"Montauk Point," Collection of the Southold Historical Society

LEMUEL WILES EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT SOUTHOLD HISTORICAL SOCIETY!

SOUTHOLD, NY.   The Southold Historical Society is pleased to announce that it will open an exhibition devoted to the works of noted Peconic School painter Lemuel Maynard Wiles (1826-1905) on February 18^th, 2006. The exhibit, entitled “Lemuel Maynard Wiles 1826-1905:  American Painter,” will be the first of its kind devoted to showing the works of Lemuel Wiles. 

"The Society felt this project was important for a number of reasons," stated Geoffrey K. Fleming, the Society's Director.  "One, there has never been an organized exhibit of any size devoted to the works of Lemuel Wiles. And two, Wiles’s connection to the Peconic School of Painters on Long Island’s North Fork has, until recently, been largely forgotten.  This exhibition proposes to rectify both these issues," he continued.

Lemuel Wiles was born near the town of Perry, NY and trained with William S. Hart and Jasper F. Cropsey. During the 1860’s he had a studio in New York City and by the mid 1870’s had returned to upstate New York where he taught at Ingham University and founded the Silver Lake Art School. In the 1890’s he came to teach on Long Island with his son, noted portrait painter Irving Ramsey Wiles.  A very respected painter, Lemuel exhibited widely and often.  During the period of 1865 through 1881 he exhibited no less than forty-one different oils at the Brooklyn Art Association.

Over the course of his long career, Lemuel Wiles created magnificent paintings depicting the Hudson River Valley, the landscapes of Genesee and Wyoming Counties, views of Yosemite and the American West, as well as detailed images of Long Island and the North Fork.  Some of these very types of depictions are included in this show.

One of the more interesting works that will be on display is a painting created near Peconic in 1901.  The painting is probably a scene along the shores of Little Peconic Bay, nearby where the Wiles, Prellwitz, and Bell families had their studios. Lemuel Wiles realized early-on the quiet, calm, and natural beauty of the area came with a price.  He remarked in a letter (1900) sent from Peconic:  “written and signed with a quill pen – steel pens all rusted out, and the stationary store over a mile off.”

The exhibition will take place from February 18^th – April 16^th, 2006 in the Society's Prince Building Winter Gallery located at 54325 Main Road, Southold.  The Gallery will be open Saturday and Sunday from 1-4 pm, except for Presidents Day Weekend when the exhibit will also be open on Monday, February 20^th. A number of pictures borrowed from both public and private sources will be featured in the exhibition.

This exhibition was funded in part by a grant from the prestigious New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Museum Program Exhibition Grant.  The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is dedicated to preserving and expanding the rich and diverse cultural resources that are and will become the heritage of New York's citizens.

For further information or images please call (631) 765-5500 or visit us on the web at www.southoldhistoricalsociety.org .

Come see the great paintings is this show!