| Medium: | oil on canvas |
| Size: | 12 x 24 inches (30 x 61 cm) |
| Inscription: | l/r "F. Schafer", in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand, underlined |
| Verso: | u/l "CARMAL.MISSION EST. 1770/CALIFORNIA", unknown hand not that of the artist; l/r "CARMALMISS/CALIFONIA", same unknown hand, appears to continue under stretcher bar. |
| Provenance: | In private collection, California, by 1956; to private collection, Houston, Texas, 1956. Offered 11 June 2011 (not sold) by Heritage Auctions, Inc., Dallas, Texas, as lot 64216 in May Signature Auction 5062. Sold 27 September 2011 for $1793 by Heritage Auctions, Inc., Dallas, Texas, as lot 86139 in Dallas Signature Auction 5078. |
| Reproductions: | 11 June 2011 sale catalog (color). 27 September 2011 sale catalog (color). |
| Site: | The mission San Carlos Borremeo de Carmel, located in the modern city of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. |
| Description: | The isolated adobe mission building, consisting of a cupola-topped bell tower, an arched doorway, and a smaller tower, with red tile roofed buildings behind, stands beside a trail across a grassy desert. A milepost and a small figure stand in front of the mission, back to the viewer, on the trail, which continues past a fence beyond the mission toward a gentle slope leading upward to the right. The sky is gray and cloudy. (From a color photograph.) |
| Note: | 1. The modest size suggests that the painting may have been done on site. Continuation of the inscription under the side stretcher bar is consistent with a field painting for which the stretcher bars were added later. On the other hand, the stretcher bars appear to be newer than the frame, so perhaps the original stretcher bars were simply replaced. 2. The image of the signature inscription on this painting is detailed enough that it reveals the order of some of the composing brushstrokes. 3. A painting with the title The Old Carmel Mission, at Monterey was offered as lot 137 on page 9 in the catalog of a 17 November 1885 auction in San Francisco. Also, a 17 November 1886 auction advertisement by Bovee, Toy and Co. that mentions "Missions of California sketches" may be related, and might help establish the approximate date of this painting. Unfortunately, there is not enough information in these sources to either include or exclude the possibility that it refers to this painting. 4. The verso inscription being in a different hand and its misspelling of "Carmel" suggest that it was added later by an owner. |
| Other title(s): | Carmal Mission, California (from verso inscription) |
| In index(es): | Title list, cabins, farmhouses, and similar structures, miscellaneous other well-known landmarks, unusual subjects--still life, cityscapes |
![[photo]](../smalls/p/img1176.jpg)