maintains a number of Wilson Irvine paintings in its permanent collection.
, Connecticut
, and elsewhere in New England
— as early as 1906, he exhibited New England scenes at the Art Institute. He also took working vacations elsewhere in the Eastern U.S., including to Virginia
and New Orleans.
But it was not until he was 45 (in 1914) that Irvine packed up and moved his family to Old Lyme, Connecticut, becoming part of the famed Florence Griswold circle, now recognized as the "American Barbizon
," hub of American Impressionism. It is as an Old Lyme painter that Irvine is best remembered today. (But even after relocating East, Irvine maintained his contacts with Chicago, where the market for his work remained strong.) He corresponded with Sidney C. Woodward.
Following through on his early experiments with the airbrush, in his later years Irvine continued to try out new artistic techniques. His later work includes "aqua prints" and "prismatic
painting." His Prismatic Winter Landscape appeared on the cover of the 31 January 1931 issue of The Literary Digest.
By the end of his career, Irvine was regularly landing solo exhibitions, including at:
Indeed, although Irvine today is best known for his Old Lyme output and is secondarily recognized for his early Illinois landscapes, his European paintings show a special energy, bringing a uniquely American perspective to the vibrant subjects that captivated the French Impressionist masters.
American Impressionism
Impressionism, a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors, was practiced widely among American artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-An emerging artistic style from Paris:...
landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
painter.
Although most closely associated with the Old Lyme, Connecticut
Old Lyme, Connecticut
Old Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Main Street of the town is a historic district. The town has long been a popular summer resort and artists' colony...
art colony headed by Florence Griswold
Florence Griswold
Florence Ann Griswold was a resident of Old Lyme, Connecticut, USA who became the nucleus of the "Lyme Art Colony" in the early 20th century. Her home has since been made into the Florence Griswold Museum....
, Irvine spent his early career near Chicago, a product of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Irvine also painted across Western Europe — where he produced outstanding American Impressionist versions of the local countryside.
Today, Wilson Irvine's paintings grace the collection of Chicago's Art Institute, Florence Griswold Museum; National Portrait Gallery
National Portrait Gallery (United States)
The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in Washington, D.C., administered by the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of famous individual Americans.-Building:...
, Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
; and Union League Club.
Irvine is best known for his mastery of light and texture — a 1998 exhibit of his work was called Wilson Henry Irvine and the Poetry of Light. To capture subtle effects of light, Irvine often painted en plein air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
— wearing his trademark cap, knickers, and goatee, with his easel and his paints set up in the field.
Sometimes Irvine's obsession with light led him to paint rather pedestrian subjects — landscapes depicting little more than some trees, or a road or fence. But a number of Irvine masterpieces depict well-composed scenes including houses, boats, bridges — even a handful of portraits, including at least one self-portrait and a nude.
Early career
Wilson Henry Irvine, born near Byron, IllinoisByron, Illinois
Byron is a city in Ogle County, Illinois, United States, probably best known as the location of the Byron Nuclear Generating Station, one of the last nuclear power plants commissioned in the United States. Byron is located in Byron Township, along the Rock River. The population was 3,753 at the...
, was a descendant of early Illinois settlers and farmers. He graduated from Rockford Central High School
Rockford Central High School
Rockford Central High School is a defunct school in the city of Rockford, Illinois. Rockford, the second largest city in the Land of Lincoln, established a central location for all students to attend high school in 1885...
.
He worked at the Chicago Portrait Company.
He studied at The Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
.
From the beginning, Irvine's interest in painterly subjects was equalled by a parallel focus on artistic technology. While still in his 20s, Irvine was a pioneer of the airbrush
Airbrush
An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that sprays various media including ink and dye, but most often paint by a process of nebulization. Spray guns developed from the airbrush and are still considered a type of airbrush.-History:...
as artistic medium — a medium which had just been developed and marketed by Liberty Walkup, Irvine's Illinois neighbor, mentor, and teacher.
