Signed lower right, 'Herbert Lewis' (American, 1893-1962) and inscribed 'Caques 1928 and Tucson 1950'. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Herbert Taylor Lewis was known as a painter of abstracts, still lives and figure studies painted with a vivid palette in a bold Modernist style. Lewis first studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and, subsequently, in Europe including at the Academie Julian in Paris during the birth of Modernism and Cubism in the early part of the 20th century. Upon his return to the United State, he kept a studio in New York City for several years but, by 1920, was living and painting in Arizona. In the late 1920s and 1930s, Lewis was working as an art instructor at Rockford College, Illinois, and, from 1943 to 1954, was a resident of Tucson. By the early 1930s, he lived part time in California's Monterey Peninsula where he kept a studio at Carmel and exhibited with success. By the late 1950's, he was living and painting in Monterey full-time where he exhibited with success including at the Carmel Art Association.