William Henry Singer
Lyme Art Colony
American,
(July 5, 1868–December 29, 1943)
In Lyme: 1907-1921
William Henry Singer, Jr. (1868-1943) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 5, 1868. He was the son of a steel mill owner and worked in his father’s business until the age of thirty-two. His formal art education was short and began with study at the Academie Julien in Paris in 1901. From there he broke with the constraints of formal training and let nature inspire his work. He spent time in Holland and Norway. Singer was known for his painting of landscape and winter scenes. He was extremely effective at capturing the luminous serenity of the Northern light.
He exhibited at the Portland Museum in Maine, the Lyme Art Association in 1907, and the Hispanic Museum of New York. His wife Anna Brugh Singer, Jr., founded the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, Maryland, and his work is part of their permanent collection.
Singer was a member of the Allied Artists of America, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, and an associate member of the National Academy of Design.
He was awarded a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco in 1915.
Singer was a life-long friend of Walter Griffin, whom he met in Old Lyme. Two of his paintings of Old Lyme subjects can be found in the collection of the Carnegie Institute. Singer and his wife were also friends of Willard Metcalf.
William Henry Singer Jr. died in Olden, Norway on December 29, 1943.