Lockwood de Forest

Lockwood de Forest Estate

Lockwood de Forest
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California Landscape, 1907, oil on board, 15 x 20"
Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) was still a teenager when he began an informal, but extended tutelage with his great uncle, the celebrated landscape painter, Frederic Church. Like Church, De Forest favored observation over interpretation and distant views over foreground details. Both artists adhered to the credo espoused by the prevailing English art critic, John Ruskin who believed that fine art emanates from Nature, and that the artist is the seeker of Truth.

De Forest also worked for many years for Louis Comfort Tiffany, as an interior and furniture designer, travelling widely to collect architectural motifs and commission artisans. At each destination de Forest painted oil sketches, not as preliminary studies for larger pieces, but as fully resolved works. Like many late nineteenth and early twentieth century painters, de Forest worked on paper which he subsequently adhered to canvas. This convenient and lightweight method allowed him to use time between appointments or while on the road to his best advantage. He recorded carefully selected scenes of Egypt, Tunisia, Greece, Syria, India, Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, California, the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. Each painting is both a moment in de Forest’s life and a glimpse of an era now vanished.

A true Renaissance man, de Forest was a landscape painter, an entrepreneur, a furniture designer, an importer, an interior designer, a world traveler, as well as a husband and father. Propelled by dauntless optimism and a deep need to succeed, his paintings remain the best measure of the man.

All works of art listed here are available for purchase. Please contact Ms. Deeds for additional information.