|
Mount Madison
Attributed to Frederick A. Butman (1820-71)
Unsigned
Not dated, probably 1868-71
Oil on paper laid down on canvas, 14 ½ x 22 ½ inches
Private collection
In 1857, Maine native Frederick A. Butman moved to San Francisco and launched a career as an artist. By 1859 he had became one of the first painters to capture the natural grandeur of the Yosemite Valley. Major paintings such as Mount Shasta (1864) moved Butman into the front ranks of San Francisco artists and sold for "fabulous sums" to the wealthy West Coast financiers. In April 1866, Butman returned to the Northeast, settling in New York. The California subjects he painted there attracted praise from critics. Butman's majestic Mount Madison was what Thomas Starr King defined as the "perfect picture." It is a pleasing pastoral view from an ideal perspective, done with a palette of warm foreground tones setting off lavender mountains.
