William Lester Stevens (1888-1969) American, Oil on Canvas. Signed in lower right. Titled "The White Sail". 

Depicts several boats moored together in a harbor. Signed "W. Lester Stevens" lower right. Frame painted as well. 

Overall Size: 17 x 19 in. 

Sight Size: 9 5/8 x 11 1/2 in. 

Depth: 1 5/8 in. 

#3681 . 

William Lester Stevens was born on June 15th, 1888 in Rockport, Massachusetts. Stevens showed artistic talent at an early age and first studied privately with Parker Perkins, a well-known Rockport marine painter. In 1906 his work was first shown at the National Academy of Design, and three years later he received a scholarship to the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston under the tutelage of Edmund Tarbell, Frank Benson, Philip Hale and William Paxton. After graduating in 1913 he joined the Army and was sent to Europe in 1917, where he continued painting and sketching, capturing landscapes as well as stunning images of combat and troop life. He impressed his commanding officers with his talent and an extended stay was arranged for him so he could further study the work of the Old Masters in numerous European museums. When he returned in 1919 he received an invitation from John Pepper, head of the Boston Art Club, to do a one-man show, which became an annual event for him for the next decade. Stevens returned to live in Rockport in 1921, and founded the Rockport Art Association along with fifty other local artists including Aldro Hibbard, Harry Vincent, and Anthony Thieme. In addition to teaching in Rockport during the summers he taught at Boston University and later at Princeton in the late 1920s. He arranged to take groups of students all over the country, to expose them to other cultures and styles, frequently espousing the philosophy “Even the art you don’t like will affect you.” His work was particularly well received in the South during the Great Depression, and he spent some time in North Carolina teaching private lessons and exhibiting before returning to Massachusetts in the 1940s. Although his early works were characterized by thick, impasto oil paint, later in his career he tended more towards translucent washes of acrylic or watercolor, becoming very prolific and increasing his output drastically in the last decade of his life, sometimes claiming to create a finished painting in a single day. It is believed he won more individual awards and prizes for his work than any other American artist in New England in his lifetime, including the William A. Clark Prize from the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Gedney Bunce Award from the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Atman Prize at the National Academy of Design in New York City. He was a member of the Guild of Boston Artists, New Haven Painting and Clay Club, Springfield Art League, North Shore Arts Association, Philadelphia Watercolor Society, New York Watercolor Club, Boston Society of Watercolor Painters, Washington Watercolor Club, Connecticut Academy of Art, Washington Landscape Club, National Academy of Design, and the American Watercolor Society, often referred to by students and fellow artists as the “Dean of New England Landscape Painters.” He died of myocardial infarction on June 10th, 1969, in Conway, Massachusetts, where he left behind not only countless paintings but also a plethora of disciples who he taught directly or inspired.

Good.