William Lester Stevens Paintings

Signed lower left. Born in Rockport, Massachusetts, impressionist painter William Stevens lived and worked in the area for many years. In the later part of his life, he moved to Co...

William Lester Stevens Rockport Signed lower right Oil on canvas 20 x 24 inches Born on June 15, 1888, in Rockport, Massachusetts, Stevens displayed his artistic abilities from a y...

William Lester Stevens Winter Landscape Signed lower right Oil on canvas 32 x 36 inches Born on June 15, 1888, in Rockport, Massachusetts, Stevens displayed his artistic abilities ...

A fine colorful New England winter landscape with trees and a snow covered stone wall by American artist William Lester Stevens (1888-1969).Born in Rockport, Massachusetts, Stevens f...

A wonderfully colorful early piece by William Lester Stevens. Housed in a beautiful period Newcomb-Macklin frame. Great package! William Lester Stevens was born in Rockport, Massachusetts in 1888. He first studied art under Parker Perkins and, by the age of eighteen, had his paintings accepted by the National Academy of Design and won a scholarship to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School, training under Edmund Tarbell. After studying in Europe he retuned home and helped establish the Rockport Art Association with Aldro Hibbard and Harry Vincent. Until the 1940’s, Stevens remained in Rockport and the Cape Ann area, painting, teaching and continuously showing paintings. Later, Stevens moved to Conway, Massachusetts where he made a studio and continued to paint. He taught classes at both Princeton and Boston University. He won more awards and prizes for his work than any other living American artist in New England. The awards he garnered were impressive, over one hundred national awards and prizes. Among his most outstanding are the 4th William A. Clark Prize from the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, DC; the Gedney Bunce Award from the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Hartford, Connecticut; Second Atman Prize at the National Academy of Design, New York City; First Prize in the Springfield Art League, Best Work of Art in Oil Painting in Rockport Art Association shows; and the William Delano Purchase Prize from the American Watercolor Society. He was a member of the Guild of Boston Artists, New Haven Painting and Clay Club, Springfield Art league, North Shore Arts Association, Philadelphia Watercolor Society, New York Watercolor Club, Boston Society of Watercolor Painters, Washington Watercolor Club, Connecticut Academy of Art, Washington Landscape...

Hand signed on front by the artist. Original oil on masonite painting. Framed. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of authenticity included. All reasonable offers will ...

Signed lower right Bio: Born in Rockport, Massachusetts, Stevens received his initial art training from Parker Perkins, a local marine painter who charged him fifty cents an hour. He later spent four years at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts School, where he studied under Edmund Tarbell, among others. Although influenced by Tarbell, Stevens' wide range of brushstrokes and impressionist style prevented him from being classified as a "Tarbellist," as many of Tarbell's followers were labeled. Stevens joined the Army in 1917 and was sent to Europe where he continued to paint and sketch. Upon his return to the United States, he was pleased to discover that Rockport had become a popular haven for artists. Though he was the only native son among them, such well-known painters as Frank Duveneck, Childe Hassam, Leon Kroll and Jonas Lie also recorded the scenery of Rockport, Cape Ann and Gloucester. In 1921, together with fifty other artists, Stevens founded the Rockport Art Association, primarily to plan exhibitions of the work of outstanding area artists. Throughout the course of his long career, Stevens taught, first in Rockport, then at Boston University (1925-1926) and Princeton (1927-1929). He later gave lessons and held one-man shows in Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina, where his work was well-received. Southerners particularly enjoyed his views of famous Southern gardens and cities. Though the Depression years were difficult for both the artist and his family, the 1930s did bring Stevens some measure of commercial and personal success. He did a number of covers for "The American Legion Magazine" and won prizes in New Haven, Springfield and Rockport. In 1934, he abandoned Rockport to the growing tourist population and moved to Springfield, and then to Conway, Massachusetts, where he remodeled an old farmhouse and constructed a studio which looked north towards Mount Monadnock...