35

IRVING RAMSEY WILES

American, (1861-1948)

The Path, 1888

oil on panel
signed and dated lower left "Irving R. Wiles 1888"
17 x 21 inches

  • Provenance: Private Collection.

    Framed dimensions: 27 x 31 x 3 inches

    The son of landscape painter Lemuel Maynard Wiles, Irving Ramsey Wiles grew up in upstate New York, where his father worked as an art instructor. Eventually the Wiles family settled down in Silver Lake, New York, where his father established an art school. Irving assisted his father for a year before moving on to the Art Students League under the instruction of James Carroll Beckwith, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, and William Merritt Chase.

    Chase was an impressive figure in the New York art world of the 1880s and Wiles emulated him throughout his career, maintaining a lavish studio, succeeding him as an important teacher, and even setting up a plein air school on Long Island, just as Chase did. For his part, Chase thought Wiles to be one of the most talented students he ever had, and he encouraged Wiles to continue his studies abroad.

    Wiles first studied at the Académie Julian in Paris before entering the atelier of Carolus-Duran. Carolus, who attracted young Americans because of the dazzling success of his former student John Singer Sargent, taught a method of painting directly from the model with minimum preparatory drawing, which was the antithesis of the labor-intensive style advocated by the École des Beaux-Arts. His system was to create the illusion of form not through line, but through the juxtaposition of colors or tones.1 Wiles employed this technique for the rest of his life, becoming a master of the seemingly effortless bravura brushstroke.

    After returning to New York in 1884, Wiles made a living as a commissioned illustrator for Century Magazine, Harper's and Scribner's. By the mid-1890s he was able to give up his illustration work and focus exclusively on his paintings. He was receiving many commissions from prominent Americans, including Theodore Roosevelt, as his talents as a portrait and figure painter were becoming recognized. The novelist Theodore Dreiser wrote of him in 1898:

    "As a painter Mr. Wiles is greatly to the fore just at present, and his pictures are justly admired for a style that is not so much pleasing for what it accurately puts in as for what it leaves out. His art has originality, in that the situations presented are new, the attitudes possessing both the grace of naturalness and, what is not quite the same, the naturalness of grace. You can appreciate his work more when you understand that he believes art should present only the beautiful."2

    In 1886 Wiles was elected as a member of the Society of American Artists and in 1897 elected to the National Academy of Design. In the winter time, he taught at the Art Students League and the Chase School in New York. During the summers, he would travel with his family to Peconic in Long Island across the bay from Chase's studio in the Sinnecock Hills. In his landscapes, including the present example, the persistent influence of his esteemed mentor Chase is apparent.

    1 Reynolds, Wiles, 12.
    2 Theodore Dreisser [sic], "Art Work of Irving R. Wiles," Metropolitan Magazine 7, no. 4 (April 1898), 357-61.



    Tags: oil painting, listed artist, American Impressionist, American Impressionism, William Merritt Chase, Peconic, Long Island, New York
  • Condition: in very good to excellent overall condition; scattered pinholes along edges; in a period frame

    We are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Shannon’s is merely a subjective qualified opinion. Frames on all paintings are sold "As Is". Frames may need some conservation. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD “AS IS” IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE. 

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