| Medium: | oil on canvas |
| Size: | 30 x 20 in (76 x 51 cm) |
| Inscription: | l/r "F. Schafer", in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand |
| Verso: | Covered with fiberboard backing. Said to be titled, "Moonlight on Truckee River / California". On backing: Title in an unknown hand. Handwritten label of Wortsman Stewart Galleries, Inc., inventory # "WS# 750-2". On frame: "8 / 79"; a second Wortsman Stewart Galleries, Inc. label. |
| Provenance: | Offered in 1973 by Garzoli Gallery, San Francisco. (Probably offered by Wortsman Stewart Galleries, Inc. after 1975; see Note 1.) Offered in September 2021 for $3800 by Irving Street Trading Company, Alameda, California via Chairish.com. |
| Reproductions: | William K. Dick photo #122 (color, 1971) |
| Description: | A dramatically composed scene in which the unseen moon brightly illuminates a white cloud near the upper center, behind a pair of conifers that have foliage only near the top. The trunk and lower, leafless, branches of the tree stand in stark bright silhouette against the dark sky. Three bright boulders below the trees stand on the left bank of a mostly dark river; in the foreground in the middle of the river are three darker, brown boulders. A fallen tree leans out over the stream from between the white boulders. A bright area in the water is an indistinct reflection of the cloud above. (From a color photograph.) |
| Note: | 1. The presence of the verso label of Wortsman Stewart Galleries, Inc., including an inventory number, suggests strongly that that gallery, which acquired that name after 1975, belongs in the provenance. 2. Restoration by Anthony W. White, 1971. 3. Paintings with this title have appeared in at least three 19th century auction catalogs but without enough information to either include or exclude the possibility that one of them is this painting. See Paintings known only by title for details. |
| In index(es): | Title list, Lake Tahoe and environs, moonlight nocturnes and other scenes showing the moon |
![[photo]](../smalls/p/img1957.jpg)