Sky and Sandstone was painted in the same year that Dixon entered three works into the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and won a bronze medal. The year 1915 marks a turning point in the artists’ career. The bronze medal enabled him to have an exhibition at the Bohemian Club in November of 1915. The exhibition included forty Arizona paintings (which were painted between April and November 1915) and several important sales took place; including sales to the Golden Gate Park Memorial Museum (now the M.H. deYoung Museum) and The Cook Museum in Honolulu purchased the bronze medal painting. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming and the monumental collection of Alan Horn in Los Angeles each include major works from 1915.

Sky and Sandstone has been in a private collection in Utah and The Redfern Gallery was fortunate to be able to purchase this important painting. The painting is in excellent condition and would be a great addition to any major American collection. Sky and Sandstone will be exhibited in the upcoming museum exhibition, "A place of Refuge: Maynard Dixon's Arizona" October 11, 2008 - February 15, 2009.

 

Cathedral at Cuernavaca, Mexico was painted in 1926 and shown in the Stendal show dated November 1926.  This magnificent painting is Alson Skinner Clark at his best.  Clark is considered to be among the most significant of the American Impressionists. Perhaps the most highly trained artist of the California school, Clark studies include instruction from two of the most influential artist of the period, William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) and James Abbott Mc Neill Whistler (1834-1903).

Cuernavaca, Mexico was one of the numerous locations Clark painted. An inveterate traveler, he and his wife Medora explored Europe, Canada, the Panama Canal, Mexico and the United States.  Cathedral of Cuernavaca is just the type of subject that Alson Clark sought when he first traveled to Mexico. The luxuriously textured brick paving and walls  is achieved through layering of color and sketchy application of paint.  The  rich patina of the decrepit aged buildings was already associated with Clark's work and had proven commercially successful.  Clark was featured in a major museum show at the Pasadena Museum of California.  Cathedral at Cuernavaca is a major work that  is from an important period in the artist's career.