Lionel Walden | Seascape painter

A famous painter of seascapes and marine scenes, Lionel Walden (1861-1933) was born in Connecticut in 1861. He first became interested in art in Minnesota, where the family moved when his father became rector of an Episcopal Church there. As a young man Walden moved to Paris where he studied with E. A. Carolus-Duran.

A frequent exhibitor in the Paris salons, the "King of Bohemia", as he was called, became a skilled figure painter in addition to painting marine and harbor scenes. Though he also exhibited and won prizes in London, St. Louis and San Francisco, Walden considered Paris his home.

His participation in the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915 not only earned him a medal, but also allowed him to display his famous "The Surf Riders" prominently.

In Paris, Walden became acquainted with Kimo Wilder, a Honolulu artist. The meeting was to prove fateful, as Wilder invited Walden to come to Hawaii, which he did in 1911. That visit was the first of many, as Walden fell in love with the light and water in Hawaii.

Lionel Walden was considered the finest seascape artist in Hawaii. While many of his peers were obsessed with volcanoes, Walden preferred the ocean in "all its moods, colors, and actions". He is particularly famous for his paintings of stormy seas. Walden did paint his share of volcanoes,and other landscapes, as well, and collaborated on the immense dioramas of the seven scenic wonders of Hawaii with his good friend, D. Howard Hitchcock, for the 1917 Pan-Pacific Carnival.

They also joined forces with other artists to produce murals for a theater, for the telephone company, and for a ship of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company in the early 1920s. 

Though his fame originates mainly from the art he created in Hawaii, Walden s first love was France, and he died there in Chantilly in 1933. | Sources: WWAA; Forbes: Encounters With Paradise; Gerdts: Art Across America, vol. 3.

Lionel Walden è stato un pittore Americano attivo nelle Hawaii, in Cornovaglia e in Francia.

Era nato a Norwich, nel Connecticut nel 1861. Inizio ad interessarsi all'arte in Minnesota, dove la famiglia si era trasferita quando suo padre divenne rettore di una chiesa episcopale lì.

Da giovane, Walden si trasferisce a Parigi dove studia pittura con Carolus Duran.

Da 1893-97, Walden era in Inghilterra, vive a Falmouth. I quadri di Cardiff in Walles sono nei musei di Cardiff e di Parigi.

Walden ha ricevuto medaglie dal Salone di Parigi ed è stato nominato Cavaliere della Legion d'Onore francese.

Ha visitato Hawaii nel 1911 e più volte successivamente. Walden morì a Chantilly, in Francia nel 1933.

Il Brooklyn Museum, la Galleria d'Arte Henry, il Museo d'Arte di Honolulu, l'Isaacs Art Center ed il Musée d'Orsay detengono opere di Lionel Walden.