| Date: | undated, probably 1880-1886; see note. |
| Medium: | oil on canvas (said to be pre-primed linen) |
| Size: | 30 x 20 in (76 x 51 cm) |
| Inscription: | l/r "F. Schafer S. F.", fraktur hand |
| Verso: | "Ev. on Fallen Leafe Lake/California" in black brush; "860" on gummed label on stretcher; conservator's label "96.06.32", on frame. |
| Provenance: | With G. Breitweiser / Studio II Fine Arts & Antiques, Santa Barbara, by 1992; to private collection, Mendocino, California, July 1992. |
| Site: | Fallen Leaf Lake, just west of Lake Tahoe, was a frequent subject for 19th century west coast landscape artists. |
| Description: | A tall, sparse broadleaf tree stands amid a tangle of brush, snags, and boulders on the right side of a calm stream entering a placid lake. On the more distant left bank another similar tree leans slightly over the stream, while several conifers appear in the background against a sky which is bright blue at the top with layers of sunset orange and purple below. The silhouette of distant cliffs is hazily visible against the sunset, through the forested valley that holds the stream. (From a color photograph.) |
| Note: | 1. The initials "S.F." following the signature suggest that the painting was executed during the period 1880-1886, when Schafer had a studio in San Francisco. Those dates are consistent with the date that Sunset on Fallen Leaf Lake was offered for sale. 2. See the list of mountain streams through a forest for several other works of similar composition. |
| Legend: | This is one of two paintings that G. Breitweiser / Studio II Fine Arts & Antiques reported obtaining from an estate sale of a 90-year old woman who in turn reported that she received them from her father, who bought them directly from Schafer. The other painting may have been Morning on Fallen Leaf Lake. |
| Identification: | May be the same painting as Sunset on Fallen Leaf Lake. |
![[photo]](../smalls/p/img0633.jpg)