Item #AT-0131 "Heavy Surf Maine" Oil on Canvas by George Howell Gay

George Howell Gay was well known for his watercolor landscapes, seascapes and paintings of rivers and ships, mostly along the shores of New England. Gay also painted snowscapes, but these are scarcer. It is unusual to find an oil painting by this artist, as he worked mainly in watercolor. Some of his works display a tonalist aesthetic.

He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 2, 1858, and lived in Chicago and then in 1889, settled in Bronxville, New York. Gay was a pupil of Paul Brown and Henry Elkins in Chicago.

He is known to have exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1890; Boston Art Club, 1890-1900; and Boston Art Club, 1897.

Shortly before his death in 1931, George Gay's address in 1929 was known to be 100 Kraft Ave., Bronxville, NY. Today his paintings are sought after by collectors, and he is regarded as an important American watercolorist.