TitleMan and Woman in Landscape
Artist
Samuel Isham
(1855 - 1914)
Date1889
MediumWatercolor and graphite with ink underdrawing on cream wove paper
DimensionsSheet size: 16 3/4 × 20 13/16 in.
Image size: 14 15/16 × 18 1/2 in.
Mat size: 22 × 28 in.
SignedSigned in watercolor at BL: "SAMUEL ISHAM '89".
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, Gift from the Estate of Samuel Isham, N.A.
Object number1981.39
Label TextIsham is best remembered today for his important book The History of American Painting, published in 1905. In the 1890s he donated a group of oil paintings and works on paper to the National Academy, which are the principal record of his artistic career and achievement. In the 1880s, Isham studied in Paris with Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger at the Académie Julian. In 1891 he joined the New York Watercolor Club, where he exhibited until 1895. He found little success as an oil painter or watercolorist, and by 1900 he put aside his art to devote himself entirely to writing. Isham’s work in watercolor is marked by strong color, high finish and careful and exquisite draughtsmanship.
c. 1829-1869