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Jeannette Maxfield Lewis Biography
Painter, etcher. Born in Oakland, CA on April 19, 1894. Jeanette Maxfie!d was educated at the Castelleja Girl’s School in Palo Alto. Having chosen an art career, she enrolled at the CSFA where she was greatly influenced by Gottardo Piazzoni.  A short time was spent in NYC as a pupil of Hans Hofmann. Returning to Oakland, she worked for the Foster & Kleiser Company. In 1920 she wed H. C. Lewis and moved to Fresno into a home at 3839 Huntington Blvd.  While maintaining a summer home in Pebble Beach, she studied landscape painting with Armin Hansen. In 1955 the Lewises moved permanently to their Pebble Beach home; after her husbands death in 1964, she abandoned art.

Her works include pastels, watercolors, acquatints, oils, pen-and-ink drawings, and dry point etchings.

Her successful solo exhibition at the CPLH in 1955 brought her national attention and a retrospective of her work was held at the Fresno Arts Center in 1979. Mrs. Lewis died in Monterey, CA on April 22, 1982.

Member: SFAA; AFA; AAPL; SF Women Artists; Oakland Art League; Pacific AA; Calif. Art Club; Fresno AA; Santa Cruz AA; Calif. Society of Etchers; PM of So. Calif; Carmel AA; SWA.

Exhibited: SFAA, 1928; Calif. Statewide (Santa Cruz), 1928; Calif. State Fair, 1930, 1954; Santa Cruz Art League, 1930, 1938; NAD, 1932-36, 1944; National Ass'n of Women Artists, 1933-45; Calif. Society of Etchers, 1932-33 (award), 1950-56; San Diego FA Society, 1934; LACMA, 1934, 1935, 1937; Calif. State Library, 1939 (solo); NY World's Fair, 1939; MM, 1942; Crocker Art Gallery, 1946 (solo); Library of Congress, 1945-46; Oakland Museum, 1948; De Young Museum, 1949, 1955, 1956 (solos); CPLH, 1951, 1955 (solos); Boston PM, 1954; Society of American Graphic Artists, 1954; SWA, 1955; Smithsonian Inst., 1963; Fresno Arts Center, 1976 (solo); Monterey Peninsula Museum, 1994 (solo).

In: Cincinnati Museum; Monterey Peninsula Museum; NY Public Library; Oakland Museum; Library of Congress; Fresno Arts Center; MM; CSL. AAA 1929-33; AAW; KOV; WWAA 1936-70; Monterey Peninsula Herald, 5-25-1982 (obit).

Source:  Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes