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Frederick Ferdinand Schafer Painting Catalog

Painting record FFSd0270

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[photo] [Scene in Guatemala]
Photo credit: William K. Dick, 1971
Medium: oil on canvas
Size: 24 x 16 in (61 x 41 cm)
Inscription: l/l "F. Schafer", in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand
Verso: no inscription
Provenance: In private collection; by gift to The Society of California Pioneers by 1971.
Exhibited: Tropical Scenes by the 19th Century Painters of California, Oakland, Santa Barbara, and Sacramento, California, 1971 and 1972
Reproductions: Early California and Western Art Research/Schafer slide #9 (color, 1971); William K. Dick photo #148 (color, 1971); The Society of California Pioneers photo 002\C002464.TIF
Citations: Exhibition catalog, #35, page 45; Inventory of American Paintings… record 82220035; The Society of California Pioneers catalog record C002464
Description: Two giant palm trees on the left of a river, with vines climbing up the trunk contributing to a mass of jungle foliage. A background of dark forest lies to the right. Sunset orange colors in the sky at the horizon shade to yellow in the middle and finally to an orange-blue at top. The water reflects the changing colors of the sky as well as the darker forest foliage at the left. (From the painting, 31 July 1991.)
Note: The "Tropical" exhibition catalog identifies this painting as a commission by a family whose child died in Guatemala, and points out that the site appears to be a bend in the Sacramento River with the addition of tropical foliage, perhaps from photographs. This painting is one of several tropical scenes by Schafer, which the catalog suggests were probably prepared to satisfy a demand for such paintings from San Francisco residents who came from the east via a Central American overland route.
Identification: Descriptive title of unknown origin, from the 1971 exhibition. The Inventory of American Paintings record and the Early California and Western Art Research index both cite the exhibition catalog and all three identify the The Society of California Pioneers as the owner. The photograph by William K. Dick appears to be of the same painting as the ECWAR slide and it identifies the The Society of California Pioneers as the source.
Other title(s): Nicaraguan sunset (William K. Dick photograph); Sunset Lake Nicaragua (The Society of California Pioneers catalog record)
In index(es): Title list, sunset scenes, tropical scenes, paintings currently held in museums and public collections

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Mar 10, 2024, 11:47 MDT Accessibility