William Phelps

A "plein aire" painter, he took huge canvases into the open, and built shelters around them to complete his landscapes on site. He set up his studio in Lowell, Massachusetts, but traveled widely along the New England coast and the American West.

In 1886, he did his most monumental work, a 7 x 12 foot canvas of the Grand Canyon, which he accomplished by constructing a huge frame on the edge of the Canyon. Technically he was a perfectionist, and since he completed his work on site, finishing this canvas was an amazing feat and the subject of much praise and curiosity.

He was born at the foot of Mount Monadnock in the town of Chesham, New Hampshire and developed a life-long love for New England's landscape and people from growin   ...  Displaying 750 of 1363 characters.