SIGNED (DAVIS FRANCIS) SCHWARTZ W/C CALIF SCHOOL LANDSCAPE, W/HORSEBACK RIDER

Description

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(DAVIS FRANCIS)
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(AMERICAN, 1879-1969) CALIFORNIA SCHOOL
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HORSEBACK RIDER CROSSING RIVER
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E, W/UNBROKEN DUST COVER
(Circa 1925-1938)
Early 20th century
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painting & depictions of the
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West
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13 ½" Width x 16 ½" Height
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8 ¾" Width x 11 ¼"
(image)
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The original mat board and varnished maple frame suffer some moisture damage. The painting hasn't been removed from its original frame and still has an unbroken back cloth dust cover and an original 'Stern's' Bronx, NYC picture framer's label affixed to the back. It is signed 'Schwartz' in a more stylized high case signature, somewhat unusual for the artist (Davis Francis Schwartz) but the piece seems to have been done 'en plein aire' and with possibly only the horseback rider crossing a river surrounded by magnificent rock canyons, towering buttes and steep cliffs romantically added. It has all of the hallmark painterliness and artistic handling of Davis Francis Schwartz. It is a quintessential early 20th century California school painting, with its characteristic palette of graduated pastels and of course, a celebration of the great wide-open spaces and incredible western landscape, sunbathed and seemingly as it always has been. Done on coarse watercolor paper. The painting has a more gestural, painterly style, where the color is used to also differentiate form. There are obvious areas where water was used to bleed the watercolors into the paper field but by and large it is a controlled watercolor landscape where the watercolor mark-making is applied more like oils, with the assertive certainty and artistic confidence one would expect from a trained and highly experienced painter such as Davis Francis Schwartz. In absolutely untouched, 100% unmolested condition, with an unbroken back cloth dust cover from the period and with the Stern's Bronx, NYC period paper picture framer's label still affixed to the back. The watercolor surface is completely unfazed and unaffected by the moisture that once affected the mat board. The painting remains vivid and with still saturated, undiminished color and no signs of any damage to it. California School. Davis Francis Schwartz. Early 20th Century. In its original frame and with an unbroken dustcover. Antiques and fine art don't come much more honest and original than this. Extraordinary and unmitigatedly beautiful. A celebration of our shared, collective American heritage and of the great, wide-open spaces of the great American western landscape. It's who we are. Gorgeous.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
David Francis Schwartz was born in Paris, Kentucky in 1879. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and then at art schools in Dayton and Cleveland, Ohio. He then spent 3 years studying in Montreal, Canada under Adam S. Scott. He then worked as a commercial illustrator for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He moved to California in 1903 and worked for the Los Angeles Times before moving to San Francisco in 1924. In 1924 he was elected artist for the State Board of Harbor Commissioners. Davis Schwartz established his studio in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. During the 1940's Davis Schwartz often signed his works 'Francis Davis' due to anti-German sentiment at the time. He worked in both watercolor and oil and won many awards. His many memberships included the Carmel Art Association, Oakland Art Association, Santa Cruz Art League and the Society of Western Artists. His works are in many private and public collections.
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Very Good to Excellent overall vintage condition. The piece is still in 100% untouched, unmolested original condition. The original cloth dust cover remains unbroken, thus the reason why the piece hasn't been opened up and the glass cleaned and the water-stained original mat board changed out and reframed with archival materials in another period frame. The varnished maple frame from most likely the 1920's or 1930's is also stained in the lower corners, meaning that at one point the painting was exposed to moisture, most likely standing on a concrete floor in a basement, with moisture entering from the mitered lower cuts in the frame. Luckily, the watercolor painting itself appears to be completely unscathed and not affected by this. It remains in splendid vintage condition. Gorgeous painting which will need to be rematted with archival materials and reframed.