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Community Corner

H. Reinhardt Lewis: an Exhibition of Art from Oxford's Petticoat Farm

The Oxford Historical Society will host a show of the watercolors and drawings of H. Reinhardt Lewis on Saturday, October 19, from 12 - 5 P.M. and Sunday, October 20, from 1-5 p.m.  The event is co-sponsored by Mr. Lewis's daughter and son-in-law, Bob and Peggy Hilton.

The show will take place at the Twitchell-Rowland Homestead Museum, 60 Towner Lane, Oxford.  Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

Entitled "H. Reinhardt Lewis: An Exhibition of Art from Oxford's Petticoat Farm", the works showcased here were largely painted or drawn during the 1930's when Mr. Lewis moved his family to the 18th Century farmhouse by that name, hoping to fulfill his lifelong dream of being an independent, self-supporting artist.  While living in Oxford with his wife Ella and young son William, he drew and painted the Depression era landscape of the dairy and chicken farms that made up this small New England town and the surrounding area of that time.  Given the economy, there was no market for his work, and he was forced to move on to employment elsewhere.

His legacy to the 21st Century is the collection of watercolors and drawings shared by Mr. and Mrs. Hilton that uniquely depict Oxford and its environs during the 1930's.  In addition, they have added a group of Christmas cards that Mr. Lewis drew to send to friends and family, one oil painting and a small trunk that he decorated for his grandson.

H. Reinhardt Lewis was born in Somerville, New Jersey in 1904 and attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago and the Grand Central School of Art in New York City.  After leaving Oxford, he returned to commercial design and illustration, moving first to Wilton, Connecticut and then to nearby West Redding.  The family stayed there from 1940 - 1980.  During World War II, he was a draftsman for Vought Sikorsky Aircraft Company in Stratford, Connecticut.  After the war, he worked for many years as a package designer for Robert G. Neubauer Design, creating container illustrations for such well-known products as A & P Brands, Scripto Pencils, Prestone Anti-Freeze and Underwood Foods.  The Lewises retired to Old Saybrook, Connecticut, where Mr. Lewis died in 1986.

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