Will Howe Foote Original Vintage Old Lyme Colony Cos Cob Impressionist Portrait American Oil Painting of the Artist's Daughter
Will Howe Foote original Lyme Art Colony vintage portrait oil painting. The painting has an unmistakable resemblance to a portrait completed by Howe of his daughter; with similar flowers to the left, on her oriental-influenced top, matching a previous work by the artist, of his daughter. As such, and due to age, it appears this is a later portrait of the artist's daughter. Work is strong, and colors and light effects are effortless and beautiful, with light effects picked up, and coming through the trees. Painting is estimated to have been created by the artist, approximately 1955-1960. Work displays influence from artist Frederick Frieseke, a Lyme Art colony contemporary. The painting is signed in an irreverent manner, on the upper shoulder of the woman, left.
Will Howe Foote
Born June 29, 1874, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Died January 27, 1965, Sarasota, Florida
In Old Lyme, 1901-65; in Cos Cob, 1903
Will Howe Foote was one of the youngest artists affiliated with the Lyme Art Colony. Will Foote came to Old Lyme with his uncle, William Henry Howe. All of the artists at one point also began to call the older artist, “Uncle.”
Born into a prosperous family with ties to the burgeoning furniture business in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Will Howe Foote was encouraged to pursue his interest in art. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and later the Art Students League in New York. In 1897, he sailed to London with his father and two art friends (one of whom was the noted American Impressionist Frederick C. Frieseke) and later traveled to Paris where he enrolled in the Académie Julian.
Will Howe Foote returned to the United States in 1900, and came to Old Lyme the following summer. In 1902, he was hired as an assistant to Frank Vincent DuMond, the director of the Lyme Summer School of Art. Foote continued to teach privately in Old Lyme even after the art school moved to Woodstock, New York. One of his most prominent art students was Ellen Axson Wilson, President Woodrow Wilson’s first wife. In 1907, he married Helen Kirtland Freeman, an art student who came to Old Lyme to study with Henry Rankin Poore. His good friend, William Chadwick, (another Old Lyme artist), was his best man.
Reference: Florence Griswold Museum
Will Howe Foote
(1874-1965)
American Impressionist
Lyme Art Colony, Cos Cob Connecticut Art Colony
Portrait of the Artist's Daughter
16" X 20"
Signed left shoulder of the artist's daughter. Only the artist's standard signature revealing "FOO", is apparent. Therefore painting is listed as an attribution to the artist.
Estimated 1955-1960. (illegible year, possibly '55, or '57)
Very good to excellent original condition. There is a very small puncture/dent lower right, as shown. There have been no overpaints, restorations, or cleanings. All paint is original, with no missing paint. Please review the images.
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