Walter Shirlaw (1838-1909) Scottish/American, Oil on Canvas Genre Landscape "The Plowman". This naturalistic landscape painting captures a lone farmer plowing a verdant field with a team of four horses against a coastal backdrop under a muted, overcast sky. Signed lower left. Framed.

From Black Mountain College of Martha's Vineyard, circa 1898/1899.

Overall Size: 26 1/2 x 53 1/2 in.
Sight Size: 18 1/2 x 45 1/2 in.

Walter Seymour Shirlaw (1838–1909) was a Scottish-born American painter and etcher who played a significant role in 19th-century American art, particularly through his leadership in art education and his refined figure and genre work. Born in Paisley, Scotland, he trained at the Glasgow School of Art and later in Munich under prominent academicians, absorbing European academic techniques that he brought to the United States after emigrating in the 1860s. Settling in Chicago, Shirlaw became a founding influence of the Chicago Academy of Design (later the Art Institute of Chicago), where he taught and shaped generations of American artists. His own work, including portraits, historical subjects, and narrative scenes, is characterized by careful composition, controlled drawing, and a dignified, restrained palette reflecting academic training. Throughout his career he exhibited widely, including at the National Academy of Design in New York and the Paris Salon, and today he is remembered both for his artistic output and his impact on American art instruction in the late 19th century.

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