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Frederick Ferdinand Schafer Painting Catalog

Painting record FFSd0136

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[photo] [Desert landscape with Indians and tepee I]
Photo credit: Walter Nelson-Rees, 1991
Medium: oil on canvas
Size: 24 x 36 in (61 x 91 cm)
Inscription: l/r "F Schaf", very lightly, in the the artist's characteristic block printing hand. The "a" may be umlauted.
Verso: n.v. (back sealed)
Provenance: In collection of the Athenian Nile Club, Oakland, California, by 1975; to collection of James Coran & Walter Nelson-Rees, Oakland, California, 1991; destroyed in the Oakland fire, 20 October 1991.
Reproductions: Nelson-Rees slide (color, 1991)
Citations: Inventory of American Paintings… record 71069080
Site: Unidentified. The topography suggests a northern California encampment of the Modoc people in the area currently known as Lava Beds National Monument.
Description: A scene that is half desert and half sky. A black tepee stands to the right of center, a woman with papoose is seated in front of the tepee, and a man sits smoking a pipe in front and to its left. On the right of the tepee stands a horse; on the ground is a saddle. To the left of this party two natives on horseback leading a pack horse stop to talk to the family group; the one on the left carries a spear. The foreground is dusty green grass with clumps of brighter green weeds; in the middle distance is a yellow desert; in the right background a distant mountain range lies low on the horizon. The sky is light blue at the horizon, pink above, blue at the top. From the shadows on the tepees and hills, the sun is low on the left; from the activities of the figures, it is probably a setting sun. (From the painting, 19 July 1990.)
Note: 1. This painting appears to be a study in anticipation of painting the much larger [Desert landscape with Indians and tepee 2]. 2. See the list of Indians in desert locales for several possibly related paintings.
Identification: Assigned, descriptive title.
Other title(s): Landscape with Indian scene (Inventory of American Paintings…); [Landscape with plains Indians and tepee] (James Coran and Walter Nelson-Rees)
In index(es): Title list, Indian encampments as primary subjects, Indians in desert locales

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Mar 10, 2024, 11:47 MDT Accessibility