William Lester Stevens was born in Rockport, Massachusetts in 1888.  He received his first art training from Parker Perkins, a local marine painter who charged him 50 cents an hour.  Later he studied in Boston with Edmund Tarbell.  He joined the army in 1917 and was sent to Europe where he continued painting and sketching.  When he returned to Rockport, he was delighted to see it had become a popular retreat for well-known painters such us Duveneck and Hassam.  Throughout his career, Stevens taught in Rockport, Boston University, and Princeton.  He later gave lessons and held one-man shows in Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina. .  He was primarily an oil painter, but also worked in watercolor and acrylics.  The 1930’s brought Stevens commercial and personal success through a number of magazine covers for "The American Legion Magazine" and prizes in New Haven, Springfield and Rockport.  In 1934 he moved to an old, remodeled farmhouse in Conway Massachusetts where he built a studio and painted New England scenes for the rest of his life.  Stevens died on June 10, 1969 in Conway, Massachussetts.       

Studied

With Parker S. Perkins and the Boston Museum School; in Europe after WWI

Member

NA; ANA, 1935; AWCS; Rockport AA (founder, 1923); Gallery on Moors; Springfield (MA) AL; Gld. Boston Artists; Phila. WCC; NYWCC; New Haven PCC; Gloucester SA; North Shore AA, 1923-69; Boston WCC.

Exhibited

NAD, 1906 (age 18); AIC, 1911-38; PAFA Ann., 1912-37; Corcoran Gal biennials, 1914-28 (5 times, include. 4th prize, 1921); CAFA, 1924 (prize); 1927 (prize); AWCS, 1928 (prize); New Haven PCC, 1929 (prize), 1933 (prize); 1942 (prize); Springfield AL, 1925 (prize), 1932 (prize), 1953-55 (prizes); Quincy, 1932 (medal); Springville, UT, 1931 (prize), 1941 (prize); Women’s Club, MA, 1930-33 (prizes), 1934 (prize), 1937 (prize), 1938 (prize); Salons of Am., 1934; Meriden Art & Crafts Assn., 1938-42 (prizes); Wash. Ldscp. Club, 1939 (prize); Wash. WCC, 1942 (prize); Wash. Art Club, 1941 (prize); Rockport AA, 1953 (prize), 1956 (prize), 1957 (prize); North Shore AA, 1953 (prize),

Ogunquit, ME, 1952-54 (prizes), 1956 (prizes); Gloucester, MA, 1958 (prize).

Work

Canton AI; Hickory Mus. Art; Asheville Mus. Art; Rochester Mem. Art Gal.; Springfield Mus. FA; Boston AC; Birmingham (AL) Public Library; Gloucester (MA) H. S.; Rockport (MA) H.S.; Tewksbury (MA) State Sanitorium; Mint Mus. Art; WPA murals, USPOs, Dedham, Rockport, both in Massachusetts; Boston City Club; Louisville (KY) AM; Springville (UT) AA; Wilson, Wolcott, Gavin schools, all in Boston.

Resources

WW59; Charles Movalli, article in American Artist; WW47; Curtis, Curtis, and Lieberman, 116, 186; Falk, Exh. Record Series; info. courtesy North Shore AA; askart.com; Who’s Who in American Art: 400 Years of Artists in American, 3171-3172; oxfordgallery.com.