On the Flats, Washington, DC

Watercolor on paper, signed. Title was on the old backing board.

Painting size: 6” x 10.75”
Frame size: 14.5” x 19”

Walter Paris was born in London and studied architecture at the Royal Academy. By 1872, he moved to the United States and painted in Colorado Springs, New York City and Washington, D.C., specializing in watercolor. In this work, Paris’ early training as an architect is evidenced by the detailed rendering of the wood and brick industrial buildings. Yet far more emphasis is placed on the surrounding landscape-- the wide blue sky filled with clouds, the rich tree line, the rippling lake and the rocky foreground, each stone delineated with a touch of a brush tip.

Examples of Paris’ work are found in the collections of the White House, the U.S. State Department and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He is listed in Who Was Who in American Art (Falk, 1999) and The Artists of Washington, D.C., 1796-1996 (McMahan, 1995).