Date: | not dated, probably 1880-1886 |
Medium: | oil on canvas, lined |
Size: | 24 x 16 in (61 x 41 cm) |
Inscription: | l/r "F. Schafer S.F.", in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand |
Provenance: | Sold 17 January 1990 for $1100 by Butterfield & Butterfield, San Francisco as lot 311 in sale 2162P/P51 to private collection, San Francisco. Offered 3 March 2012 via eBay by "mikes40", San Francisco. Offered 12 August 2012 (not sold) by Clar's Auction Gallery, Oakland, California, as lot 2162. |
Reproductions: | Butterfield & Butterfield 17 January 1990 sale catalog; Clar's Auction Gallery 12 August 2012 on-line sale catalog. |
Site: | Unidentified. The profile of a cliff in the background may be that of Sentinel Rock, in Yosemite Valley. |
Description: | A tall conifer stands in the center with branches only near its top, which is silhouetted against the sky. The stump of another tree appears on its right, and the ancient grey trunk of a fallen tree lies in the foreground. On the left is a small, dark lake, while two more distant but still prominent tall pines stand on a wooded slope that climbs high on the right. In the background loom grey cliffs across the horizon, with a small peak at the left of center. Clouds fill the lower half of the sky, blue the upper half. Apart from the sky, the painting is executed entirely in greens and browns. (From the painting, 27 December 1989.) |
Note: | The initials "S.F." following the signature suggest that the painting may have been executed during the period 1880-1886, when Schafer had a studio in San Francisco. |
Identification: | Descriptive title of unknown origin, from the 1990 sale catalog. |
In index(es): | Title list, unidentified mountain scenes |