Martin Lewis was an Australian-born American painter and printmaker best known for his representation of urban and pastoral landscapes. he artist’s work possessed an eerie quality, underscored by a subtle noir effect used to depict the city at night and occasionally urban crime.
Born in 1881 in Castlemaine, he studied at the Art Society’s School in Sydney under Julian Rossi Ashton, and English-born teacher. Lewis later worked in newspaper illustration. He moved to San Francisco, California in 1900, where he worked as a decorative stage painter for William McKinley’s Presidential campaign.
In 1920 he travelled to Japan to study traditional printmaking, returning to the United States two years later. Between 1925 and 1935 he produced some of his best-known prints. Lewis died in 1962 in New York. Today his works are represented in collections at the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others.
For more information on Martin Lewis see part 1, and for earlier works, see parts 1 - 3 also.
This is part 4 of a 4-part series on the works of Martin Lewis:
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| 1932 White Monday drypoint printed in black ink on laid paper 25.1 x 22.5 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1932 White Monday drypoint printed in black ink on laid paper 25.1 x 22.5 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1932 Windy Day drypoint printed in black ink on blue-green laid paper 25.1 x 30.5 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1933 Circus Night drypoint and sandpaper ground on paper 28.3 x 38.1 cm (plate) Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC |
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| 1933 Lost Railroad drypoint and aquatint 25.2 x 43 cm (plate) |
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| 1933 R.F.D. drypoint and aquatint on paper 25.2 x 30.1 cm (plate) Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC |
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| 1933 Wet Night, Route 6 drypoint printed in black ink on laid paper 22.5 x 37.1 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| c1933 Across to Overlook Mountain, Woodstock, N.Y. oil on academy board 30.2 x 40.5 cm |
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| c1933 Twin Silos drypoint on paper 18.9 x 21.4 cm (plate) Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC |
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| 1934 Hank and Min drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on wove paper 18.4 x 26.4 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1934 Passing Freight, Danbury drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on wove paper 22.9 x 36.5 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1934 Trumbull Street drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on wove paper 27.6 x 32.7 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1934 Winter on White Street drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on wove paper 27.6 x 17.5 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1935 Angry Man drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on wove paper 20 x 29.8 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1935 Bedford Street Gang drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on wove paper 22.5 x 36.2 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1935 Grandpa Takes a Walk drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on wove paper 22.5 x 29.7 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1935 Old Grey Mare drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on wove paper 19.7 x 29.8 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1935 Sun Bath lithograph printed in black ink on wove paper 25.7 x 35.2 cm (image) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1935 Veterans lithograph printed in black ink on wove paper 25.1 x 34.3 cm (image) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1936 Mailman, March drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on wove paper 24.1 x 17.1 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1936 Politics drypoint and sandground 24.8 x 27 cm (plate) |
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| 1937 American Nocturne lithograph printed in black ink on wove paper 25.1 x 36.5 cm (image) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1937 Day's End drypoint on paper 24.6 x 34.2 cm (plate) Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC |
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| 1937 From Hoboken Heights drypoint printed in black ink on wove paper 22.5 x 20.3 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1937 Hi-Li Tournament drypoint printed in black ink on laid paper 21.3 x 33.7 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1937 Strength and Beauty drypoint and sandpaper ground printed in black ink on laid paper 27.6 x 33 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1937 The Arc Welders at Night drypoint printed in black ink on blue-green laid paper 25.4 x 20.3 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1939 Shadow Magic drypoint on paper 34.1 x 24 cm (plate) Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC |
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| 1939 The Equilibrists drypoint and aquatint printed in black ink on wove paper 25.1 x 27.6 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| c1939 Boss of the Block etching and aquatint printed in black ink on wove paper 29.2 x 19.1 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| c1939 Profile of Man Wearing Hat etching and engraving printed in black ink on wove paper 11.3 x 11.7 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1940-41 Chance Meeting drypoint 26.5 x 18.8 cm (plate) Museum of Modern Art, New York |
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| 1946 Interlude in the Heat Wave etching and drypoint printed in black ink on wove paper 22.2 x 33.7 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1946 Neptune's Fountain etching printed in black ink on laid paper 30.2 x 20 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| c1946 Three Girls Conversing etching and drypoint printed in black ink on wove paper 17.8 x 25.4 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| c1946 Three Girls Conversing etching and drypoint printed in black ink on wove paper 17.8 x 25.4 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1947 Janitor's Wife drypoint printed in black ink on wove paper 14 x 9.8 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1947 Misty Night, Danbury lithograph printed in black ink on wove paper 27.9 x 39.4 cm (image) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1947 Negro Girl's Head and Sky with Moon (Polynesian Profile.) sandground and roulette 14.9 x 9.8 cm (plate) |
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| 1947 Polynesian Girl, Head mezzotint printed in black ink on wove paper 14.9 x 9.8 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1947 Yorkville Night drypoint printed in black ink on wove paper 21.9 x 29.5 cm (plate) |
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| 1947 Study for Yorkville Night graphite pencil and black conté crayon on wove paper 21.6 x 27.9 cm Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| c1947 Nude at the Water's Edge mezzotint printed in black ink on wove paper 14.6 x 15.6 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| c1947 Old Bill drypoint printed in black ink on laid paper 12.7 x 10.2 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| c1947 Wayfarer etching and aquatint printed in black ink on wove paper 11.7 x 10 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1949 Late Traveller mezzotint printed in black ink on wove paper 25.1 x 30.2 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1949 Study for Late Traveller graphite pencil and black and white crayon on grey laid paper 26.7 x 30.5 cm Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1953 At the Wall softground etching, aquatint, sandpaper ground, and drypoint printed in black ink on wove paper 37.8 x 30.2 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1953 Study for At the Wall pencil and black crayon on wove paper 41.3 x 33 cm Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1953 On East Side Rooftop mezzotint printed in black ink on wove paper 32.4 x 24.8 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| n.d. Funeral Cortege in Connecticut graphite and white pencil on tinted paper 30 x 40.7 cm |
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| n.d. Test Plate, Woman Wearing a Hat with a Feather softground etching and aquatint printed in silver-grey ink on wove paper 17.5 x 18.4 cm (plate) Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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| n.d. Untitled scratchboard 15.4 x 11 cm Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |