Walter Elmer Schofield

Late in his career, he painted vividly-colored landscapes of the American Southwest. Schofield's works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Woodmere Art Museum, and other American museums. In Europe, his works are in the collections of the Godolphin Estate in England, and the Musée d'Orsay in France. Two paintings are in the Juan Manuel Blanes Museum in Montevideo, Uruguay. The world auction record for a Schofield work was set on December 1, 2004, when Rapids in Winter sold for US$456,000 at Sotheby's NY.

Walter Elmer Schofield studied at Académie Julian, Swarthmore College and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The field of work recorded is landscape painting. Places of work recorded in the authority are Godolphin Estate. Work by Walter Elmer Schofield is recorded in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art and Cincinnati Art Museum. Distinctions recorded are Hallgarten Prize.

• Name — W. Elmer Schofield • Born — 10 September 1866 • Birthplace — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. • Died — 1 March 1944 • Place of death — Breage, Cornwall, England • Field — Landscape art Maritime art • Training — Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Académie Julian • Movement — Pennsylvania Impressionism

W. Elmer Schofield (pronounced "SKŌ-field") was the youngest of the eight children of Philadelphia businessman Benjamin Schofield (1820–1900) and Mary Wollstonecraft Schofield (1822–1899). His parents emigrated from England to Philadelphia in 1845, and his father and uncles built textile mills in Manayunk, along the Schuylkill River. He grew up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, and graduated from Central High School in 1886. He attended Swarthmore College for a year, before dropping out and working as a cowboy in San Antonio, Texas. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1889–92, under Thomas Anshutz and Robert Vonnoh. He moved to Paris in 1892, and studied at the Académie Julian under William Bouguereau, Gabriel Ferrier, and Henri Lucien Doucet. Schofield returned to Philadelphia at the end of 1894. Robert Henri, a friend and fellow PAFA alumnus, was then teaching at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. Schofield was among a group of Philadelphia artists – William Glackens, Edward Willis Redfield, John French Sloan, Everett Shinn, George Luks, James Moore Preston, Edward Davis, Charles Grafly, Stirling Calder, Hugh Breckenridge – who would meet at Henri's studio on Tuesday nights to discuss art and aesthetics. Schofield, Henri, Glackens, Grafly and artist Augustus Koopman sailed for France together in June 1895. Schofield, Henri and Glackens were fascinated by the subtle atmospheric effects of Dutch Old Master painters, and the trio made a bicycle tour through Belgium and the Netherlands, visiting churches and museums along the way. Schofield was also influenced by Les Nabis, "a group of French painters whose work emphasized bright colors, flattened forms and decorative patterning." • Illustration — Bust of W. Elmer Schofield (1905), by Charles Grafly, National Academy of Design Schofield returned to Philadelphia in Fall 1895, and worked in his father's textile business for a short time. He met Muriel Redmayne, an English visitor to the city. They married on October 7, 1896 in Ormskirk, Lancashire (near Liverpool). The newlyweds returned to Philadelphia, and lived with his parents in Cheltenham Township, just north of the city. They bought a house in the Oak Lane section of Philadelphia. Schofield had early professional success with restrained Pennsylvania winter landscapes, painted in a Tonalist style "characterized by muted colors and soft, flowing brushwork". In 1899, he and his pregnant wife moved to Southport, North West England, and lived with her parents. The couple had two sons, Seymour and Sydney. The family lived for a time in Brittany, and from 1903 to 1907 in the coastal town of St. Ives, Cornwall. Schofield would spend half of the year in Philadelphia, painting his signature autumn and winter scenes, while his wife and sons remained in England. He maintained this routine from 1902 to 1937, except during World War I. After his parents' deaths, Schofield would stay with his brother Albert and family in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of the city. This was a short walk from the Valley Green section of Fairmount Park, and the picturesque Wissahickon Creek became the subject of a number of his paintings. Zero weather, rain, falling snow, wind—all these things to contend with only make the open-air painter love the fight. — W. Elmer Schofield Schofield had roomed with Edward Redfield in France, and the two enjoyed a friendly rivalry. Both worked en plein air even in the coldest weather, both favored large canvases and preferred to finish a work in a single day, and the pair sometimes painted together. Observing Redfield, Schofield gradually abandoned his Tonalist technique in favor of a more dynamic style "of expressionistic brushwork and a greater sense of form, structure and patterning that itself border[ed] on Post-Impressionism." • Illustration — Across the River (1904) Carnegie Museum of Art. Winner of the 1904 Carnegie Prize. Redfield and Schofield had a major falling out in 1904, that developed into a lifelong feud. Art historian Thomas Folk suspects that Schofield never painted in New Hope again. Painter Emile Gruppe witnessed the results of Schofield's transformation in the first decade of the 20th century: "I can still remember the great National Academy shows. Three painters dominated the walls: Edward Redfield, Daniel Garber and Elmer Schofield. They all worked boldly and with wonderful color – and you never critically compared them, for you loved each one when you stood in front of his canvas." Schofield painted in a brighter palette after World War I, applying this new approach to snow scenes, to coastal scenes of Cornwall, and to landscapes of California, New Mexico and Arizona. World War II ended Schofield's annual trips to the United States. He spent his last years living and painting in Cornwall.

