Date: | probably undated |
Medium: | oil on canvas |
Size: | 30 x 20 in (76 x 51 cm) |
Inscription: | l/r "F. Schafer", in the artist's block-letter hand |
Verso: | said to be "Moonlight on the Truckee River" |
Provenance: | with Garzoli Gallery, San Francisco, 1973. |
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: | 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. |