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Frederick Ferdinand Schafer Painting Catalog

Painting record FFSd0121

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[photo] [Indians on the warpath]

Medium: oil on canvas
Size: 30 x 52 in (76 x 132 cm; see note)
Inscription: l/l "F Schafer", in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand, underlined, in red
Verso: Said to be a label with the artist's name and the title of the painting affixed to the stretcher.
Provenance: Offered in 1987 by Graham Gallery, New York City; sold in 1987 by Lisa Dawn Schneider Curatorial Consultants, New York City to an unidentified corporate collection, New York City; sold 30 November 2011 for $26,000+25% by Christie's, New York City, as lot 32 in sale 2485, "Important American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture" to collection of Kay (Katharine Inglis) and John William Bachman, Columbia, South Carolina; from 2015 on loan to the Columbia Museum of Art, acquisition L2015.2.
Reproductions: Graham Gallery transparency (color, c. 1987); Christie's 30 November 2011 sale catalog (color, 2011).
Site: May be Silver Lake, based on similarity to a painting titled Silver Lake.
Description: A band of about forty Indians gathers in a clearing on the near side of a bright, whitish-blue river or lake, preparing to cross by canoe. There is much activity--one canoe nears the far bank, two canoes are underway, and two more are on the near bank pushing off; six Indians are seated around a fire from which smoke trails up to the right; at the right two riders, one on a white horse, the other on a brown horse, emerge onto the scene from the forest; seven more Indians carrying spears and shields walk across the clearing toward the canoes; another rider motions to the group around the fire. Near the landing across the river the smoke from two more campfires can be seen. A broadleaf tree fills the left side amidst dense undergrowth; at the base of the tree is a log; red flowers appear on the forest floor. Driftwood and a snag appear at the water's edge. At the right are standing and fallen dead trees in front of a small forest, beyond is a pinkish rocky cliff that becomes a head where it meets the water. In the distance, the far bank is a flat, treeless plain at the base of hills surmounted by two low (or distant) sunlit peaks. The sky is blue with clouds gathering on the right. Orange tinges on the clouds, as well as the bright head and the sunlit peaks all suggest that the sun is low on the left. (From a color photograph.)
Note: The Graham Gallery description gives the size as 30 x 50 inches.
Identification: Descriptive title of unknown origin, from the Graham Gallery description and the Christie's sale catalog.
Other title(s): Landscape with Indian Encampment (Columbia Museum of Art)
In index(es): Title list, Indian encampments as primary subjects, twenty representative works by the artist, paintings currently held in museums and public collections

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Mar 10, 2024, 11:47 MDT Accessibility