Lawrence Carmichael Earle was born on November 11, 1845 in New York City and died on November 20, 1921 in Grand Rapids, MI. Working in both oil and watercolor, he painted landscapes, genre, farm scenes, still life, murals, fish, butterflies, coastal scenes and portraits.

The Boston Art Club lists his addresses as Webber Music Hall, Chicago, IL, in 1887; 253 West 42nd Street, New York City in 1892; and Montclair, NJ in 1895.

Earle studied in Munich, Florence, and Rome and held memberships in the National Academy of Design, associate in 1897; the American Watercolor Society in New York City; the Artist's Fund Society in New York City; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the New York Watercolor Club.

Earle exhibited with the National Academy of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and, from 1887 to 1900, the Boston Art Club. He decorated the Chicago National Bank with murals and his work is represented in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; the National Academy of Design; Stanford University in Stanford, CA; the Dallas Museum of Art; the State Museum of Michigan in Lansing; the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, TN.

Submitted by Peter Kostoulakos, Fine Art Consultant

Sources:
Who Was Who in American Art, vol. I, page 179
Davenport's Art Reference 2001/2002, page 589
Mantle Fielding, 1986, page 247
Mallett, page 122
Dealer's Choice Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters... page 402
Boston Art Club Exhibition Record 1873-1909, page 156
Smithsonian Institution Research Information System

"Larry Earle came here in the 50's when a child from New York. He and Fred Church were boys together in Grand Rapids, and they shared their dreams of one day becoming great artists. They went to Chicago together and later to New York where each carried on his work in his own special way. Laurence Chamichael Earle is now one of the well known of the American artists. He is especially noted for his excellent studies of character types. Among these are the old flute player and the old violin player. He has also made some notable studies of fisher folk types. A number of Mr. Earle's pictures are owned by residents of this city. One of Mr. Earle's most important commissions was for the mural paintings in the Chicago National bank. These paintings consist of sixteen lunettes, eight by sixteen feet each in dimension. They represent sixteen periods in the history of Chicago. Mr. Earle won the commendation of the president of the Chicago Art Institute and of the critics. These pictures rank among the finest mural decoration in Chicago."

"Grand Rapids Artists and Writers," Grand Rapids Press, January 1, 1907.

Submitted by Edward P. Bentley, East Lansing, Michigan