WALTER ELMER SCHOFIELD
American (1867-1944)
WINTER LANDSCAPE
oil on canvas, 45 x 60 inches,
signed and dated lower right "W.E. Schofield 1909"
PROVENANCE
Maxfield Galleries, San Francisco, California; Private Collection, St. Louis, Missouri;
Private Collection, Florida.
EXHIBITED
Partial illegible exhibition label is on the reverse.
Note: A label from Maxwell Paintings, San Francisco, California is on the reverse.
Estimate $30,000—$50,00
Walter Elmer Schofield is best known for his Impressionist landscapes of his native Pennsylvania. His parents emigrated from England to Philadelphia where he was raised. Schofield studied art first at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1889 and 1892. Soon after, he went to Paris to study at the famed Académie Julian. He spent three years studying in Paris before returning to the states.
After trying his hand at the family business, Schofield decided to return to Europe and pursue painting in earnest. He travelled extensively in Europe with his friends Robert Henri and William Glackens. They toured Holland, Belgium, England and Paris. In 1897, Schofield married Muriel Redmayne of Southport, England. Muriel did not take to life in the States, so the couple moved to England eventually settling in St. Ives, Cornwall.
During his time in St. Ives, Schofield was instrumental in bringing other American artists there and supporting those artists who had already established themselves, such as George Oberteuffer and Hayley Lever. Schofield painted the landscape around him but missed the American landscape. He made frequent trips to the States and continued painting in Pennsylvania. He crossed the Atlantic more than forty times between 1902 and 1937.
Schofield’s landscapes, as in the present lot, are light filled with bright colors and impressionist brushstrokes. His ability to capture atmosphere is immediately apparent, especially on a painting of this scale. When viewed in person, the viewer is completely immersed in the landscape. Despite his status as an expatriate artist, Schofield is best remembered as a Pennsylvania Impressionist.
His works are collected in both the United States and abroad in notable private and public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Smithsonian Institution.
Walter Elmer Schofield is best known for his Impressionist landscapes of his native Pennsylvania. His parents emigrated from England to Philadelphia where he was raised. Schofield studied art first at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1889 and 1892. Soon after, he went to Paris to study at the famed Académie Julian. He spent three years studying in Paris before returning to the states.
After trying his hand at the family business, Schofield decided to return to Europe and pursue painting in earnest. He travelled extensively in Europe with his friends Robert Henri and William Glackens. They toured Holland, Belgium, England and Paris. In 1897, Schofield married Muriel Redmayne of Southport, England. Muriel did not take to life in the States, so the couple moved to England eventually settling in St. Ives, Cornwall.
During his time in St. Ives, Schofield was instrumental in bringing other American artists there and supporting those artists who had already established themselves, such as George Oberteuffer and Hayley Lever. Schofield painted the landscape around him but missed the American landscape. He made frequent trips to the States and continued painting in Pennsylvania. He crossed the Atlantic more than forty times between 1902 and 1937.
Schofield’s landscapes, as in the present lot, are light filled with bright colors and impressionist brushstrokes. His ability to capture atmosphere is immediately apparent, especially on a painting of this scale. When viewed in person, the viewer is completely immersed in the landscape. Despite his status as an expatriate artist, Schofield is best remembered as a Pennsylvania Impressionist.
His works are collected in both the United States and abroad in notable private and public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Smithsonian Institution.
[1] William H. Gerdts, Jonas Lie, (New York, Spanierman Gallery, 2005), 13.
[2] Carol Lowery, Gerdts, 28.
