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Frederick Ferdinand Schafer Painting Catalog

Painting record FFSd0143

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[photo] Lassen Peak, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California
Photo credit: J. H. Saltzer, courtesy of California Historical Society
Medium: oil on canvas
Size: 20 x 12 in (51 x 30 cm)
Inscription: l/l "F Schafer", in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand
Verso: l/c "Lassen Peak./Sierra Nevada Mts Cal."; illegible pencil script on canvas "JH…TCK" Sticker on frame, "Raemon-Frede/(R. L. Pennington)/ Picture Framing - Artists Supplies/311-313 Ninth Avenue/BA 1-1124 San Francisco 10, Calif."
Provenance: With Collectors Gallery, San Francisco; to collection of Lewis E. Ferbrache; by gift to The California Historical Society, 1963 (public).
Reproductions: Early California and Western Art Research/Schafer slide #12 (color, 1973); William K. Dick photo #149 (color, 1971)
Citations: Inventory of American Paintings… record 71065360; William K. Dick notes, page 73; Collectors Gallery stock list (undated, probably c. 1953); The California Historical Society accession #63-2-1-2.
Site: Lassen Peak, California, before the 1914/1915 eruptions. Lassen peak is actually at the southern end of the Cascades rather than the northern end of the Sierra Nevada, though this distinction may not have been appreciated by artists in the late 1800's.
Description: A flat-topped peak rises in a hazy indistinct purple gray in the distance across an indistinct forest. A river winds toward the viewer from the right middle distance to the left foreground. On the far bank of the river are a blue-green tepee and two figures in a canoe. A large conifer fills the left edge of the painting, curling over at the top. The trunk of a dead tree stands, leaning, in front of it. The sun comes from the right. (From the painting, 6 August 1989.)
Note: This painting hung on the West wall of the dining room of the Whittier Mansion, during the time that that building was the headquarters of the California Historical Society, in San Francisco. Since the sale of the mansion, the painting is in storage.
Identification: The Inventory of American Paintings entry uses the word Range rather than Mountains in the title, but it identifies the California Historical Society as the owner. The Early California and Western Art Research index and the photo by William K. Dick also identify the painting with the California Historical Society. The postal code and the telephone number on the frame sticker indicate that the frame is 20th century.
In index(es): Title list, Indian encampments as incidental subjects, Lassen Peak, California, paintings currently held in museums and public collections

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Mar 10, 2024, 11:47 MDT Accessibility