The Art and Antique Dealers League of America

PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT

3/18/2010
William L. Sonntag Jr.: “He Knew He Had Talent”

By Carol Lowrey, Spanierman Gallery Blog

Theodore Dreiser’s circle of acquaintances from the art world included the watercolorist and illustrator, William Louis Sonntag, Jr. (1869-1898). Sonntag was an intriguing––and as it turns out––influential fellow.  Born in New York City, he was the son of William Louis Sonntag (1822-1900), a respected painter of the Hudson River School.  Details about his early life are minimal: he learned the rudiments of art from his father and later enrolled in classes at the National Academy of Design (in contrast to so many of his contemporaries, he chose to bypass study in Europe).  Responding to the late nineteenth century taste for rural landscapes, Sonntag went on to paint delicate watercolors of scenery in upstate New York and New England, among them Country Hillside , in which he combined his interest in outdoor light effects with his love of detail.

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