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Frederick Ferdinand Schafer Painting Catalog

Painting record FFSd0004

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[photo] After the storm in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah

Date: probably undated
Medium: oil on canvas, lined
Size: 30 x 50 in (76 x 127 cm)
Inscription: l/l "F Schafer", in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand, in red
Verso: said to have been "After a Storm in Wasatch Mtns", in pencil, before lining
Provenance: With Garzoli Gallery, San Francisco, in 1971 and 1975. With North Point Gallery, San Francisco, 1996. Sold 18 September 2020 for $3,500 + 25% by Alterman Galleries & Auctioneers, Santa Fe, New Mexico, as lot 126 in "Live Online Auction" sale; to private collection, Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Exhibited: California Landscape Painting, 1860–1885, Palo Alto, California, 1975-76; Pack-In Painters of the American West, Los Angeles, 1976; Big Pictures: 19th and Early 20th Century Exhibition Paintings, San Francisco, 1996.
Reproductions: Stanford University Visual Collection 76Q.116 (color, 1976); Early California and Western Art Research/Schafer slide #5 (color, c. 1970); William K. Dick photo #71 (color, 1971); Alterman Galleries & Auctioneers sale catalog (color, 2020).
Citations: 1975 exhibition catalog, #8, page 50; 1976 exhibition catalog, #37
Description: A dramatically composed scene of an Indian encampment with snow-covered mountains as a backdrop, a white-water river on the right, and a desert-brown rocky slope on the right bank of the river. The lower left triangle is a darker slope contrasting with the brightness of the rest of the painting. A trail leads up the slope to the encampment, which is silhouetted against the snowy mountain. Five figures including a woman in a red robe and carrying a staff walk up the trail toward the camp; other figures are seen in the camp. Smoke rises from the tepees. The sky is filled with clouds which alternate between very dark and very bright. Yellow wildflowers dot the foreground. (From a color photograph.)
Note: 1. This painting seems to be closely related to Wasatch Mountains, Utah, which has nearly identical composition. 2. The 2020 Alterman Galleries & Auctioneers catalog reports that the painting is mounted on a panel but the buyer reports that it is lined with canvas.
Legend: According to Miller, "the above title was reportedly penciled on the original canvas by the artist. The painting has been relined." There is some question as to the exact wording and spelling of that original title. Miller gives it as After the storm in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah. A note on the back of the photo from William K. Dick records the title as After a Storm in Wasatch Mtns, and the 1976 exhibition catalog gives it as After a storm in the Wasach Mountains.
Identification: A note in the Early California and Western Art Research index mentions that the painting later appeared in the 1975 Stanford exhibition. Both exhibition catalogs identify the painting as belonging to Garzoli.
Other title(s): Storm over the Wasatch (Early California and Western Art Research index and Alterman Galleries & Auctioneers catalog)
In index(es): Title list, Indian encampments as incidental subjects, Wasatch Mountains

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Mar 10, 2024, 11:47 MDT Accessibility