| Attribution: | Being unsigned, the identity of the artist is at best a guess. In favor of attribution to Schafer is the general composition, the size, the accurate rendering of water, the staffage, and the typical Schafer touches of footprints and tracks in the trail. Against attribution is that the scene is too tranquil. Nothing is out of place, there are no snags, the river seems too calm, the shrubbery is neatly trimmed, the foreground detail is too uniform. Schafer's mountain landscapes are usually more energetic. Also, the brightest section and thus the central focus is the meadow on the other side of the river, rather than the Indians on the trail at the right side. That illumination is not at all like Schafer's usual style. A more certain evaluation of its attribution would require either better photographs or a personal inspection of the brushwork. |
![[photo]](../smalls/p/img1379.jpg)