| Medium: | oil on canvas |
| Size: | 18 x 28 in (41 x 61 cm) |
| Inscription: | unsigned |
| Verso: | l/c "Sunset on Mt. Shasta / from Sissons Cal." in the artist's characteristic block printing hand. |
| Provenance: | In private collection, Alameda, California, by 1970; by descent to private collection, Tracy, California, by 2003; offered 18 June 2011 via eBay by "samhoward49", Tracy, California. Sold 11 November 2011 for $3750 by Bonhams, San Francisco, as lot 6 in sale 19417. |
| Reproductions: | William K. Dick photo #11 (color, 1970); Bonhams 11 November 2011 sale catalog. |
| Attribution: | The painting is unsigned, so attribution must be made by other characteristics. The style, composition, palette, and brushwork all seem to be typical of Frederick Schafer's work, and the painting is very similar to about a dozen other paintings of Mount Shasta from similar vantage points that are signed by Schafer. The verso photograph shows a canvas, stretcher, and frame all of the expected age and material and the verso inscription is in Schafer's characteristic block printing hand. Thus attribution to Schafer seems appropriate. |
| Site: | The title and the mountain profile together suggest that the viewpoint is from the Sisson Hotel, which was located at the corner of Old Stage Road and Hatchery Lane in the modern town of Mount Shasta City, California. |
| Description: | The mountain is viewed from a flat valley that encompasses the entire width of the painting. A stream appears near the right and curves back to exit at the right front. The foreground valley floor is greyish, spotted with bushes, while farther away it is a bright yellow-green. A grove of conifers rises in the left middle distance and another grove stands farther away on the right. Across the valley floor, a brown, forested hill rises to a peak at the right center, dips, then rises again to the right edge. The backdrop provided by Shasta is largely brown with patches of snow; the sun strikes from the left, casting shadows on the East slopes and brightening the top of the brown midrange hill. The sky is a greenish blue with wisps of coral-pink clouds. (From a color photograph.) |
| Note: | 1. In 1970 the size was reported as 16 x 24 inches. 2. For comparison, The Black Butte, Shasta in distance, from Sissons, California, Mount Shasta [9], and Morning on Mount Shasta, from Strawberry Valley, California are views of Mount Shasta from a viewpoint in a meadow about four miles west of the Sisson hotel. |
| In index(es): | Title list, Mount Shasta and Shastina, sunset scenes, paintings probably attributable to Schafer |
![[photo]](../smalls/p/img1187.jpg)