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for Lewis Henry Meakin
1850 - 1917
Meakin's family, who were in the pottery business, emigrated to Montreal when he was about ten years old. In 1863 they settled in Cincinnati, where the artist spent the remainder of his youth. Meakin enrolled in Cincinnati's McMicken School of Design in 1877. Thomas S. Noble was head of the school, taught a drawing class, and was one of Meakin's teachers in the night courses he attended there until 1881, when he received a diploma in drawing and design. Meakin then launched his career as landscape painter, though he was probably aware of some of the deficiencies of his training. The next year he went to Munich, where he began what proved to be four years of study under Nikolaus Gysis, Ludwig von Löfftz, and Karl Raupp at the Royal Academy. He may have spent some time in this period with Duveneck in Venice.
By the time Meakin returned to Cincinnati in 1886, the McMicken School had been renamed the Cincinnati Academy of Art and was part of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Meakin was invited to join its faculty, a position he would retain for the rest of his life. From 1890 to 1892 he was part of the special class Duveneck taught at the museum. In 1891 and 1892, he summered on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, where he painted in company with a number of artists, including William Lamb Picknell, whose work and friendship exerted considerable influence on Meakin.
It was the practice of the Cincinnati academy to give faculty members a year's sabbatical abroad. Meakin's turn came in 1893-94. He was first with Picknell on the Normandy coast. In the autumn he was briefly in Paris, where he attended the Académie Colarossi and worked in Picknell's studio. He then joined Picknell in Antibes in the south of France for six months' work together there. In the summer of 1894 Meakin, probably still with Picknell, was working in Moret-sur-Loing with Alfred Sisley. He visited England before sailing for America to start the fall term in Cincinnati.
For the remainder of his life, Meakin maintained a routine of spending winters in Cincinnati and summering in New England and, later, in the Rocky Mountains. He was a founder of the Society of Western Artists in 1896 and served as its president in 1907-8. His landscapes were seen in the Society's exhibitions as well as in other group shows and in a one-man show in 1907 at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. He first exhibited in an Academy annual in 1892 but rarely participated in the exhibitions thereafter. Meakin's sphere was Cincinnati. With Duveneck, he exercised considerable influence on shaping the city's art collections.
By the time Meakin returned to Cincinnati in 1886, the McMicken School had been renamed the Cincinnati Academy of Art and was part of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Meakin was invited to join its faculty, a position he would retain for the rest of his life. From 1890 to 1892 he was part of the special class Duveneck taught at the museum. In 1891 and 1892, he summered on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, where he painted in company with a number of artists, including William Lamb Picknell, whose work and friendship exerted considerable influence on Meakin.
It was the practice of the Cincinnati academy to give faculty members a year's sabbatical abroad. Meakin's turn came in 1893-94. He was first with Picknell on the Normandy coast. In the autumn he was briefly in Paris, where he attended the Académie Colarossi and worked in Picknell's studio. He then joined Picknell in Antibes in the south of France for six months' work together there. In the summer of 1894 Meakin, probably still with Picknell, was working in Moret-sur-Loing with Alfred Sisley. He visited England before sailing for America to start the fall term in Cincinnati.
For the remainder of his life, Meakin maintained a routine of spending winters in Cincinnati and summering in New England and, later, in the Rocky Mountains. He was a founder of the Society of Western Artists in 1896 and served as its president in 1907-8. His landscapes were seen in the Society's exhibitions as well as in other group shows and in a one-man show in 1907 at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. He first exhibited in an Academy annual in 1892 but rarely participated in the exhibitions thereafter. Meakin's sphere was Cincinnati. With Duveneck, he exercised considerable influence on shaping the city's art collections.
