Edmund Darch Lewis (American, 1835-1910). View of Cuba, 1860. Oil on canvas. 17 x 32-1/2 inches (43.2 x 82.6 cm). Signed...

Description

Edmund Darch Lewis (American, 1835-1910)
View of Cuba, 1860
Oil on canvas
17 x 32-1/2 inches (43.2 x 82.6 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: E.D. Lewis / 1860

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Private collection, Norristown, Pennsylvania, acquired from the above.

Edmund Darch Lewis's lush View of Cuba emerged out of a mid-nineteenth-century fascination with scientific documentation, theories of the sublime, and shaping a national identity. Artists of the time, often accompanying government-sponsored scouting expeditions, eagerly explored virgin territories in North America and beyond, rendering awesome landscapes that validated "the rightness of the American character and the freshness of American ideals" (J. Wilmerding, Essays on American Art, Princeton, 1991, p. 108): Thomas Cole, for example, captured the majestic Hudson River Valley wilderness; Albert Bierstadt, the ancient canyons of Yellowstone and Yosemite; Frederic Edwin Church, the roaring spectacle of Niagara Falls; and William Bradford, the otherworldly icebergs and fjords of Labrador. For his part, Philadelphian Edmund Darch Lewis claimed Cuba as his unchartered subject, from 1860 through the mid-1870s enlivening for New England audiences the island's sweeping mountain ranges and exotic palm tree-lined lagoons.

Lewis made at least two trips to Cuba, the first in 1860, when he traveled throughout the central provinces of Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus, and the second, around 1871, when he based himself in Santiago de Cuba on the southern coast. In 1860, Lewis was only twenty-five, yet it is not surprising that he made his way to undiscovered Cuba: having studied in Philadelphia for five years with the Munich artist Paul Weber and achieved associate status at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts at age nineteen, Lewis was already considered a precocious painter with a confident, adventurous spirit; he was also the son of an affluent businessman who could have easily financed his Cuba voyage. Lewis's Cuba landscapes from 1860 reveal the influence of Weber's naturalism and foreground dense, detailed tropical foliage and lily-pad dotted waterways at the foot of the Escambray Mountains. By contrast, his 1870s paintings of the port city of Santiago de Cuba are more broadly painted with atmospheric elements, such as roiling clouds, setting sun, hazy Sierra Maestra range, and wind-swept Caribbean Sea.

View of Cuba, no doubt Lewis's finest early Cuba work, illustrates one of the vegetation-rich lagoons at the base of San Juan, the highest peak of the Escambray Mountains in south-central Cienfuegos. Lewis's 1860 sketchbook at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia suggests that he pieced together the composition from several pencil drawings, including one of the left bank, with a staircase leading from a mill down to the water; another of a cluster of palm trees on the shoreline; and a third of the right bank, with grassy bushes set against the mountains. In addition, a related 1860 oil sketch, likely a preliminary study for the present work, shows the same staircase-flanked mill, figure on the shore with a long fishing pole, and palm trees against the mountain backdrop; a label written by the artist on the back of this sketch further pinpoints the location: "Old Mill at / the [Pico] San Juan / by E.D. Lewis / Philada." The mill was used for processing sugar from sugar cane, the area's largest cash crop. Though hinting here at man's industry, Lewis nestles the tile-roofed mill within a tangle of trees and flowering vines and minimizes its presence in the landscape. Physical evidence also suggests the artist slightly trimmed the original canvas, perhaps to intensify the all-encompassing effect of nature.


*Heritage Auctions strives to provide as much information as possible but encourages in-person inspection by bidders. Statements regarding the condition of objects are only for general guidance and should not be relied upon as complete statements of fact, and do not constitute a representation, warranty or assumption of liability by Heritage. Some condition issues may not be noted in the condition report but are apparent in the provided photos which are considered part of the condition report. Please note that we do not de-frame lots estimated at $1,000 or less and may not be able to provide additional details for lots valued under $500. Heritage does not guarantee the condition of frames and shall not be liable for any damage/scratches to frames, glass/acrylic coverings, original boxes, display accessories, or art that has slipped in frames. All lots are sold "AS IS" under the Terms & Conditions of Auction.