Judy Randolph sent me several photos of another campsite pastel with the signature of H.R. Lewis. Hubert Lewis had several landscapes that were painted with variations to their themes, and the campsite paintings exemplify this well.
Judy wrote: “Just read most of your book, my family is from Pittsburgh and we have lived in Daytona Beach Florida for the last 36 odd years. We have an H.R. Lewis and have not investigated whether it is a print of an original. We have had it since the early 1970s, however the owners Mr. and Mrs. Knight had it in their home since 1905. This landscape, like you wrote about the boy scout theme and sailboat on lake…it is a lake with sail boats, a mountain in back ground, full moon lit night and on the shore to the right is a campfire and tent with a figure in it, among pine trees near the shore.”

Judy went on to tell me that the Knights had received the pastel as a wedding gift. Since I knew my great grandfather had given several couple paintings as wedding gifts, I wondered if perhaps he had given this to the Knights, since they had lived in a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. Judy was unable to verify if that was the case. Judy’s father, Clyde Weissert is the current owner of the pastel. The painting was a gift to Mr. Weissert’s family from the Knights.

Interestingly, Judy also wrote: “While I was reading your book I thought I might have had one of Hubert’s poppys, however it was not his, similar but the artist is MAX STRECKENBACH ECKERNFORDE, that is a mouth full. It hung in my mother in laws dinning room since the late 1930s to early 1940s, don’t know where she got it. It is similarly framed like your figure #53 [from book Hubert Lewis the Artist: His Life, Family and Work]. But gee Hubert’s poppys are a dead ringer, maybe it was an inspiration of either one of them, as they painted the same time period. http://www.antiquehelper.com/item/317684.”

As I mentioned in my book, R.A. Fox, too, painted a variation of the “Poppies”. All three of these artists– Lewis, Streckenbach (from Eckernforde), and Fox– lived and worked in about the same time period, so I do not know whose work was original and who emulated the works of the original. Perhaps there was yet another artist that all three replicated. If any one knows the answer to this question, I would love to hear it.

Circa 1905 Campsite pastel by H. R. Lewis, Clyde Weissert current owner

Close up of tent in Campsite pastel

H. R. Lewis signature on Campsite themed pastel circa 1905