Lot 39
William Wendt(1865-1946)Avalon Bay 30 x 40in framed 41 x 51in
20 April 2021, 13:00 PDT
Los AngelesUS$150,000 - US$250,000
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William Wendt (1865-1946)
Avalon Bay
signed 'Wm. Wendt.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
30 x 40in
framed 41 x 51in
Painted circa 1909.
signed 'Wm. Wendt.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
30 x 40in
framed 41 x 51in
Painted circa 1909.
Footnotes
Provenance
Thomas R. Anderson, Los Angeles, California.
Collection of Marcel Vinh, Los Angeles, California.
George Stern Fine Arts, West Hollywood, California.
Private collection, San Clemente, California.
Exhibited
Laguna Beach, Laguna Art Museum, In Nature's Temple, The Life and Art of William Wendt, November 9, 2008 – February 8, 2009, no. 12.
Literature
W. South, In Nature's Temple, The Life and Art of William Wendt, Irvine, 2008, fig. 19, p. 157, illustrated.
William Wendt made several trips to Laguna Beach to sketch and paint while living in the Los Angeles area. He fell in love with the area and sought to buy a second home and studio somewhere along the Laguna coast. It was an idyllic and pristine location for his artistic theme: nature unhindered by urban encroachment. In addition to painting many scenes in and around Laguna Beach, Catalina was a stone's throw away and a popular destination for local painters to weekend and paint. From the hills above Avalon, the clear blue waters of the Pacific, free from any pollution, must have been quite a sight. Avalon Bay gives the viewer a panoramic view atop the hills above the little coastal hamlet. The distant water is whipped up in streaks that reveal a scattered breeze. Wendt uses an entire spectrum of color and conveys the tonal variance of blue hues in the Pacific Ocean. The water is outlined by the ochre and green colored shoreline. Clouds float above and cast shadows on parts of the landscape.
As is so typical of Wendt, the town of Avalon is hidden behind a bluff, so only nature is revealed. The hand of man is absent with the exception of a distant boat lumbering either to or fro. Even the Casino is not visible, as that was not built until some years later. Wendt has somehow managed to compact this enormous panoramic landscape into a somewhat more modest format. In fact, Wendt painted an even smaller 12 x 16 inch version of this painting, presumably as a preparatory work to be painted later in this present larger format.
Wendt painted many coastal scenes, with Coast Village Road becoming his most famous. Arguably his most desirable works in the art market have been his coastal scenes. They seem to capture the sense of the California lifestyle, then and now.
