Luther Emerson Van Gorder

Born in Warren, Ohio, Luther Van Gorder along with Edmund H. Osthaus (1858-1928) and Wilder Darling (1856-1933), were among the most distinguished painters of the Toledo area during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He is best known for his views of Parisian flower markets.

While young, Luther Van Gorder worked for a Toledo newspaper, and then went on to study art in New York City, and then Paris from 1894 to 1896. He continued to live abroad for five years, and then returned to Toledo where he painted street scenes, landscapes, and illustrations.

His Parisian flower markets were a theme popular among Impressionist painters, but Van Gorder worked in a more conservative way, emphasizing a muted, somewhat Tonalist palette, and demonstrating care with perspective. (Source: Askart.com, Accessed 2/9/2004)