• Illustration — "Godolphin House." Schofield and his family owned the property from 1937 to 2007. Schofield was close friends with Pennsylvania Impressionist painter Walter Emerson Baum, who named one of his sons Elmer Schofield Baum. In July 1915, at age 48, Schofield enlisted as a private in the British Army during World War I. Three months later, he accepted a commission as 2nd lieutenant in the Cornwall Garrison of the Royal Artillery. He rose to the rank of captain, and was discharged with the rank of major. After the war, Schofield and his wife lived in Perranporth, Cornwall for several years, and in Otley, Suffolk from 1925 to 1937. In September 1937, they purchased "Godolphin House," a 17th-century manor in Breage, Cornwall, which was restored by their architect son, Sydney Elmer Schofield (1901–1983). Many of Schofield's late paintings depict the manor and its gardens. The couple moved to the smaller "Gwedna House" on the same property in 1941, and gave the manor house to Sydney and his bride. Walter Elmer Schofield died of a heart attack at "Gwedna House" on March 1, 1944. His body was temporarily buried in England, and after World War II was exhumed and reburied in Philadelphia, at the Church of St. James the Less. His wife Muriel, who survived him by 16 years, was buried beside him. Sydney designed their gravestone. In addition to being an architect, Sydney was a portrait painter. Sydney's widow sold "Godolphin House" to the National Trust in 2007.

The National Academy of Design mounted a memorial exhibition of his work in 1945, as did the Woodmere Art Museum that same year. The Brandywine River Museum mounted a 1983 retrospective exhibition: Walter Elmer Schofield, Bold Impressionist. The Payne Gallery at Moravian College mounted a 1988 retrospective exhibition: W. Elmer Schofield: Proud Painter of Modest Lands. The Woodmere Art Museum mounted a 2014 retrospective exhibition – Schofield, International Impressionist – that focused on his career on both sides of the Atlantic; and a small 2017 exhibition of recent gifts from the artist's descendants. The Trout Gallery at Dickinson College mounted a 2015 exhibition, Schofield: Impressionist Landscapes.

