| Date: | not dated, probably 1880-1886 |
| Medium: | oil on canvas, lined |
| Size: | 17.3 x 31 in (44.0 x 78.5 cm) |
| Inscription: | l/r "F. Schafer S.F.", in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand, underlined |
| Verso: | said to be "In the Sacramento Valley" in pencil (back currently covered) |
| Provenance: | In collection of Frances Molera, to 1968; by gift to the National Trust for for Historic Preservation (public), on display at The Cooper-Molera Adobe, Monterey, California |
| Citations: | Monterey State Historic Park file #480-2-5L |
| Description: | Mostly dark clouds gather above a flat valley with a green, foggy, meadow in the distance at the right, a forest in the middle distance at the left. Several kinds of broadleaf trees (distinguished by different shades of green foliage) dot the scene. A river, reflecting the dark sky, enters from the right and exits at the left front. Some cows stand on the far side of the river; two cows (one brown, one white) stand on the near bank, one in the water, drinking. The remainder of the near bank is covered with low brush. In the foreground, there is a bush in each corner, the one on the left apparently on an island. Some wild flowers dot the right foreground. The drawing is quite controlled, especially in the bushes and foreground cows. The colors are mostly greens; even the water is blue-green. (From the painting, 21 November 1989, at the Cooper-Molera Adobe.) |
| Note: | 1. The composition is virtually identical with [In the Sacramento Valley 2] and The Sacramento Valley, California. 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. 2. A 1936 letter in the clipping file of the Alameda Free Public Library, examined in 1990, reports that a painting titled Sacramento Valley was in a private Los Angeles collection, but the information in that letter is insufficient to either include or exclude the possibility that it is this painting. |
| In index(es): | Title list, pastoral and rural scenes, paintings currently held in museums and public collections |
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In the Sacramento Valley [1]