EDMUND DARCH LEWIS (1835-1910)
Pico Turquino (1,974m- 6,476 ft)
Cuba
In Pico Turquino - View of Cuba, oil on canvas ( 30x47cm), 1860.
The mountain
Pico Turquino (1,974m- 6,476 ft) is the highest point in Cuba. It is located in the southeast part of the island, in the Sierra Maestra mountain range in the municipality of Guamá, Santiago de Cuba Province, within the Turquino National Park - also known as the Sierra Maestra National Park. The name is believed to be a corruption of turquoise (Spanish: turquesa) peak, named so for the blue hues taken by the heights in certain views. It was first mentioned (under the name "Tarquino") on a map drawn by Gerardo Kramer in the late 18th century. It was first climbed in 1860 by F.W. Ramsden Its summit has been the subject of a sort of pilgrimage since the father of the cuban revolutionary, fighter Celia Sánchez erected in 1953 a bust of the national hero José Martí.
The artist
Edmund Darch Lewis was an American landscape painter known for his prolific style, marine oils and watercolors. Lewis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a well-to-do family. He started training at age 15 with German-born Paul Weber (1823–1916) of the Hudson River School.
At age 19 he exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and was elected an Associate of the Academy at age 24.
Lewis's early work in oil, because of his excellent training, was precocious and is considered technically superior to his later work. He traveled throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, painting river scenes, and for two decades he traveled to the White Mountains and painted landscapes of mountains, rivers, and lakes. He made extensive marine paintings throughout New England, becoming a prolific and successful artist. His work was appreciated because of the luminosity of their objects. Because of the lively yet glowing work, he is considered one of the Luminist painters in the Hudson River School.
After mastering oil painting early in his career, Lewis switched to watercolor painting. Although not as technically outstanding, his watercolors were also admired for their luminosity - Luminism, and Lewis continued to generate canvases in mass production style.
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
