Artist:
Ernest Lawson
(American, 1873 - 1939)
An Old Saw Mill
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1915-1920
Dimensions:
16 1/4 × 20 1/4 in. (41.3 × 51.4 cm)
Accession number: 2016.11.19
Label Copy:
Canadian-born Ernest Lawson was best known as part of a group of American artists identified as "The Eight." He embraced The Eight’s desire to break from academic standards, as did many artistic movements in the early twentieth century. Both in France and in the United States, Lawson turned his back on traditional art schools in favor of working within informal art colonies. He developed a style, showcased in An Old Saw Mill, which reveled in the loose brushstrokes and the plein air painting of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.
Canadian-born Ernest Lawson was best known as part of a group of American artists identified as "The Eight." He embraced The Eight’s desire to break from academic standards, as did many artistic movements in the early twentieth century. Both in France and in the United States, Lawson turned his back on traditional art schools in favor of working within informal art colonies. He developed a style, showcased in An Old Saw Mill, which reveled in the loose brushstrokes and the plein air painting of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.
Curatorial Remarks
Canadian-born Ernest Lawson was best known as part of a group of American artists identified as "The Eight" and embraced their desire to break from academic standards, as did many artistic movements in the early twentieth century. Both in France and in America, Lawson eschewed traditional art schools in favor of working within art colonies.
Highly regarded by collectors and his fellow artists, he developed a style, showcased in An Old Saw Mill, which reveled in the loose brushstrokes and the plein air painting of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. In this painting, Lawson’s vigorous brushwork captures the complicated patterns of sunlight falling through the canopy of trees, striking with varying intensity the shimmering stream, the stark surface of the mill, and the leaf-strewn hillside.
Canadian-born Ernest Lawson was best known as part of a group of American artists identified as "The Eight" and embraced their desire to break from academic standards, as did many artistic movements in the early twentieth century. Both in France and in America, Lawson eschewed traditional art schools in favor of working within art colonies.
Highly regarded by collectors and his fellow artists, he developed a style, showcased in An Old Saw Mill, which reveled in the loose brushstrokes and the plein air painting of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. In this painting, Lawson’s vigorous brushwork captures the complicated patterns of sunlight falling through the canopy of trees, striking with varying intensity the shimmering stream, the stark surface of the mill, and the leaf-strewn hillside.