'Winter Sunset' by Robert Emmett Owen, Art Institute of Chicago, Art Students League, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, New England, Connecticut

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Signed lower right, 'R. Emmett Owen' for Robert Emmett Owen (American, 1878-1957) and painted circa 1915.
Displayed in a substantial, … Read more Signed lower right, 'R. Emmett Owen' for Robert Emmett Owen (American, 1878-1957) and painted circa 1915.
Displayed in a substantial, carved, giltwood frame
Framed dimensions: 30 x 1.75 x 36 inches

Robert Emmett Owen is best known for his atmospheric winter landscapes that invest the seasonal moods of the New England countryside with a heightened aesthetic sense that has led to comparisons with the poetry of Robert Frost.

Owen first studied at the Drury Academy in his home town of North Adams, Massachusetts before receiving a scholarship (1898) to study at Boston's Eric Pape School of Art. After three years of study in Boston, he was regularly contributing illustrations and art to major national publications including Scribner's Magazine and Harper's Monthly.

In 1901, Owen moved to New York to further his studies at the Art Students League, the Chase School, and the National Academy of Design. During this period, he became familiar with the American Impressionists and was particularly influenced with the works of Willard Metcalf and Childe Hassam.

In 1910, Owen moved to the Connecticut countryside to be better able to paint landscapes directly from life. During this rural period, he continued to exhibit widely including at the Greenwich Society of Artists (1912), the National Academy of Design (1912, 1913), and the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts (1915). His work was well regarded by both critics and the public and he began to receive important commissions for both murals and oils. In 1920, he returned to New York and opened a gallery on Madison Avenue where he continued to successfully exhibit and sell his work for over twenty years.

Over the course of a long career, Robert Emmett Owen was the recipient of numerous medals, prizes and juried awards. He exhibited widely and with success including at the National Academy of Design, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Allied Artists of America. He is listed in all relevant art reference works and his work is held in private and public collections nationwide including the permanent collections of the Frick Art Museum and the Greenwich Public Library.

Reference:
Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 2, page 2490; E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 10, page 468; Mallett’s Index of Artists, Daniel Trowbridge Mallett, Peter Smith: New York 1948 Edition, R.R. Bowker Company 1935, page 324; et al. See less