Edward Henry Potthast

One of a number of important American Impressionists to emerge from the burgeoning art milieu of Cincinnati at the turn of the century, Edward Potthast began his career as a lithographer in his hometown, working for the Strobridge Lithography Company while studying art at the McMicken School of Design.

Beginning in 1881 he spent three years in Europe, continuing his training at Munich's Royal Academy and adopting the fluent han-dling and subdued hues associated with Munich Realism. On a second trip abroad in 1887, he went to France, where he brightened his palette in response to Impressionism.

He returned to the Queen City in 1889 and remained there until settling in New York in 1895. He initially worked as a freelance illustrator but eventually abandoned that pursuit to paint full-time. About 1916, Potthast began creating sparkling depictions of children frolicking in the surf at Coney Island, Far Rockaway, and other local beaches, working in both oil and watercolor. His oeuvre also includes landscapes and marines painted during summer trips to New England, as well as views of Central Park.

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton

Edward H. Potthast studied intermittently at the McMicken School of Design between 1869 and 1887. He also worked as a lithography apprentice before traveling to Munich and Paris. When he returned to America he settled in NYC and worked as an illustrator for Harper's and Scribner's. In the 1890s, Potthast became serious about painting the figure. He was also inspired by several trips out West that allowed him the opportunity to paint landscapes with Tonalist qualities in his night scenes. His best known works however, are Impressionistic beach scenes of women and children playing in the surf. His bold brushwork describes the rocky New England coastline very accurately. Potthast died in 1927.

Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell