M. FORD CREECH ANTIQUES
WILLIAM KEITH
American (California) 1838-1911
"THE GLORY OF THE HEAVENS"
Oil on Panel (appearing to be a cigar box top)
Identified and titled verso with museum catalog numbers: “Gift of Carl S. Dentzel Estate”*
(There is also a pencil inscription verso, apparently about having the frame re-gilt).
In original
22K giltwood frame (probably original)
Museums: 38, including Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, Hearst Art Gallery at
St. Mary’s College, known for its collection of William Keith, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
The Brooklyn Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Books: 108, including, William Keith, Saint Mary's College Collection (Harrison); William Keith, The Man & the Artist (Neuhaus)
Periodicals: 12, including American Art Review (4); Magazine Antiques (2); Southwest Art (2); Art-Talk (2)
Provenance Note: *Carl S. Dentzel was a determined leader in the cultural affairs of Los Angeles and the San Fernando
Valley from 1940 until his death in 1980. He had a lifelong interest in the Southwest and a commitment to preserving its unique Native
American, Spanish and Mexican heritage. Dentzel was born and raised in Beverly Hills. Dentzel settled in the northwest region of the
San Fernando Valley known at the time as Zelzah and North Los Angeles. He and other leaders of the community worked
successfully to get the community renamed "Northridge" . Dentzel was an editor and writer for the Northridge Herald and
The Federalist, and served on the Northridge Chamber of Commerce and the Southern California Council of Inter-American Affairs.
In addition to being a California cultural historian, Dentzel was also director of the Southwest Museum in Highland Park, just north of
Los Angeles. He was a collector of paintings by California artists before the resurgence in their popularity began. Dentzel's private
collection was one of the strongest of its day. After his death his private collections, which also included many superb Asian and
Southwestern artifacts, were divided among several museums, with the Laguna Art Museum receiving many of the paintings.
See: The Lure of the West: The Carl S Dentzel Collection of W American Art, Sweeney, J Gray/J Ballinger
Image size: 5 x 8 1/8in
SOLD
#5401
KEITH, William (1838-1911)
Birth place: Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Death place: Berkeley, CA
Addresses: Active primarily in San Francisco & Berkeley, CA
Profession: Landscape and portrait painter, engraver
Studied: Samuel Brookes in San Francisco, 1863; watercolor with Elizabeth Emerson Keith;
Flamm & Achenbach at Düsseldorf, beginning 1869; portraiture with Carl Marr at Munich, 1883-86; abroad again in 1893 & 1899
Exhibited: San Francisco, 1864; Boston Arts Club, 1874, 1896; National Academy of Design,
1882-89 (4 annuals); Art Institute of Chicago, 1888, 1906, 1912 (deceased); Chicago World's Fair, 1893;
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Annual, 1896-97, 1902, 1905-06;
Pan-Am. Expo, Buffalo, 1901 (med.); Corcoran Gallery, 1907-08, 1910.
Member: San Francisco Arts Association; Bohemian Club
Work: Art Institute of Chicago; Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Mexico Art Association;
Boston Museum of Fine Art; Corcoran Gallery; Crocker Museuum, Sacramento, CA; Oakland Museum;
Brooklyn Museum; San Francisco Institute of Art;
Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Amon Carter Museum (among others)
Comments: One of the most respected and pre-eminent landscape painters of 19th century California.
