Description

A charming coastal oil painting by Lester A. Gillette (1855–1940), depicting a quiet shoreline with blue water, sandy beach, pale rock formations, and a cluster of wind-shaped green trees. Painted in a fresh, light-filled palette of blue, cream, yellow, green, and soft violet, the work has the immediacy of an outdoor sketch while retaining enough finish to feel complete and decorative.

Gillette’s handling is loose and painterly, with visible brushwork throughout the water, sky, rocks, and foliage. The composition is small in scale but full of atmosphere: a sheltered cove, a bright shoreline, and distant forms along the horizon. It has that appealing early 20th-century American landscape quality where observation, light, and surface all matter — not a grand theatrical statement, but a very good little painting that knows exactly what it is.

Lester Alphonso Gillette was an American painter born in Columbus, Ohio, who later lived and studied in California. According to the auction listing, Gillette studied at the California School of Design and continued his training under Thomas Hill and Virgil Williams in San Francisco. His work fits naturally within Windsor Gallery’s focus on historically grounded American art: regional, atmospheric, approachable, and rooted in the landscape traditions that shaped American painting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This coastal scene is a modest but appealing example of that tradition, especially for collectors drawn to American Impressionist and plein-air landscape painting.

Object Details

Artist: Lester A. Gillette
Dates: 1855–1940
Title: Coastal Landscape
Medium: Oil on board
Signature: Signed lower right
Dimensions: 9.5 × 11.5 inches sight; 13 × 15 inches framed
Presentation: Framed
Subject: Coastal landscape with shoreline, water, rocks, trees, and distant horizon
Style: American Impressionist landscape with loose, painterly brushwork

Condition

The painting presents well overall, with bright color, visible brushwork, and an attractive surface. The work shows age-appropriate wear, including minor surface marks, small abrasions, and light craquelure visible in areas. The painting is framed, and the frame shows signs of age and handling, including rubbing, small chips, finish wear, and minor losses.

Please review all photographs carefully, as they form part of the condition description.

Purchase Details

Price: $495
Shipping quoted separately. Please inquire for additional photographs, condition details, or a shipping estimate.