Lot 118: WILL HOWE FOOTE (1874-1965) OLD LYME TWILIGHT

Will Howe Foote (American, 1874-1965) Old Lyme Twilight Oil on Board. Signed Foote lower right. In gilt wood frame. In frame measures 19 1/2"x16"x2". Weight 3 pds 6 oz. PROVENANCE: The Estate of Edwin Joseph Hamblet, Portland, Maine.Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Will Howe Foote was an Impressionist painter whose style was much influenced by the atmospherics of Tonalism and then Impressionism of the Old Lyme, Connecticut painters with whom he associated. He was one of that Colony's earliest artists, first arriving to paint in the summer of 1901, and, dying in 1965, he was the last surviving member of the original Colony members. He was the nephew of artist William Henry Howe, and in 1901 accompanied this uncle to Old Lyme whose beauties had been touted to the young Foote by Clark Voorhees, whom he had met in France. Both Will Howe Foote and his uncle were raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan where his father held an executive position in a prominent furniture company. The father encouraged his son's obvious art talent, and in 1894, young Foote began his art study at the Art Institute of Chicago. There he became close friends with Frederick Frieseke, with whom he also attended the Art Students League in New York City. In 1897, they went to Paris, and he attended the Julian Academy* under Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. He exhibited twice at the Paris Salon, and in 1900 returned to the United States and exhibited frequently at the National Academy of Design .Foote's primary residence became Old Lyme, Connecticut. In 1902, he became Frank DuMond's assistant at the Old Lyme Summer School, sponsored by the Art Students League of New York

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