Banyan Tree

Ernest Lawson was born in Nova Scotia in 1873.

After moving to the United States, Lawson began studying at the Art Students League in New York in 1891. While living in France from 1893 to 1896, he briefly attended the Académie Julian.

Lawson’s early work featured delicate tones and harmonious textures, similar to the style of John Twachtman, who he had studied with in Cos Cob, CT. He achieved much recognition for his impressionist landscape paintings.

Having a passion for painting outdoors, Lawson captured many scenes of Manhattan when he returned to New York in 1898.

Lawson participated in the Independent Artists exhibition in 1910 and the Armory Show in 1913. He won many awards throughout his career including gold medals at the Pennsylvania Academy (1907) and Panama Pacific Exposition (1915).

Later in life, the artist struggled with finances and alcoholism, causing him to lose his family and many patrons. Impoverished and in ill health, Lawson accepted teaching positions in Kansas City and Colorado Springs during the 1920s. In 1936 he moved to Florida, where he died of an apparent heart attack in 1939.