Edward Leavitt
American, 1842 - 1904
(1842-1904) Edward C. Leavitt worked in Providence but is also associated with the Fall River School of still life painting through the influence of, and affinity of his style to, the work of Robert S. Dunning. Leavitt was a student of landscape painter James Morgan Lewin, a founder of Providence's artistic " group of 1855." Leavitt's work is known for its realism, rich coloration, sharp focus and careful finish. His paintings of fruit and flowers incorporate ornate decorative pieces such as silver or bronze ewers, salvers, tankards, or plates on carved and polished tables. Leavitt was a prolific artist, exhibiting frequently at the National Academy of Design, the Boston Art Club, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His work inspired other still life painters in Providence, resulting in that city's own still life tradition, including artists such as John Clinton Spencer, Bryant Chapin, Charles Storer, and George Whitaker. For several decades his work (along with still life painting in general) was eclipsed by other styles, but when interest in the genre was renewed in the 1970s, Leavitt was once again recognized as one of New England's leading still life painters of the nineteenth century.
Biography courtesy of Roger King Gallery of Fine Art, www.antiquesandfineart.com/rking
Biography courtesy of Roger King Gallery of Fine Art, www.antiquesandfineart.com/rking
Edward Chambers Leavitt was born in 1842 in Providence, RI and died in 1904. He was one of the best known painters in that city in the late nineteenth century. Leavitt was a successful fruit and flower specialist.
Leavitt's still lifes were noted for their ideality and poetry - again in the tradition of LaFarge, who painted similar still lifes in nearby Newport. Leavitt, by contrast, was well known for the realistic and very tangible quality of his work, with its emphasis on costly bronze, bric-a-brac, and silver, and for its extremely careful finish. His work has been compared to that of Harnett. While there doesn't seem to be any influence from the Harnett School on Leavitt. Leavitt's finest works are those between 1880 and very early 1890's.
The early pictures by Leavitt are extremely sharply focused, richly colored and illuminated, and precisely drawn. They often involve an accumulation of diverse objects; many different fruits, and flowers, costly tankards, pitchers, plates and salvers. As in Dunning's work (Fall River School), they often rest on a highly polished tables.
Listed:
Art Across America, two centuries of regional painting, Vol., I, William Gertz
American Still-Life Painting, William, Gertz & Russell Burke
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
Leavitt's still lifes were noted for their ideality and poetry - again in the tradition of LaFarge, who painted similar still lifes in nearby Newport. Leavitt, by contrast, was well known for the realistic and very tangible quality of his work, with its emphasis on costly bronze, bric-a-brac, and silver, and for its extremely careful finish. His work has been compared to that of Harnett. While there doesn't seem to be any influence from the Harnett School on Leavitt. Leavitt's finest works are those between 1880 and very early 1890's.
The early pictures by Leavitt are extremely sharply focused, richly colored and illuminated, and precisely drawn. They often involve an accumulation of diverse objects; many different fruits, and flowers, costly tankards, pitchers, plates and salvers. As in Dunning's work (Fall River School), they often rest on a highly polished tables.
Listed:
Art Across America, two centuries of regional painting, Vol., I, William Gertz
American Still-Life Painting, William, Gertz & Russell Burke
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
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