• Illustration — Montmartre (c.1896), Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia. Painted under the influence of Les Nabis. • Illustration — Sand Dunes near Lelant, Cornwall (1905), Metropolitan Museum of Art • Illustration — Mining Village in Cornwall (c.1920), Minneapolis Institute of Arts • Illustration — "Summer Morning" (1935), 26 x 30 inches • Montmartre (c.1896), Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia. • Winter (1899), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. • Winter Evening (1899), Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art, Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Awarded NAD's 1901 First Hallgarten Prize. • Autumn in Brittany (c.1900), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York. Awarded the Society of American Artists' 1900 Webb Prize, and a silver medal at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. • Breezy Day, Early Autumn (c.1902), Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania. Awarded PAFA's 1903 Sesnan Gold Medal. • Morning After Snow (1903), Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. • Across the River (c.1904), Carnegie Art Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Awarded the Carnegie Institute's 1904 gold medal. • Sand Dunes near Lelant, Cornwall (1905), Metropolitan Museum of Art • Winter in Picardy (1907), Philadelphia Museum of Art • Evening along the Shore, St. Ives (c.1907), National Academy of Design, New York City • Old Mills on the Somme (c.1907), Indianapolis Museum of Art • The Lock (1908). Ex collection: St. Louis Art Museum • On the Canal, Bruges (1908), private collection • The Landing Stage, Boulogne (1908–09), Cincinnati Art Museum • Winter Landscape (1909), private collection. Sold at Shannon's Fine Art Auctioneers, Milford, CT, October 25, 2018, Lot 45. Realized $75,000 plus buyer's premium. • The First Days of Spring (c.1910), Juan Manuel Blanes Museum, Montevideo, Uruguay. Awarded a gold medal at the 1910 Exposición Internacional del Centenario in Buenos Aires. • Ebb Tide (c.1912), National Arts Club, New York City • Covered Bridge on the Schuylkill (The Red Bridge) (c.1912), Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania • Frosty Morning (1913), Avery Galleries, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Ex collection: Montclair Art Museum • The Hill Country (c.1913), Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia. Awarded PAFA's 1914 Temple Gold Medal. • The Spring Thaw (c.1913), Biggs Museum of American Art, Dover, Delaware. Awarded the National Arts Club's 1913 gold medal. • The Powerhouse, Falls Village, Connecticut (c.1914), Art Institute of Chicago • Building The Coffer-dam (c.1914), Art Institute of Chicago • The Rapids (c.1914), Smithsonian American Art Museum. Awarded NAD's 1920 Altman Prize. On loan to Brooklyn Museum, 1920-1954 • The Falls in Winter (sketch for The Rapids) (c.1914), Payne Gallery, Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. • The Old Covered Bridge (c.1914), Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois • The Lower Falls (1915), Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York • In the Dugway (1915), Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York • Mining Village in Cornwall (c.1920), Minneapolis Institute of Arts • Morning Light (Lumiere du Matin) (c.1921), Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France Awarded the Art Institute of Chicago's 1921 Spalding Prize. • Cliff Shadows (1921), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Awarded the Corcoran Art Gallery's 1926 silver medal and Clark Prize. • The Birches (The Ravine) (1922), Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco • Sunlit Cove (1923), High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia • The Little Harbor (c.1925), private collection. Awarded a silver medal at the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition. • The Red Barn (1930), Payne Gallery, Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania • Cornish Coast (c.1934), James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania • Tujunga Canyon (c.1934-35), Los Angeles County Museum of Art • Summer Morning (1935) Sold at Rago Auction, November 12, 2021, Lot 446. Realized $40,000 + buyer's premium. • Rapids in Winter (c.1936), private collection. Sold at Sotheby's NY, December 1, 2004, realized $456,000 (auction record). • Illustration — Morning After Snow (1903), Corcoran Gallery of Art • Illustration — Winter in Picardy (1907), Philadelphia Museum of Art • Illustration — On the Canal, Bruges (1908), private collection • Illustration — Winter Landscape (1909), private collection • Illustration — Old Mills on the Somme (c.1909), Indianapolis Museum of Art • Illustration — Frosty Morning (1913), Ex collection: Montclair Art Museum • Illustration — The Little Harbor (c.1925), private collection. Silver medal at the 1926 Sesqui-centennial Exposition • Illustration — Tujunga Canyon (c.1934-35), Los Angeles County Museum of Art