Having mastered the airbrush, in 1888, Irvine moved to Chicago to make his reputation. Irvine's "day job" during this period was as an illustrator/graphic designer, often employing the still-novel airbrush. But simultaneously, Irvine built a career as a serious painter. He worked his way up Chicago art society — he led the Palette and Chisel Club and Cliff Dwellers Club, along with sculptor Loredo Taft.
During these years, Irvine gravitated to the night school of the famed Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied for over seven years. Indeed, the Art Institute was to remain a loyal patron. By the turn of the century, the Institute often showed Irvine's work, and gave him a prestigious solo show over the 1916-1917 Christmas season. To this day, the Art Institute maintains a number of Wilson Irvine paintings in its permanent collection.
Old Lyme, Connecticut years
While developing his career in Chicago, Irvine frequently headed east, painting in MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, and elsewhere in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
— as early as 1906, he exhibited New England scenes at the Art Institute. He also took working vacations elsewhere in the Eastern U.S., including to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and New Orleans.
But it was not until he was 45 (in 1914) that Irvine packed up and moved his family to Old Lyme, Connecticut, becoming part of the famed Florence Griswold circle, now recognized as the "American Barbizon
American Barbizon school
The American Barbizon School was a group of painters and style partly influenced by the French Barbizon school. American Barbizon artists concentrated on painting rural landscapes often including peasants or farm animals....
," hub of American Impressionism. It is as an Old Lyme painter that Irvine is best remembered today. (But even after relocating East, Irvine maintained his contacts with Chicago, where the market for his work remained strong.) He corresponded with Sidney C. Woodward.
Following through on his early experiments with the airbrush, in his later years Irvine continued to try out new artistic techniques. His later work includes "aqua prints" and "prismatic
Dispersive prism
In optics, a dispersive prism is a type of optical prism, normally having the shape of a geometrical triangular prism. It is the most widely-known type of optical prism, although perhaps not the most common in actual use. Triangular prisms are used to disperse light, that is, to break light up into...
painting." His Prismatic Winter Landscape appeared on the cover of the 31 January 1931 issue of The Literary Digest.
By the end of his career, Irvine was regularly landing solo exhibitions, including at:
- Chicago's Carson Pirie ScottCarson Pirie ScottCarson Pirie Scott & Co., known informally as Carson's, is an upscale chain of department stores that have been in business for over 150 years. Their product price points are targeted to the moderate-to-upscale shopper...
(1922) - Connecticut's Wadsworth AtheneumWadsworth AtheneumThe Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public art museum in the United States, with significant holdings of French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as extensive holdings in early American furniture and...
(1925) - New York's Grand Central Art GalleriesGrand Central Art GalleriesThe Grand Central Art Galleries were the exhibition and administrative space of the nonprofit Painters and Sculptors Gallery Association, an artists' cooperative established in 1922 by Walter Leighton Clark together with John Singer Sargent, Edmund Greacen, and others...
(1930)
European painting
Irvine's career was highlighted by three extended sojourns to Europe, where he produced some noteworthy examples of American Impressionist European landscapes:- 1908: EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - 1923: British IslesBritish IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
- 1928-29: countrysides around MartiguesMartiguesMartigues is a commune northwest of Marseille. It is part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the eastern end of the Canal de Caronte....
, France and RondaRondaRonda is a city in Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about West from the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is approximately 35,000 inhabitants.-History:...
, Spain
Indeed, although Irvine today is best known for his Old Lyme output and is secondarily recognized for his early Illinois landscapes, his European paintings show a special energy, bringing a uniquely American perspective to the vibrant subjects that captivated the French Impressionist masters.
Death and reputation
Wilson Irvine died of a cerebral hemorrhage on 21 August 1936, leaving behind masterful oeuvre. In recent years, Irvine has been rediscovered and acknowledged as a key figure in early-20th-century American Impressionism.External links
- Irvine, Wilson Henry, 1869-1936, painter. SIRIS
- http://americangallery.wordpress.com/category/irvine-wilson-h/