Walter Elmer Schofield

Walter Elmer Schofield painted winter the way it actually feels — wind moving through the whole canvas, rivers running dark between snowy banks, everything in motion. A Philadelphian who spent half his life in England, he brought an international sweep to Pennsylvania Impressionism and won practically every honor American art had to give.

Revere Auctions offers free auction estimates for Schofield’s work. Send photographs — front, back, signature — and our specialists will tell you where your painting sits in his market.

Who Was Walter Elmer Schofield?

Schofield was born in Philadelphia in 1867 and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Anshutz, where his circle included Robert Henri and the future Ashcan painters — he remained a lifelong friend of that generation even as his own art took a different road. Paris and the Académie Julian followed.

In 1897 he married an Englishwoman, Muriel Redmayne, and thereafter lived a genuinely transatlantic life: family in England, most famously at St Ives in Cornwall, with long working trips home to paint the Pennsylvania winters that made his American reputation. He crossed the ocean dozens of times, painting hard on both sides.

He painted outdoors on large canvases, in weather most painters would not stand in, and the vigor shows. He served in the First World War in his fifties, kept painting through the thirties, and died in England in 1944.

What Did Schofield Paint?

The American masterworks are big Pennsylvania winter landscapes — creeks and rivers running through snow, hillside farms, mills — painted with broad, muscular brushwork and a designer’s sense of pattern. The English and Cornish work runs from granite coastal scenes to stone villages and harbors.

He worked almost entirely in oil, and characteristically at exhibition scale: Schofield thought in big canvases, and the market thinks of him that way too.

How Much Is My Schofield Painting Worth?

Several things determine what a work by Walter Elmer Schofield brings at auction:

• Subject — Pennsylvania winter river scenes are the classic Schofields for American collectors; Cornish coastal pictures have their own following
• Scale — he is a big-canvas painter, and the major works are the ones his reputation stands on
• Vigor — the strength of the brushwork and design separates the great examples from the merely good
• Condition — large canvases lead hard lives; relining and overcleaning show, and untouched surfaces are rewarded
• Provenance — a traceable exhibition history from his many prize-winning years adds genuine 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 Schofield

Schofield’s auction results in recent years have typically run in the high four and five figures, with important winter canvases in the tens of thousands. His name trades alongside Redfield and Garber in the Pennsylvania Impressionist market, and the strongest pictures draw the same bidders.

Smaller works and English subjects can be excellent value for collectors, which is exactly why an accurate, well-researched estimate matters when you sell one.

How to Sell a Work by Schofield

The strongest results for a Walter Schofield 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.

Walter Elmer Schofield: Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a Walter Schofield painting worth?

Typical results run in the high four and five figures, with important Pennsylvania winter scenes bringing tens of thousands in recent years. Subject, scale, and condition decide the range. Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates.

What subjects did Schofield paint?

Winter landscapes of Pennsylvania — rivers, creeks, and farms in snow — and, from his life in England, the Cornish coast and villages around St Ives. He painted large canvases outdoors in all weather.

How did Schofield sign his work?

Usually “Schofield” alone, in a lower corner. Backs of canvases often carry English or American exhibition labels reflecting his transatlantic career — photograph them; they help both attribution and value.

Where can I sell a Schofield painting?

At auction with a house that knows the Pennsylvania Impressionist market. Revere Auctions offers free auction estimates and formal appraisals.

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