Lemuel M. Wiles (1826–1905) was an American landscape painter.

Early life

Lemuel Maynard Wiles was born on October 21, 1826, in Perry, Wyoming County, New York. He studied landscape painting with

Jasper Francis Cropsey Jasper Francis Cropsey (February 18, 1823 – June 22, 1900) was an important American landscape artist of the Hudson River School. Early years Cropsey was born on his father Jacob Rezeau Cropsey's farm in Rossville on Staten Island, New ...

Career

Wiles taught school in Perry, Utica and Albany. Wiles served as the Head of the Art Department at the

University of Nashville University of Nashville was a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established in 1806 as Cumberland College. It existed as a distinct entity until 1909; operating at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a ...

. He also served as the Director of the College of Fine Arts at

Ingham University Ingham University in Le Roy, New York, was the first women's college in New York State and the first chartered women's university in the United States. It was founded in 1835 as the Attica (NY) Female Seminary by Mariette and Emily E. Ingham, who ...

. Wiles was an early traveler to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. His journey took him via the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

all the way to the West Coast. Once in California, he did many landscape paintings of Spanish towns. In his lifetime, his paintings were often exhibited at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

. Moreover, he painted the

Cucamonga Valley The Cucamonga Valley is a region of southwestern San Bernardino County and northwestern Riverside County, in southern California. It is located below the San Gabriel Mountains in the Inland Empire region. Geography It is a region of the easte ...

in 1874.

Personal life

Wiles resided at 101 West 55th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He had a son,

Irving Ramsey Wiles Irving Ramsey Wiles (April 8, 1861 – July 29, 1948) was an American artist, born in Utica, New York. In the early 20th century, Wiles was a popular exponent of American grand manner portraiture as redefined by the work of John Singer Sargent, ...

, who became a portrait painter.

Death and legacy

Wiles died of pneumonia on January 28, 1905, in Manhattan, New York City. His artwork can be seen in the Perry Public Library's Stowell-Wiles Gallery in his home town of Perry, New York, and in private collections. Additionally, his painting of the Cucamonga Valley is in the collection of the

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large coll ...

. Furthermore, his bust, designed by sculptor

Chester Beach Chester A. Beach (May 23, 1881 – August 6, 1956) was an American sculptor who was known for his busts and medallic art. Early life Beach was born in San Francisco, California. He studied initially at the California School of Mechanical Arts ...

in 1922, is on the grounds of the Le Roy Central School in

Le Roy, New York Le Roy, or more commonly LeRoy, is a town in Monroe County, New York or Genesee County, New York, United States. The population was 7,641 at the time of the 2010 census. The town is named after one of the original land owners, Herman Le Roy. The ...

References

1826 births 1905 deaths People from Perry, New York Artists from Manhattan American landscape painters {{US-painter-1820s-stub