Irving Ramsey Wiles

Irving Ramsey Wiles was William Merritt Chase’s most brilliant student, and it shows: portraits and figure pieces painted with dashing, confident brushwork, women in silk reading by lamplight, sailors and harbors in the clear air of Peconic Bay. In his day he ranked among America’s leading portraitists; today his best pictures speak for the entire elegant era.

Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates for Wiles’ work — photographs of the front, back, and signature are all our specialists need to begin.

Who Was Irving Ramsey Wiles?

Wiles was born in Utica, New York in 1861, the son of the landscape painter Lemuel Wiles, and trained first with his father, then at the Art Students League under Chase, then in Paris with Carolus-Duran — the same master who trained Sargent. The bravura tradition ran straight through him.

He began as a sought-after illustrator for the great magazines before portraiture claimed him. His sitters included figures of the stage and society; his portrait of the actress Julia Marlowe hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, and honors came steadily — the National Academy elected him young.

Summers meant Peconic, on Long Island’s North Fork, where he ran a summer art school begun by his father and painted the bay, boats, and his family in the open light. He worked into his eighties and died in 1948.

What Did Wiles Paint?

Wiles’ market rests on the figure pieces: women in interiors, readers by lamplight, elegant sitters handled with visible, joyful brushwork. The Peconic pictures — harbors, sailing, the shore — bring his Impressionist side forward, and watercolors from his illustration years circulate as well.

Formal commissioned portraits, as with most portraitists, trade below the freer figure subjects unless the sitter or the painting is exceptional.

How Much Is My Irving Ramsey Wiles Painting Worth?

Several things determine what a work by Irving Ramsey Wiles brings at auction:

• Subject — the elegant figure pieces and luminous Peconic scenes lead; formal portraits of unknown sitters trade lower
• Brushwork — his reputation is bravura — canvases where the Chase-trained handling performs are the prizes
• Medium — oils lead; watercolors and illustration work trade more modestly
• Condition — fluid surfaces are vulnerable to flattening; original condition is rewarded
• Sitter and history — a named, interesting sitter or exhibition record adds real value

The honest answer is that no two are alike, and the difference between an ordinary example and an exceptional one is a conversation with a specialist, not a chart. Send us photographs through our free auction estimate form — front, back, signature, and any labels — and we will tell you what you have.

The Market for Wiles

Wiles trades at auction typically in the four figures, with the strongest figure subjects reaching five figures in recent years. As with his teacher Chase, the market sharply rewards the pictures where the brushwork carries the show.

A specialist estimate sorts commissioned work from the market-leading subjects before any number is suggested.

How to Sell a Work by Wiles

The strongest results for an Irving Ramsey Wiles painting come at auction, where national and international collectors bid against each other. Revere Auctions offers free, no-obligation auction estimates: send photos and dimensions and our specialists respond with a current market valuation and a recommendation on how to sell. Consigned works are professionally photographed, cataloged, and marketed through our fine art auctions to a worldwide bidder base, and we regularly arrange shipping for consignors across the country. If you need a formal written valuation for insurance or estate purposes, our appraisal and valuation services team can help; you can also read more about how selling at auction works.

Related: American & Western paintings, our fine art department, appraisal services, free auction estimates.

Reviewed by the fine art specialists at Revere Auctions, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Irving Ramsey Wiles: Frequently Asked Questions

How much is an Irving Ramsey Wiles painting worth?

Typically four figures at auction, with the best figure pieces reaching five figures. Subject and the quality of the brushwork drive the range. Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates from photographs.

Who taught Irving Ramsey Wiles?

His father Lemuel Wiles, then William Merritt Chase at the Art Students League, then Carolus-Duran in Paris — the teacher of Sargent. Wiles became known as Chase’s most gifted student.

What did Wiles paint at Peconic?

From the 1890s he summered at Peconic on Long Island’s North Fork, running a summer school and painting the bay, boats, and figures outdoors in an Impressionist manner.

Where can I sell an Irving Ramsey Wiles painting?

At auction with a house that reaches collectors of American portraiture and Impressionism. Revere Auctions offers free estimates and formal appraisals.

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