Knight Louis Aston oil painting artist America paintings

Louis Aston Knight
American Naturalist painter
born 1873 - died 1948

Student of: Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1836-1911), Tony Robert-Fleury (1837-1912).
Son of: Daniel Ridgway Knight (1839-1924).

Louis Aston Knight was the son of the American ex-patriot painter, Daniel Ridgway Knight. Daniel Ridgway Knight was born in America and began studying art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art. In 1872, Louis Aston Knight traveled to Paris and continued to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Thereafter, Louis Aston Knight remained in Europe, and studied in the academic studios of the Romantic Salon painters, Jules Ernst Meissonier and Charles Gleyre and the Impressionists, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. Although Ridgway Knight, spent most of his life in Europe, his American style and technique show through. This typically American approach towards painting was to influence Louis Aston Knight as well.

In 1873, Louis Aston Knight was born in Paris. Unlike his father, Aston Knight was raised and educated in Europe. Knight attended the Chigwell School in England for his Liberal Arts Education and began his artistic training, under the guidance of his father. Later Louis Aston Knight studied formally with the great French Romantic painters, Robert-Fleury and Jules Lefebvre.

In 1894 Aston Knight debuted at the Paris Salon, starting a highly acclaimed career. Among his many awards, Louis Aston Knight won a Bronze medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, an honorable mention at the Paris Salon in 1901, a gold medal in Lyon in 1903, a gold medal in Geneva and in Nantes in 1904 and Gold medals at the Paris Salon in both 1905 and 1906, earning him the title Hors concours as the first American to win two gold medals at the Salon in two consecutive years. Knight, was also made a knight of the Legion of Honor in 1924 becoming an officer in 1928 and eventually a commander in 1934. - Knight Louis Aston oil painting artist America paintings - Knight Louis Aston - America old oil painting artist, old oil paintings artist Knight Louis Aston Bio of old oil painting artists, America old oil paintings artist Knight Louis.

Louis Aston Knight is most famous for his French landscapes. You will not find figures in his work, due to an agreement, which Louis Aston Knight made with his father, in order to keep their work from looking too similar. This was however unnecessary, because their work is very different. Ridgway Knight painted tightly, while Aston Knight's work shows a much stronger influence of the Impressionists with whom Louis Aston Knight was friendly.

Aston looked up to Claude Monet, and visited him from time to time at his home in Giverny. Louis Aston Knight was particularly impressed with Monet's gardens, and strove to cultivate a garden as beautiful as the master's. Knight also awarded prizes each year to the neighboring peasants who kept the nicest gardens. This ensured him of good models for his cottage landscape paintings.

Gradually Aston Knight became well known in the New York art scene and began to do some of his work in the states. In 1911, Knoedler and Co., held an exhibition of his landscapes of the U.S.A. and France. His exhibition at the Levy Gallery in New York, in 1931 attracted much attention. In fact, "Art News" critiqued the show (26 December issue) and described his fame and plein-air approach:

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