Wilson Irvine 

(1869-1936)

Wilson Irvine was a significant member of the Old Lyme art colony from 1914 until the end of his life. Despite his seemingly conservative Impressionism well into the 20th century after it fell out of favor to the appeal of modernism, Irvine was an experimenter, constantly delving into new forms of expression, from aquatints to an innovative approach to color theory he termed “prismatic painting.” In my frequent trips to Old Lyme I saw many examples of Irvine’s work and often came close to the specific piece I would like. I gradually concluded I preferred his snowscapes to his landscapes of other seasons. Finally in 1999, I saw a snowscape at the Cooley Gallery, which had added features that also appealed to me in a curious way: laundry hanging on a clothesline. This may sound amusing, but think about what laundry provides the artist: an opportunity to inject random shapes and colors into a naturalistic scene where the colors would not normally be seen. I found this Irvine absolutely perfect for my tastes, and Jeff Cooley did not beat me up on the price… does it get any better?