| Medium: | oil on canvas (may be lined, see verso image) |
| Size: | 14 x 24 in (36 x 61 cm) |
| Inscription: | Unsigned. |
| Verso: | On upper edge of canvas "F. Schafer / Approaching Rain" in ink in an unknown hand, not the artist's. White sticker with similar information on the side stretcher bar—see verso image. |
| Provenance: | In private collection, San Francisco, by 1973. Offered via eBay by "hawkartco2", Cerritos, California, 26 October 2019. |
| Reproductions: | Early California and Western Art Research/Schafer slide #13 (color, 1973) |
| Attribution: | Since the painting is unsigned, attribution is a matter of judgment. The general composition, palette, focused illumination, treatment of the stormy sky, botanically accurate trees, reduced finish as distance increases and minimally-drawn figures all are typical of Schafer's work. Compare, for example, with After a storm in the White Mountains, After the storm in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah, and Approaching Storm. |
| Description: | A woman and a child stroll along a path between two fields toward a timber cottage that stands on the left under large broadleaf trees. A figure on horseback rides along the path in the distance. To the right of the path is a wood rail fence with a tall post that has a hat hung on the top. A dramatic gathering of clouds fills the sky from the right. (From color photographs.) |
| Identification: | Descriptive title of unknown origin, as found in the eBay description. The eBay photograph and the Early California and Western Art Research photograph are of the same painting. |
| Other title(s): | The approaching shower (Early California and Western Art Research slide) |
| In index(es): | Title list, pastoral and rural scenes, paintings probably attributable to Schafer |
![[photo]](../smalls/p/img1796.jpg)