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Lot Essay
Blooming Cactus is a rare and beautiful example of Juan Buckingham Wandesforde's still life painting. Born in England to an artistocratic family, the Earls of Wandesforde, the artist worked as a drawing teacher at the Glasgow Collegiate & Communal Academy before immigrating to New York in 1850. In America, Wandesforde quickly gained critical acclaim for his miniature paintings and society portraits by exhibiting them at the National Academy of Design. In 1862, Wandesforde moved to San Francisco where he initially worked as an art teacher and portrait painter. He soon turned his artistic focus to the local landscape sketching in Monterey, the Sierra Nevada and Trinity Mountains and Clear Lake.
Blooming Cactus is painted in the tradition of European realist still life painting but depicts local California botanicals. Wandesforde's exceptional draughtmanship can be seen in the finely detailed flower stamens and cactus needles, and his use of color and design perfectly balance the scene. In the 1890's, fire ravaged Wandesforde's Hayward, California home and studio destroying much of his life's work.
The painting is accompanied by an exceptional period gold-leaf frame.
Blooming Cactus is painted in the tradition of European realist still life painting but depicts local California botanicals. Wandesforde's exceptional draughtmanship can be seen in the finely detailed flower stamens and cactus needles, and his use of color and design perfectly balance the scene. In the 1890's, fire ravaged Wandesforde's Hayward, California home and studio destroying much of his life's work.
The painting is accompanied by an exceptional period gold-leaf frame.