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Louis Michel Elshems (February 4, 1864 - December 29, 1941) was an American landscape and nude painter. The artist had an academic education, but most of his work has the character of naive art.
Louis Elshamus was born into a wealthy family near Newark, New Jersey. Elshamus was educated in Europe, after which he spent two years at Cornell University studying art history at the Art Students League of New York. He also studied painting privately with American landscape painter Robert Crannell (1839-1904). He subsequently studied also with Bouguereau, at the Académie Julian in Paris, and traveled extensively in Europe, Africa and the South Seas, returning to the family mansion in New York, where he was to live the rest of his life.
Louis Elshamus' early landscapes were influenced by the Barbizon School of painting and the painters Jean Baptiste Corot, George Inness, and Albert Pinkham Ryder. Around 1910 his imagination became more pronounced and his technique rougher; henceforth he often painted on cardboard instead of canvas. His work became more distinctive. He developed the habit of going to art galleries and discussing paintings loudly at exhibitions.
His later works depicting moonlit landscapes with nymphs caused consternation among his contemporaries because of the rough smiles of the nymphs. They frolicked ostentatiously in forests or waterfalls, alone or in groups, sometimes defying gravity by floating through the air. His paintings of New York rooftops are lyrical.
Louis Elshamus also wrote poetry and prose, composed music, drew, philosophized, and became famous for his numerous, often venomous letters to the editors of various New York publications. His lack of public recognition led him to desperate measures. Around 1890 he began to sign his paintings "Elshemus" (he reverted to the original spelling in 1913). On letterheads and samizdat pamphlets he wanted to proclaim his skills: "educator, former actor, physician, fluid - prophet and mystic, linguist with knowledge of 5 languages," as well as world-class athlete and marksman, a musician whose improvisations supposedly rivaled those of Chopin. All this only increased the impression, gave exceptional imagery to his paintings, and aroused the suspicion that he was either a madman or a charlatan.
Louis Elshamus also had supporters of his work. Thus Marcel Duchamp, who "discovered" the artist in 1917, offered him a joint exhibition in Paris the same year. Joseph Stella was also his admirer and drew attention to the master's particularly exquisite portraits. His work was generally well received by French audiences and critics. Duchamp subsequently helped the master organize his first solo exhibition in 1920 in New York. The last part of his life was devoted to self-promotion.
Gradually, the artist's work gained recognition. For example, collector Victor Ganz began collecting art in his younger years by purchasing watercolors by Louis Elshamis, Jules Pasquin, and oil paintings by Raphael Soeur.
Injured in a car accident in 1932, the artist became increasingly unsociable. His health deteriorated and his family fell apart. He passed away in 1941.
After Louis Ellsheims' death, his work was widely acclaimed. One of the artist's admirers, Roy Neuberger, donated a large sum to place the artist's work in the Neuberger Art Museum and at New York State College.
Source: Wikipedia
Louis Elshamus was born into a wealthy family near Newark, New Jersey. Elshamus was educated in Europe, after which he spent two years at Cornell University studying art history at the Art Students League of New York. He also studied painting privately with American landscape painter Robert Crannell (1839-1904). He subsequently studied also with Bouguereau, at the Académie Julian in Paris, and traveled extensively in Europe, Africa and the South Seas, returning to the family mansion in New York, where he was to live the rest of his life.
Louis Elshamus' early landscapes were influenced by the Barbizon School of painting and the painters Jean Baptiste Corot, George Inness, and Albert Pinkham Ryder. Around 1910 his imagination became more pronounced and his technique rougher; henceforth he often painted on cardboard instead of canvas. His work became more distinctive. He developed the habit of going to art galleries and discussing paintings loudly at exhibitions.
His later works depicting moonlit landscapes with nymphs caused consternation among his contemporaries because of the rough smiles of the nymphs. They frolicked ostentatiously in forests or waterfalls, alone or in groups, sometimes defying gravity by floating through the air. His paintings of New York rooftops are lyrical.
Louis Elshamus also wrote poetry and prose, composed music, drew, philosophized, and became famous for his numerous, often venomous letters to the editors of various New York publications. His lack of public recognition led him to desperate measures. Around 1890 he began to sign his paintings "Elshemus" (he reverted to the original spelling in 1913). On letterheads and samizdat pamphlets he wanted to proclaim his skills: "educator, former actor, physician, fluid - prophet and mystic, linguist with knowledge of 5 languages," as well as world-class athlete and marksman, a musician whose improvisations supposedly rivaled those of Chopin. All this only increased the impression, gave exceptional imagery to his paintings, and aroused the suspicion that he was either a madman or a charlatan.
Louis Elshamus also had supporters of his work. Thus Marcel Duchamp, who "discovered" the artist in 1917, offered him a joint exhibition in Paris the same year. Joseph Stella was also his admirer and drew attention to the master's particularly exquisite portraits. His work was generally well received by French audiences and critics. Duchamp subsequently helped the master organize his first solo exhibition in 1920 in New York. The last part of his life was devoted to self-promotion.
Gradually, the artist's work gained recognition. For example, collector Victor Ganz began collecting art in his younger years by purchasing watercolors by Louis Elshamis, Jules Pasquin, and oil paintings by Raphael Soeur.
Injured in a car accident in 1932, the artist became increasingly unsociable. His health deteriorated and his family fell apart. He passed away in 1941.
After Louis Ellsheims' death, his work was widely acclaimed. One of the artist's admirers, Roy Neuberger, donated a large sum to place the artist's work in the Neuberger Art Museum and at New York State College.
Source: Wikipedia
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