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Martin Lewis
1881–1962
BirthplaceCastlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Death placeNew York, New York, United States of America
BiographyMaster printmaker Martin Lewis created sometimes haunting images of New York City as well as rural Connecticut and Japan. Lewis grew up in an Australian mining town, which he left at age fifteen. As a teenaged merchant seaman, he sketched during his travels, and took a few art classes while based in Sydney, where he associated with local avant-garde artists. In 1900, Lewis emigrated to America. After supporting himself with odd jobs in San Francisco and Chicago, he settled in 1909 in New York City, where he became a commercial artist and mingled with socialist intellectuals. A visit in 1910 to Great Britain introduced Lewis to its rich tradition of fine printmaking. Self-taught in etching, he became so skilled in the technique that by 1915 he was teaching it to his friend and fellow artist Edward Hopper.
In 1920, Lewis traveled to Japan to experience its picturesque scenery and study its art first-hand. During his two years there, he made numerous watercolors, drawings, and oil paintings. His experience of a non-Western culture transformed Lewis's artistic approach and reinvigorated his work in etching, which he resumed in 1925. Besides creating prints based on his drawings of Japan, he depicted New York City scenes that display his remarkable technical virtuosity. Lewis excelled in capturing a range of dramatic shadows, from harsh daytime contrasts of light and dark to the soft, murky night tones that distinguish his views of New York.
In 1927, Lewis had his first solo exhibition of watercolors at the New York gallery Kennedy & Company, which included his etchings in a group exhibition a year later. In 1929, the gallery hosted a major retrospective of his paintings and etchings, which sold well and met with critical success. During the Depression, which decimated the market for prints, Lewis spent six years living in rural Connecticut. In 1934, to supplement his meager income, he joined with lithographer George C. Miller and fellow printmaker Armin Landeck to found the School for Print Makers, but it failed shortly thereafter. Lewis taught at New York's Art Students League from 1944 to 1952, when he resigned due to failing health. He also was forced to give up printmaking, although he continued to draw and paint until his death at age eighty-one. Lewis made more than 140 prints in the course of his career; the master set once owned by the artist is now in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Although never financially successful as an artist, Lewis is considered one of America's finest printmakers of the 1920s and 1930s.
In 1920, Lewis traveled to Japan to experience its picturesque scenery and study its art first-hand. During his two years there, he made numerous watercolors, drawings, and oil paintings. His experience of a non-Western culture transformed Lewis's artistic approach and reinvigorated his work in etching, which he resumed in 1925. Besides creating prints based on his drawings of Japan, he depicted New York City scenes that display his remarkable technical virtuosity. Lewis excelled in capturing a range of dramatic shadows, from harsh daytime contrasts of light and dark to the soft, murky night tones that distinguish his views of New York.
In 1927, Lewis had his first solo exhibition of watercolors at the New York gallery Kennedy & Company, which included his etchings in a group exhibition a year later. In 1929, the gallery hosted a major retrospective of his paintings and etchings, which sold well and met with critical success. During the Depression, which decimated the market for prints, Lewis spent six years living in rural Connecticut. In 1934, to supplement his meager income, he joined with lithographer George C. Miller and fellow printmaker Armin Landeck to found the School for Print Makers, but it failed shortly thereafter. Lewis taught at New York's Art Students League from 1944 to 1952, when he resigned due to failing health. He also was forced to give up printmaking, although he continued to draw and paint until his death at age eighty-one. Lewis made more than 140 prints in the course of his career; the master set once owned by the artist is now in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Although never financially successful as an artist, Lewis is considered one of America's finest printmakers of the 1920s and 1930s.