Born in Castlemaine, Australia, Martin Lewis settled in the United States in 1900. Early on, he found work in San Francisco, but eventually he made his way to New York where he supported himself through work as a commercial illustrator. Around 1915, he created his first etching. Lewis knew Edward Hopper (1882–1967) and both artists became proficient at etching and were drawn to create night scenes of life on the streets of New York. Lewis spent hours walking the streets of New York during the day and at night and he drew the city as he found it, wishing to present a sense of realism as opposed to a constructed image. Shortly after he completed this work, Lewis, as a result of economic hardships, relocated to Connecticut where he lived from 1932 to 1936. He would however return to New York and continue to portray the city’s daily life, his most frequent muse. Throughout his career, Lewis pursued other media, but is most often associated with printmaking, and he wrote prolifically on the subject.
Last Updated: 8/26/2022