Overview
Edward Gay was born in Ireland in 1837, and came to America with his parents in 1848 in the wake of the Potato Famine. The family settled in Albany, New York. Difficult times forced Gay to go to work as a child, where his talent was recognized by the successful local painters George Boughton and the Hart brothers who encouraged his interest. He studied landscape painting with James Hart and was eventually encouraged to travel to Europe and study in Karlsrue, Germany with the traditional historical painters Karl Freidrich Lessing and Johann Schirmer. Gay was disappointed with his training in Europe and when he returned to the United States in 1864 he and his wife moved to Mt. Vernon, New York. At the time, Mt. Vernon was open farmland with sunny meadows and orchards stretching along Long Island Sound.
Memberships
Lotos Club
National Academy of Design
New York Water Color Club
Exhibitions
National Academy of Design, 1867-1900, 1905
Brooklyn Artist Association, 1868-86, 1891
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, 1876, 1890, 1895-98
American Art Association, 1887 (prize)
Midwinter Exhibition, San Francisco (medal)
New Orleans Exposition, 1885 (medal)
Art Institute of Chicago
Pan-American Exposition, 1901 (medal)
Society of American Artists, 1903 (prize)
St. Louis Exposition, 1904 (medal)
Corcoran Gallery, 1908
Museums and Public Collections
Layton School of Art, Milwaukee, WI
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, MN
Mt. Vernon Public Library, New York