In 1850, Keith immigrated to NYC and in 1856 began his career as an engraver for Harper's. In 1858
Keith spent two months in San Francisco on assignment from the magazine and the following year (after a visit
to Scotland) settled in that city. By 1863 he had begun painting in oils, and in 1864 participated in his first
exhibition in San Francisco. About this time he also began to paint in watercolor under the tutelage of his wife
Elizabeth Emerson (see Elizabeth Emerson Keith). In these same years, Keith was employed for a time by the
Northern Pacific Railroad and the Oregon Navigation & RR Company, hired to paint scenes along their
routes. Keith studied and traveled abroad from 1869-71, and on his return briefly established a studio in Boston
with his wife and the artist William Hahn (see entry). Keith and his wife moved back to California in 1872 and in
that year he met the naturalist John Muir who introduced Keith to Yosemite. From 1883-85, Keith had a studio in
Munich; he then spent several years in New Orleans before returning to San Francisco. Keith's early landscapes
were realistic and detailed, but during the last twenty years of his life he worked in a Barbizon manner, creating intimate,
more moody scenes that mixed mysticism and naturalism. This later style owed much to George Inness who visited
Keith in the early 1890s. Keith was a significant figure in California art and he had many students, most of whom were female.
He was also a prolific artist, but approximately 2,000 of his nearly 4,000 paintings were destroyed in the San Francisco
earthquake and fire of 1906. Note: his birthdate has appeared as 1838 and 1839.
Sources: G&W (puts birth date at Nov. 21, 1839); WW10; Eugen Neuhaus, William Keith, The Man
and the Artist (1938); DAB; Davisson, William Keith;" Fielding; Naylor, NAD; Falk, Exh. Record Series;
Hughes, Artists in California (puts birth date at Nov. 21, 1838); 300 Years of American Art, vol. 1, 295;
Baigell, Dictionary (puts birth date at 1839); P&H Samuels"
This biography is drawn from the 'Who Was Who in American Art' , the reference book on the cultural life in the United States.
Musuems: (38)
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Hearst Art Gallery, St. Mary's College Amon Carter Museum Anchorage Museum of History and Art Butler Institute of American Art Cantor Arts Center, Stanford Chrysler Museum of Art Corcoran Gallery of Art Crocker Art Museum Farnsworth Art Museum Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco-de Young Gilcrease Museum High Museum of Art Los Angeles County Museum of Art Metropolitan Museum of Art Monterey Museum of Art- Pacific Museum of Art at Brigham Young University Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Muskegon Museum of Art North Carolina Museum of Art |
Oakland Museum of California Phippen Art Museum Portland Art Museum Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College San Diego Museum of Art San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Santa Barbara Museum of Art Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery Springville Museum of Art Stark Museum of Art The Art Gallery, University of New Hampshire The Brooklyn Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art-Ohio The Cummer Museum Of Art & Gardens The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Yosemite Museum, National Park Service Union League Club of Chicago Wright Museum of Art |
Collections:
Anschutz Collection
Carl S. Dentzel Collection
Chicago Union League Club Collection
Foxley Collection
Harmsen Western Art Collection
Haussner Collection-Baltimore
Kahn Collection
Exhibitions include:
Art Institute
of Chicago
Boston Art Club
Chicago 1893 Columbian Exhibition
Corcoran Gallery Biennial
Del Monte Art Gallery
MacBeth Gallery-New York
National Academy of Design
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
Periodicals:
American Art Review, 2006 December, California Landscapes from the Willrich Collection
American Art Review, 2006 February, The Monterey Peninsula Art Colony
Southwest Art, 2004 August, Best of the West-California
Southwest Art, 2004 August, Arizona-Best of the West
Art-Talk, 2004 April, Museums
California Art Club, Newsletter, 2003 June, Grandeur in Nature: Landscape Painting
California Art Club, Newsletter, 2003 February, Museum/Gallery Exhibitions and Lectures
The Magazine Antiques, 2000 November, A Vision for the West
The Magazine Antiques, 2000 November, George Inness and San Francisco Artists
Art-Talk, 1998 October, Art Show
American Art Review, 1995 April, Twilight & Reverie
American Art Review, 1994 December, William Keith
Books: (108)
including, William Keith, Saint Mary's College Collection (Harrison); William Keith, The Man & the Artist (Neuhaus)
For information, call (901) 761-1163 or (901) 683-4668 or email mfcreech@bellsouth.net
American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Discover accepted
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