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Lot Essay
Guy Rose, one of California's earliest landscape painters, began his studies in his hometown of Pasadena, California. After moving north to study at the San Francisco Art Institute, Rose traveled to Paris for the first time in 1888, where he studied for three years at the Acadmie Julian. Though he undoubtedly enjoyed easel painting, it did not prove to be economically sufficient, so he returned to New York City to illustrate under the commercial auspices of Harper's Bazaar, Scribner's, and The Century. Enchanted by Paris and dedicated to further developing his techniques on canvas, Rose would often return to France for illustration assignments required by the magazines.
At the age of 29, Rose was tragically diagnosed with lead poisoning, presumably due to the use of his lead-based oil paints. Over the next ten years he refrained from using oil paints, and supported himself mainly through his illustrations. In the late 1890's Rose returned to Paris to illustrate for Harper's Bazaar, and in 1904 he and his wife, Ethel Rose (who also wrote and illustrated for the magazine), bought a cottage in Giverny which they converted into a studio and a home. Though they settled there primarily for Guy Rose's health reasons, the artist gradually returned to his easel painting.
At this time, Giverny was largely populated by American artists, among them Frederick Frieseke, Lawton Parker, Edmund Greacen, Louis Ritman, Richard Miller and Alson Clark. The most famous resident, however, was Claude Monet, whose defining achievements in Impressionism are what attracted most of the artists to this little, countryside town. Here Guy Rose was largely influenced by Monet and saw in his work "a method with which to interpret the sensations of being in nature in addition to merely describing nature." (Will South, Guy Rose, American Impressionist, The Oakland Museum and The Irvine Museum, California, 1995, p. 42)
Rose's health appeared to be improving after moving to the south of France, and his newfound strength coupled with the daily contact with artists in the area allowed Rose to begin feverishly painting again. Also, with his renewed health, he returned to hunting and fishing, two of his favorite hobbies. When his wife Ethel was to write an article on hunting and fishing for Scribner's in 1911, Rose, together with his illustrator friend Arthur Burdett Frost with whom he often sported, was employed to illustrate the article. The Scattered Covey was the cover illustration to the article entitled Shooting in France and was published in Scribner's in 1911.
This painting is a rare depiction of the two artist friends engaged in their favorite pastime. Though the canvas was an illustration, it employed several characteristics of Impressionism--techniques that had already been incorporated into Rose's oeuvre. The soft palette of blues, greens, purples and browns pointed to the subdued atmospheric tonalities so prevalent in French Impressionism. The pure, ethereal light of the countryside displayed in The Scattered Covey is also typical of his works at this time, accurately balancing the painted description of the landscape with his personal experience. Los Angeles Times art critic Antony Anderson wrote of Rose's influence by Impressionism at the time, particularly his relationship with Claude Monet, "The California painter displays the Frenchman's wonderful opalescence of hue in sunlight on clouds and driving mists and reaches of landscape. Here are real air and genuine light, and every rock and tree they enfold seem to rest in quietude under the tenderness of that embrace. The envelope is perfect, a true impression always." (Antony Anderson, The Los Angeles Times, November 16, 1916)
At the age of 29, Rose was tragically diagnosed with lead poisoning, presumably due to the use of his lead-based oil paints. Over the next ten years he refrained from using oil paints, and supported himself mainly through his illustrations. In the late 1890's Rose returned to Paris to illustrate for Harper's Bazaar, and in 1904 he and his wife, Ethel Rose (who also wrote and illustrated for the magazine), bought a cottage in Giverny which they converted into a studio and a home. Though they settled there primarily for Guy Rose's health reasons, the artist gradually returned to his easel painting.
At this time, Giverny was largely populated by American artists, among them Frederick Frieseke, Lawton Parker, Edmund Greacen, Louis Ritman, Richard Miller and Alson Clark. The most famous resident, however, was Claude Monet, whose defining achievements in Impressionism are what attracted most of the artists to this little, countryside town. Here Guy Rose was largely influenced by Monet and saw in his work "a method with which to interpret the sensations of being in nature in addition to merely describing nature." (Will South, Guy Rose, American Impressionist, The Oakland Museum and The Irvine Museum, California, 1995, p. 42)
Rose's health appeared to be improving after moving to the south of France, and his newfound strength coupled with the daily contact with artists in the area allowed Rose to begin feverishly painting again. Also, with his renewed health, he returned to hunting and fishing, two of his favorite hobbies. When his wife Ethel was to write an article on hunting and fishing for Scribner's in 1911, Rose, together with his illustrator friend Arthur Burdett Frost with whom he often sported, was employed to illustrate the article. The Scattered Covey was the cover illustration to the article entitled Shooting in France and was published in Scribner's in 1911.
This painting is a rare depiction of the two artist friends engaged in their favorite pastime. Though the canvas was an illustration, it employed several characteristics of Impressionism--techniques that had already been incorporated into Rose's oeuvre. The soft palette of blues, greens, purples and browns pointed to the subdued atmospheric tonalities so prevalent in French Impressionism. The pure, ethereal light of the countryside displayed in The Scattered Covey is also typical of his works at this time, accurately balancing the painted description of the landscape with his personal experience. Los Angeles Times art critic Antony Anderson wrote of Rose's influence by Impressionism at the time, particularly his relationship with Claude Monet, "The California painter displays the Frenchman's wonderful opalescence of hue in sunlight on clouds and driving mists and reaches of landscape. Here are real air and genuine light, and every rock and tree they enfold seem to rest in quietude under the tenderness of that embrace. The envelope is perfect, a true impression always." (Antony Anderson, The Los Angeles Times, November 16, 1916)