George Lorenzo Noyes

George "Shavey" Lorenzo Noyes (August 30, 1863 – 1945) was an American mineralogist, naturalist, development critic, writer and landscape artist.

Noyes was born in Norway, Maine, and was the son of Amos Oscar Noyes and Anna Chase Noyes. Since A. Oscar Noyes neglected the family as he was away much of the time attending to his business interests and civic commitments, George's mother Anna had the most influence on him. As a result, young George spent extended periods with his grandfather Chase in the western mountains of Maine where he came to embrace the solitude of the Maine wilderness, rejecting formal education and organized religion.

He was known as the thoreauvian of Maine. In the summer of 1890, while in Fryeburg, Maine, George went to the nearby White Mountain artist colony in North Conway, New Hampshire to pursue his interest in art and talked with some of the many artists who came there every summer. It is not known how many artists he met, but it's on record that George spent the day and night at the home of Benjamin Champney, the famous landscape artist.

Noyes kept an undated journal in which he wrote his thoughts on life, God, religion, children, war, pitfalls of modern life and the spiritual beauty of nature. The writing style addressed the presence of a future reader and makes frequent use of colloquial spellings to make points. Much of his writing takes the form of allegories in which he comments on the absurdity of social norms and human folly. The 1,500-page journal was profusely illustrated with some 300 monochrome ink wash landscapes and pencil sketches, many in a chiaroscuro style, capturing atmospheric lighting conditions. These paintings, influenced by the White Mountain art style, were masterfully done with confident bold strokes and surprising textural details as captured only by someone who lived close to nature. His creative work expresses his lifelong optimism and belief that nature was the divine expression of God.

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