RICHARD HALEY LEVER ON THE COASTS OF BRITAIN AND AMERICA
Lot 43Lot 44Lot 49Lot 45Lot 144
Australian-born artist Richard Haley Lever (1875-1958) moved to England in 1899 to further his young career in painting, settling in the fishing port and artists’ colony of St. Ives on the Cornish Coast. The town’s reputation as a center of British marine painting attracted many prominent artists, including Frederick Judd Waugh, with whom Lever shared a studio (see Lot 49, Attributed to Frederick Judd Waugh (1861-1940): #4 Bold Headland). Lever’s paintings of the fishing port and seascape around St. Ives show the influence of the Impressionists and other British painters working in the village (see Lot 43 and Lot 44 in our upcoming March 14-15th sale).
In 1911, Lever was persuaded by artist Ernest Lawson to move to America to pursue greater success as an artist. Lever painted in and around New York City, as well as on the New England coast. He and Lawson developed a similar, spontaneous style of painting and exhibited together with Robert Henri, William Glackens and John Sloan. Lever eventually moved to Massachusetts and painted up and down the coast, often visiting and painting in the harbors of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard (such as Lot 840 and Lot 841, both sold in our October 25-26, 2014 sale, and Lot 45 in our upcoming March 14-15th sale). Following in the footsteps of the 19th Century Impressionists, Lever said that he was trying to recreate a mood in form and color.
By 1930, Lever had moved to New Jersey, but continued to travel and paint coastline views from Nova Scotia to the Bahamas. He died at home in Mt. Vernon, New York in 1958, leaving a large cache of unknown paintings in his barn. Haley Lever is considered one of the leaders of American Impressionism.
Also on offer in our March 14-15th sale is a self-portrait by Richard Haley Lever, Lot 144.
October 25-26, 2014, Lot 840, Haley Lever (1876-1958): Fishing Boat, Nantucket, Massachusetts.
October 25-26, 2014, Lot 841, Haley Lever (1876-1958): Nantucket, Massachusetts.
