Note
Harry Emerson Lewis
(b. 1892, Hutchinson, KS – d. 1958, Santa Ana, CA)
BY A COOLING STREAM
1933, Oil on canvas, 24 x 28 inches
Jonathan Art Foundation collection
Born in Kansas, Henry Emerson Lewis's first fine art study was with his father, Edward Henry Lewis, who was active in Atchison in the 1880's. Lewis undertook formal art training at Northwestern University in Illinois in 1912-13. After serving in the US Army during World War I, he continued his art education in major centers of Europe for another three years. In Chicago, he studied and later taught art at the Art Institute.
In 1924 the artist moved to Hollywood, and in 1931 to Corte Madera in Northern California, where he remained most of his life. He was a member of many art clubs nationwide and exhibited in some of them. During World War II he won an award for his National Defense poster. In his last years he lived in Laguna Beach and in Santa Ana.