Florence Griswold Museum

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Oscar Fehrer
Lyme Art Colony
(January 21, 1872–September 11, 1958) In Lyme: Summers, 1918-1929
Oscar Fehrer was born on January 21, 1872 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the only surviving child of Carl Fehrer and Catherine Thomann, both immigrants from Vienna. His father, Carl became a jeweler in Brooklyn.

Oscar attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. His summers were spent in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. After studying in Brooklyn he entered the National Academy of Design in 1892. He remained there for three years, winning a medal for drawing in 1894. His father died in 1893. He entered the Royal Academy, Munich in 1895 and studied there for two years.

In 1897 Fehrer enrolled at the Academie Julian for one year. There he studied under Laurens and Constant. Among his fellow students was Eugene Higgins. They later became neighbors in Lyme.

By 1900 Fehrer was an established portrait painter in New York. In 1903 he became a life member of the Salmagundi Club. His mother died that same year. He married Mabel E. Vanderbilt in 1905.

The Fehrers spent some time abroad during the first years of their marriage. While in Holland he studied the works of Hals. In 1907 he copied paintings in the Prado in Madrid. He then had a one-man show at the Collins Gallery in New York.

In 1910 the Fehrers settled in Munich. Oscar maintained a studio there for four years. His two daughters were born in Germany. In 1914 when the war broke out he and his family returned to New York.

During the next three years Fehrer continued to paint portraits. The family spent summers in the Berkshires and in Provincetown. He painted a series of sand dunes and outdoor figure studies. He exhibited in one-man shows at the Braus Gallery, New York in 1915 and the Ralston Gallery in 1920. He was made a life member of the National Arts Club in 1915. He exhibited in the Allied Artists and National Academy shows. Pleasant Valley, Lyme became a summer home for himself and his family. There he painted portraits, figure studies, and worked on landscapes. He continued to paint landscapes in Lyme and New York. Oscar Fehrer died in New York on September 11, 1958.

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