ITEM DESCRIPTION
This is a beautiful early California oil painting by noted
artist Fred Grayson Sayre.
This painting was
painted using many pure colors and sparkles.
This is signed on
the back, and is titled: "Smoketree in the Foothills".
This oil
on canvas, was laid down on thin plywood.
Please read my
condition report below, as this original old oil painting needs minor
work to look it's best.
REGARDING THE ARTIST:
The
following is taken from Fred Grayson Sayre's
biography as shown on AskArt.com:
A highly
successful illustrator who
later became one of California's best known desert landscape painters
in both oil and watercolor, Fred Sayre was born in Medoc, Missouri.
His only formal art training was several months with portraitist J.
Laurie Wallace in Omaha, Nebraska.
He first
worked in lead and
zinc mines and with leather goods and then determined to become an
artist. He took an engraving job in Houston, Texas, and then moved to
Chicago where he earned distinction as an illustrator and was a member
of the Pallet and Chisel Club. A near fatal bout of diphtheria changed
his life when doctors persuaded him to move to California.
In
1916, he traveled by train through the Southwest and was enchanted by
the desert landscapes. From 1919 through 1922, he lived and painted in
Arizona, working also as a bookkeeper at night for a mining company.
He
returned to California in 1922 and settled ultimately in Glendale,
thriving in the climate of the West. That same year, he held his first
art exhibition in San Francisco. He was a charter member of the
Painters and Sculptors Club of Los Angeles, serving as president in
1929.
Exhibition venues included the
Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, Bohemian Club of San Francisco, Wiltshire Art Galleries in Los
Angeles and Glendale Art Association in Glendale.
Sources:
Credits to: Edan Hughes, Artists in California, 1786-1940.
and:
John and Deborah Powers, Texas
Painters, Sculptors & Graphic Artists.
ITEM MEASUREMENTS
The board measures 16 inches by 20 inches, and
the frame measures 24 inches by 28 inches.
This weighs about 7 1/4 lbs. (before packing).
THIS ITEMS CONDITION
REPORT
This is in good original condition and needs a
light cleaning to look it's best.
The plywood
has shrunk a little, and the canvas has lifted along ridge lines, as
shown in the photos above.
This can be corrected by a restorer.
Below: an
example from Askart.com by F. Grayson Sayre, which was also inscribed
only on the back.
Title:
California Landscape 12" x 16", Oil/Board, Signed on Reverse,
Auction House: John
Moran Auctioneers 10/25/2005,
Lot: 44,
Low Est.:
$2,000,
High Est.: $3,000
Sales Price**: $3,738
Painting
Etchings, Drawings, & Prints
