Created in the first quarter of the 20th century by William M. Lemos, this oil painting draws clear inspiration from Robert Schade’s 1908 depiction of the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871 in Wisconsin—one of the deadliest wildfires in American history.
A pine forest stands mid-burn, its tall, dark silhouettes cutting through a sky stained with red and smoke. The fire isn’t shown as chaos exploding outward, but as something creeping and inevitable. Red-orange light glows from within the trees, bleeding into the ground and climbing the trunks, while a heavy haze hangs above like a held breath. It’s the moment just before everything gives way. You can almost feel the heat radiating off the surface.
The brushwork is moody and deliberate, favoring atmosphere over detail. Shadows dominate. The palette stays restrained except where the fire breaks through, making those glowing areas feel all the more unsettling. It walks that fine line between beauty and destruction, the kind of scene that’s hard to look away from even when it makes you uncomfortable.
The painting is housed in its original, thick pie crust frame, worn to a rich, crusty patina that suits the subject perfectly. It feels substantial, architectural, and period-correct, grounding the drama of the image with real physical presence. There are two minor, unnoticeable repairs on the back, nothing that distracts from the front-facing impact.
It’s a serious, cinematic painting that commands the room and doesn’t apologize for it.
Measures: W 59” x D 4” x H 42”
Created in the first quarter of the 20th century by William M. Lemos, this oil painting draws clear inspiration from Robert Schade’s 1908 depiction of the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871 in Wisconsin—one of the deadliest wildfires in American history.
A pine forest stands mid-burn, its tall, dark silhouettes cutting through a sky stained with red and smoke. The fire isn’t shown as chaos exploding outward, but as something creeping and inevitable. Red-orange light glows from within the trees, bleeding into the ground and climbing the trunks, while a heavy haze hangs above like a held breath. It’s the moment just before everything gives way. You can almost feel the heat radiating off the surface.
The brushwork is moody and deliberate, favoring atmosphere over detail. Shadows dominate. The palette stays restrained except where the fire breaks through, making those glowing areas feel all the more unsettling. It walks that fine line between beauty and destruction, the kind of scene that’s hard to look away from even when it makes you uncomfortable.
The painting is housed in its original, thick pie crust frame, worn to a rich, crusty patina that suits the subject perfectly. It feels substantial, architectural, and period-correct, grounding the drama of the image with real physical presence. There are two minor, unnoticeable repairs on the back, nothing that distracts from the front-facing impact.
It’s a serious, cinematic painting that commands the room and doesn’t apologize for it.
Measures: W 59” x D 4” x H 42”
