Artist Edward Lange was born in Darmstadt, Germany in 1846.,Edward’s father, Gustav Georg, owned a print shop and published a number of popular volumes on German history and scenic landscapes.
He emigrated with his family from Germany to New York in the 1860s. He headed towards Commack, where his father held title to one hundred forty-eight acres of land along Cedar Road. Within ten months, Lange married Sarah Cornelia (Nellie) Denton. Following the birth of their first child in 1872, Edward acquired the title to the Commack property from his father. He spent the next seventeen years in Elwood, raising a family with Nellie and painting the surrounding landscape.
During the early 1870s, Lange focused primarily on painting house portraits. Over the course of the 1870s, Lange increasingly incorporated gouache onto his palette. Between 1880 and 1881, Lange flourished as an artist. He created some of his most recognizable artworks today during this time, including Brown Brothers Huntington Pottery, Lower Main Street, Northport, and Panorama View of Huntington from Woolsey Avenue. After nearly twenty years living and working on Long Island, Lange moved to Olympia, Washington with his family. Two large panoramas of Roslyn were likely two of the last major works the artist completed before leaving New York.
Edward Lange died in 1912.
Sources:
Fedoryk, Peter. “About the Artist.” The Art of Edward Lange, edwardlange.omeka.net/about-the-artist. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025
“Land by Hand: Edward Lange’s Long Island.” The Long Island Museum, longislandmuseum.org/exhibition/land-by-hand-edward-langes-long-island/. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025
