The following information was submitted in August of 2006 by Gerald Skoll, and is based on a telephone interview on May 9, 2006 with John Bonsib, last surviving son of Louis William Bonsib.

Relative to the painting Inlet at Gaspe Peninsula, John Bonsib believes, but he was not present the specific summer it was created, that it was painted in the late 1930's or early 1940's. His father and mother first began going to the Gaspe region in the 1920's. Louis desired that water be a major element in his paintings. John indicates that his father viewed his seminal work in this direction wasa painting of rough conditions of the North Atlantic on the Maine coast created about 1920. Louis felt that with that painting his treatment of water begin a steady improvement. The Inlet at Gaspe Peninsula was one of Louis Bonsib's favorites. Incidentally, he enjoyed fishing, but after discovering how easily he could land a fish at the Gaspe, he seldom fished thereafter, except to teach the youngsters.

Louis Bonsib was essentially self-taught. The only "instruction" was provided by an aunt in 1918, whose approach was to render "...every leaf on every tree". Her tutelage was short-lived as it was in conflict with Louis's view of how to paint.

The family lived in Indianapolis, where Louis was quite athletic, excelling in football and wrestling. He graduated from Indiana University in 1918. He was about to accept his first job with a firm in Wisconsin, when the Indianapolis Engraving Company made him an offer that resulted in 7 years with the firm. In about 1925 he opened his own advertising agency, building the business until he turned it over to John upon his return from the Army Air Corps in the late 1940's. Thereafter, Louis Bonsib was able to devote full time to painting.

John is of the opinion that his father's work was truly of the "depression era" and the stylistic elements incorporated in his paintings of the 1930's continued throughout the rest of his career. Louis was a man of high energy; working in the early morning, late afternoons or other opportune short sessions to rapidly create a virtually finished canvas. He was generous with his talent and gifted many of his best works to friends and family that remain cherished. John says that his dad hated to pay the high prices for frames, and thus made many of his own that are still on paintings held by the family. Similarly, if he was dissatisfied with a watercolor he simply used the reverse for another creation. He also liked to write poetry and Inlet at Gaspe Peninsula has one of Louis's poems attached.

Four of Louis Bonsib's paintings are owned by the Lincoln National Insurance Company.

Louis William Bonsib was born in Vincennes, Indiana on 10 March 1892, a son of John F. and Etta M. Griffith Bonsib. His father worked as a bicycle salesman and a merchant of household goods. The family was living in Knox County, Indiana in 1900 and 1910. Louis married Marietta A. Jacobs 14 April 1917 in Marion County, Indiana. He was employed as an engraving salesman in 1920 and as the president of an advertising company in 1930, which occupation he pursued for many years.

Bonsib was active as a painter and teacher, serving as president of the Fort Wayne Art School in 1948 and 1949. He earned his AB Degree from Indiana University in 1916, and in 1971 was awarded an honorary doctorate by Vincennes University.

He exhibited widely including the Hoosier Salon, Herron Art Institute, and Maine Art Museum in Ogunquit, Maine. His paintings are displayed in Fort Wayne public schools, Ft. Wayne Public Library, and at the Fort Wayne Art Museum. Seven paintings by Louis Bonsib are in the collection at the Indiana Memorial Union, one watercolor and six oil paintings.

One, Evening in Autumn, was the first submission of Bonsib to the Hoosier Salon Exhibition in 1932. Bonsib is mentioned is Who Was Who in American Art by Falk, Who's Who in American Art in various years, Mallett's Index of Artists, and Davenport's Art Reference and Price Guide.

He died in Ft. Wayne, Allen County, Indiana in Oct. 1979.

Source:
Researched, written and submitted by Kevin Daniel, University of Illinois graduate student of Library and Information Science with a focus on art Cataloging.

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, Louis Bonsib remained active in that state as a painter and teacher, serving as president of the Fort Wayne Art School in 1948 and 1949.

He earned his AB Degree from Indiana University in 1916, and in 1971 was awarded an honorary doctorate by Vincennes University.

He exhibited widely including the Hoosier Salon and in Ogunquit, Maine. His paintings are in the Fort Wayne public schools and the Fort Wayne Art Museum. Seven paintings by Louis Bonsib are in the collection at the Indiana Memorial Union, one watercolor and six oil paintings. One of them, Evening in Autumn, was the first submission of Bonsib to the Hoosier Salon Exhibition, and the date was 1932. The artist and his son, Louis Bonsib Jr., were in the printing business in Wayne, Indiana and were members of the Indiana Memorial Union Board when they studied at Indiana Universtiy.

Sources include:

Rand McKamey, Art Preparator of Indiana Memorial Union, courtesy of Bob Constant, who received the information from McKamey.

Who Was Who in American Art by Peter Hastings Falk (Editor)