Mystery painter's works of 19th century Oyster Bay reunited at last

Nestled in the collection room in Raynham Hall Museum, a picturesque painting featuring a tree-lined coast, sailboats and a serene sky feels like it has returned home — more than 160 years after its creation.

The Huntington Historical Society recently transferred the unnamed painting to the Oyster Bay museum, reuniting the work with the only other two known paintings by the elusive artist referred to only as “Martin,” museum officials said.

The mid-1850s painting depicts the Ludlam family homestead on the Village of Mill Neck's West Shore Road, which runs along the Oyster Bay Harbor waterfront, according to Harriet Clark, the museum's executive director. 

The Ludlam family was among the early non-Indigenous people who settled on Long Island.   

The artist’s actual name and gender are unknown, with the moniker “Martin” pulled from one of the three paintings. It includes a boat in the water bearing that name on its bow. 

“We know nothing about him, really,” said Clark. “The fact that the three known artworks by him are of the Ludlam homestead leads us to think that he might have been a Ludlam himself.”

The Huntington Historical Society formally accepted the painting into its collection in 1975, said Emily Werner, curator and collections manager for the society. But she said there is no record of who donated it.

The painting, like the other two, isn't signed.

Painted in a folk-art style, which insinuates a lack of formal training, the painting is a “charming” look at Oyster Bay life in the mid-19th century and is “irreplaceable” given how few paintings by the artist exist, Werner said.

The perspective of the painting appears unusual at first glance, with details bleeding off the edges, but a close inspection reveals finely crafted cows, steamboats and foliage. 

The Huntington Historical Society’s collection committee put a proposal forward last fall to transfer the painting, and its executive board approved the measure in January. The piece officially was transferred on March 14, Werner said.

She said that exchange had been talked about for years between the two institutions. There was no financial arrangement associated with the transfer, according to the historical society official.

“It just kind of made sense to reunite the three paintings and make more room in-house to display things that are more relevant to our history at Huntington,” Werner said.

Raynham Hall Museum is planning to feature the piece in a fall exhibition called “Views of Oyster Bay.” It will be the first time the three pieces are presented together.

“We’re thrilled to have the third sibling reunited with the other two,” Clark said.