George Alfred Avison (1885 - 1970) Original Painting - Great Marsh East Norwalk CT

George Alfred Avison (1885 - 1970) Original Painting - Great Marsh East Norwalk CT - this is either an original watercolor/ gouache or an acrylic

Size - Sight: 21 x 14" - framed it's 30 x 22"

Biography from Askart:
The following is submitted by Barbara Avison Lang, granddaughter of the artist:

George Alfred Avison was born May 6, 1885 at Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of Alfred Avison, a businessman and selectman of the town, and Ardella Daniels Avison. He attended local schools where as a young boy he admitted to writing adventure stories in his school blank books, with illustrations on every page. His teachers asked him to draw murals on the blackboards with colored chalk and Avison readily agreed. One of his favorite pastimes was to sit by the trolley stop after school and attempt to draw all the people on board before the trolley pulled away.

Upon graduating from Norwalk High School, Avison immediately began submitting drawings to a Boston engraving house to see "how they would look", and was promptly offered a job in the art department. Within weeks on the job he met Edmund M. Ashe who convinced him to drop the Boston job and enroll in the New York School of Art (Chase School) where he was to study under Robert Henri, Kenneth Hayes Miller, Edward Penfield and others.

After three years there he received his first story for illustration. Others followed for youth magazines such as Youth's Companion, Boys Life, American Girl etc. His illustrations began to appear in Century and Scribner's magazines as well as many published books geared to young adults in the subjects of history and adventure. In these early years he studied further under E.M. Ashe and Frederick C. Yohn and attributed much of his success to the personal interest and advice of these two artists.

Avison married Edith Dalton and was to spend the next years as part of an artist's colony in Silvermine, a picturesque corner of Norwalk. He designed his home and studio there and raised his three children. The artists---some painters, sculptors, writers and theatre people---would gather in the barn of noted sculptor Solon Borglum to socialize, exchange ideas and critique each other's work. They called themselves the "Knockers Club". They included, in addition to Avison and Borglum, Ashe, Hamilton Hamilton, John Vassos, Justin Gruelle and others. Eventually the group outgrew the barn and purchased a larger one, the present site of the Silvermine Guild Arts Center, and classes began to be offered there. The school was incorporated in 1939 and the Silvermine College of Art thrives today.

With the Depression came hard times for those who depended on revenue from the sale of art to live. Avison had no other vocation. Under the WPA program, Avison, along with Alexander Rummler was commissioned to paint murals in public buildings throughout Norwalk. Avison was also commissioned for murals in Fairfield and New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1939 he also was commissioned by the Edison Electric Co. to design visuals for the company's exhibit in the New York World's Fair of 1939.

During World War II, inspired by the military service of his sons Marshall and Alfred, he authored and profusely illustrated three military books published by MacMillan entitled Uncle Sam's Army, Uncle Sam's Navy, and Uncle Sam's Marines.

Avison moved his studio to New Canaan in later years and focused on oil and watercolor landscapes. His landscapes such as "Gilsum Farm" were inspired by trips to New Hampshire and Maine. He also produced many seascapes and marine paintings inspired by the shoreline of Rowayton, Connecticut with its lobster and oyster fishing industry. His landscapes and seascapes have been exhibited throughout New England, New York, and New Jersey, and in Washington at the Smithsonian Institution. His work "Spring Thaw" was recognized at the 1969 Grand National Exhibition and included in the subsequent exhibition of the "Fifty Best". Another work, "Ebb Tide" placed first, receiving the Herman Wick Award in New Jersey.

Avison left a diverse body of work, from illustration to landscape to portraiture in later life. He employed oil, watercolor,and acrylic. His first passion however was for illustration, filling scrapbooks with clippings of the work of Howard Pyle and E..A. Abbey as a boy. His illustrations are his most prolific and accomplished work.

Avison died at Norwalk, May 30, 1970

Avison is listed in Who's Who in American Art, 1985 edition.

Notes: as pictured, as shown - very good

$100 - $200

16" x 12"

Home Decor, Wall Accents / Art

15%

Robert Orfant | (603) 833-0917 | orfantiques@gmail.com

Pickup Details

Private Residence

Center Conway, NH 03813

When to Pickup

By Appointment Only

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