Born in Norway in 1880, to an American mother and Norwegian father, Jonas Lie is today acclaimed as one of America’s best painters. After his father’s death in 1892, Lie spent one year with his famous uncle, Jonas Lie the author, in Paris. Mastering the French Language, Lie began his studies of Art. Later, Jonas, his mother, and two sisters took up residence in Plainfield New Jersey. Savoring his memories from France, Lie worked in a cotton factory as a designer, where he was encouraged to persist in the effort to become a painter. Coupling his work in the factory with night classes in the National Academy of Design, and later in the Student’s Art League, Lie began to show his paintings in the annual exhibition at just 20 years old.
Jonas Lie began his career as a shirt designer in New York while studying art, a foundation that shaped his future as a painter. His early works gained recognition, being exhibited at the National Academy of Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and even purchased by artist William Merritt Chase. He won a silver medal at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition and exhibited alongside notable artists such as Winslow Homer and Mary Cassatt.
He spent his life learning the language of the earth – whether spread wide across the land, rising as towering mountains from the sea, carved by fjords, cloaked in winter snow, or adorned with summer’s green forests. Immersed in this landscape, he realized even in his youth that its beauty was only one aspect of its being. Lie captured this truth in his art – sometimes through subtle hints, other times with powerful, dramatic use of color and form. So particularly, Jonas found what might be, rather than stopping at what is.
First Thaw is an oil on canvas, signed on the lower left by Jonas Lie and measures 30 x 50 inches (sight size). From the Severance Milliken Estate, Cleveland Ohio, First Thaw travelled to Richard Love Galleries for the American Winter Scenes of Yesteryear exhibition in 1996 Chicago. A decade later, in 2006, Spanierman Gallery mounted the most important retrospective of Jonas Lie’s career, accompanied by a book on the artist. First Thaw was one of the featured works in that landmark exhibition. Peter recalls attending the event, standing in front of First Thaw, and, just as quickly as he had gone up to New York, caught in the excitement of this retrospective, it was gone. While there was no flash of light, nor thunderous boom, Peter was taken aback by how fast the painting had sold. As both Peter and First Thaw were wrapped up in their winter clothes, on their way to different horizons, Peter regretted that he had not been able to fully experience Lie’s artistry.
About five years later, noted Philadelphia art dealer, George Turak, came across the painting and recognized it as one of Lie’s great works. Through him, Peter could finally rest his gaze upon the masterpiece; it was, in Peter’s words, ‘the one that got away’
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