I read somewhere that autumn is most people's favorite season. I think it would be mine, too-- if we lived in a place like Connecticut. In western Washington it's more like a wet, gray curtain snaps down. The local weathermen are saying this October has been "below the seasonal average." Well, no surprise since the last 18 months have been colder that normal. Or maybe this is the new normal in the Northwest?
California makes a nice daydream on a rainy October day. Especially 19th century California when it was just being "discovered" by a few lucky easterners. The Wisconsin painter Arthur Frank Mathews moved to San Francisco in 1866 and became director of the California School of Design. He married one of his art students, but their studio and most of their art was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. After that they opened a furniture shop-- a good business opportunity as the city rebuilt.
He was part of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and fine tables like this one of his are in museums, or the homes of very rich people.
Mathews was a master of all types of media, and he and his wife designed interiors in the California Decorative Style. They did many public murals around the Bay area. I like his paintings of luminous California landscapes with Monterrey pines.
He painted female figures in classical attire, frolicking around in the unspoiled western scenery. We have a print of one of his lady paintings hanging over the sofa. The colors are beautiful, even for a poster.
Dancing Figures on the Beach, Carmel
Spring Dance
No comments:
Post a Comment