Carl W. Peters (1897-1980)

Carl William Peters was a celebrated American Impressionist painter, best known for his vibrant plein air landscapes of New England. Born in Rochester, New York, in 1897, Peters began sketching at an early age, entertaining classmates by drawing on the blackboard. After his family relocated to a farm in Fairport, NY, he left high school to pursue art studies full-time.

Peters trained at the Art Students League Summer School in Woodstock, New York, where he studied under the renowned landscape artist John F. Carlson. He later became closely associated with the Cape Ann art colony in Gloucester and Rockport, Massachusetts, spending summers for decades painting on location and teaching aspiring artists. His work captured the light, color, and rhythm of New England’s harbors, hills, and rural life.

Peters rose to national prominence in the 1920s and 1930s for his impressionistic style and won several major awards, including becoming the first artist to win the National Academy of Design’s Hallgarten Prize three times—an unprecedented achievement. His reputation as a master of American landscape painting was firmly established.

Today, Carl W. Peters’ paintings are part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (National Museum of American Art) and featured in numerous public institutions and private collections across the country.