Louis Oscar Griffith 1875-1956
Louis Griffith was born in Greencastle, Indiana in 1875. He lived in Texas in the 1890s, where he studied with Frank Reaugh, a well-known Dallas landscape painter. Reaugh had studied at the St. Louis School of Fine Art, and suggested that Griffith attend, which he did, and then later moved on to the Art Institute of Chicago. Griffith established a studio in downtown Chicago, but had begun making trips to Brown County in the early 1900s. He married Carolyn Maulsby in 1920, and moved to Nashville, Indiana permanently in 1922. .
In 1917 Louis Oscar Griffith and his fellow artist and Midwesterner Robert Grafton, visited New Orleans and found inspiration in the historic buildings and ambience of the city. During their stay the two artists were commissioned to paint horseracing murals for the prestigious St. Charles Hotel. In 1928 the St. Charles Hotel organized an exhibition of Grafton and Griffith’s paintings of New Orleans. In conjunction with the exhibition, a series of postcards of their paintings was published.
He exhibited at the Hoosier Salon, Brown County Art Gallery Association, Chicago Gallery Association, National Academy of Design, Library of Congress, Chicago Society of Etchers, San Antonio Art League, Pan-Pacific Expo (1913), and the Indianapolis Art Club. His work is included in the collections of the Delgado Museum, Indiana University, Lafayette Art Association, National Gallery of Art, and the J.B. Speed Museum. Louis Griffith passed away in Franklin, Indiana on November 13, 1956.
Information courtesy of Treadway/Toomey Auctions and Neal Auction Company