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Highlights

Thomas Corwin Lindsay (American 1838 – 1907)

19th Century Fine Art Legacy

Thomas Corwin Lindsay (American 1838 – 1907); also known as T.C. Lindsay.

"There is about Lindsay a sincerity and honesty that is to be found in his
pictures, and never has he posed as anything that he is not. When the squabbles
have arisen among the artists, he has never taken a part in them, but followed
the even tenor of his own way; studied nature and painted her as he saw her,
honestly and without affectation. It is as a landscape painter that he will always
be known. His pictures that deal with nature, the humble tillers of the soil, and
rude, uncouth men and women, are the ones which will always be known as
representative Lindsays. There is a large streak of the poetical in Mr. Lindsay,
and it is the things with sentiment and poetry in them that he loves to paint.”" –The Cincinnati Tribune, February, 23, 1896.

Cincinnati, Ohio artist Thomas Corwin Lindsay, also known as T. C. Lindsay, who unlike other
highly skilled and well-known artists that Cincinnati produced during the nineteenth century,
chose to remain in that city, instead of opting for New York, Philadelphia or Europe. For that, art
afficionados of Cincinnati were thankful. As an art critic for the Cincinnati Commercial, wrote
on June 2, 1881: "A few of our good artists have stayed with us, and are still at home. Among
these is the landscape painter Thomas C. Lindsay, whose artistic excellence has been recently
more recognized and appreciated than ever before."

Lindsay was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, however, his parents were both born in Pennsylvania. As a
young child, Lindsay showed a decided talent for art. He drew pictures of everything he saw,
often, to the displeasure of his father, on the walls of the family home! As a young man his
natural artistic instincts and skills were channeled through more appropriate avenues. In the Fall
of 1858 autumn Lindsay embarked on a sketching trip through eastern Pennsylvania. The
following year, he opened a studio on West Fourth Street in Cincinnati and first exhibited a
painting at the Ohio Mechanics’ Institute annual. That same year he joined the newly formed
Sketch Club.

In 1860, at age 18, he traveled to study at Düsseldorf, Germany according to some writers. If so,
then it was likely at the well-known and respected Dusseldorf Academy, where many other
American artists went to study. After his return, Lindsay made a second trip to the eastern United
States in 1862. In 1867 he traveled to Europe and spent two years in Paris. He returned to
Cincinnati is 1869. Lindsay believed "that the most beautiful bits of nature are to be found" in
the mountains of Pennsylvania and New York State and spent his summers there. His travels in
the east included the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

For a while, during the 1870s, Lindsay switched from painting landscapes to painting portraits,
not because of a desire to do so on his part, but most likely due to the Panic of 1873 and
subsequent depression that lasted for several years, which made portraiture more lucrative than
landscapes. Even an artist with Lindsay’s reputation found it difficult to made a living solely
from his landscapes and many of his landscapes went to auction during this time. However,
auctions also a way for Lindsay to finance his trips during the 1880s and 1890s. In 1881, Lindsay
sent 23 of his landscapes to auction to finance another trip east, although, it may have for a trip
to the western part of the United States, as he painted a number of western scenes – native
Americans and views of Yosemite. Another auction in 1891 was to finance a trip to the coast of
Maine.

Although many of his landscapes featured sheep and cows, he was well-known in Cincinnati for
his paintings of lions and tigers, where displayed in public places throughout the city. A large
painting of a lion once hung in a Milwaukee hotel. Lindsay had used for the model a lion at the
Cincinnati Zoo. Other than the short-lived Sketch Club, Lindsay did not join any organizations,
nor spend much time among his professional peers, although he exhibited frequently.

Lindsay did not subscribe to any particular "technique" when painting; it was probably his innate
artistic instinct that determined his compositions and their execution – it was his own technique
and it served him well for 30 years. You can see in his paintings that he did indeed "study nature
and painted her as he saw her with an honesty and without affectation."

The painter of ferocious lions and tigers was described after his death as “a lovable man, though
not a man to make friendships carelessly. He appeared reserved and in truth was reserved, but
extremely frank and friendly with those who he liked.

And, he was an honest man who painted honest pictures.

Written by Joan Hawk, Researcher and Co-Owner Bedford Fine Art Gallery, September 16, 2025
Use only with the permission of Bedford Fine Art Gallery.

References:

  1. Eisele, Douglas, 2006, 77 forgotten paintings come out of the attic, in, antiqueweek.com, Knightstown, IN.

  2. Haverstock, Mary Sayre, Vance, Jeanette Mahoney and Meggit, Brian L., eds., 2000, Artists in Ohio, 1787 – 1900, A Biographical Dictionary, pp. 529-530, The Kent University Press, Kent, Ohio & London.

  3. https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-commercial-jun-02-1881-p-8/.

  4. https://newspaperarchive.com/the-cincinnati-tribune-feb-23-1896-p-13/.

  5. https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-commercial-gazette-jun-28-1891-p-20/.

  6. https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-commercial-tribune-may-06-1907-p-2/.

  7. https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-commercial-tribune-may-07-1907-p-4/.

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Jerry & Joan - Thanks for your hospitality and helping us find this beautiful new piece for our home. Until next time...

Adrienne & Jon W.
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230 South Juliana St.
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Phone: 724-459-0612

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