
Morisa Rosenberg
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US$25,000 - US$35,000
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Henry Chapman Ford, was an American illustrator, born in 1828 in New York, and was known for his representation of late 19th century America, specifically his work in California. Following three years in Paris studying art, he returned to the United States and enlisted in the Civil War, serving in the Union Army and drawing military life for the illustrated press. After being discharged, Ford went to Chicago and then, desiring a warmer climate, he ultimately ventured to Santa Barbara. Ford embarked upon a project to paint, draw, and create etchings of each of the California Missions. His most iconic works focus on the architectural structures and the surrounding untamed landscapes of the West. This portfolio of 24 etchings by Studio Press, New York, reinvigorated interest in California's Spanish origins and "rank among the best records that remain... of [the] mission buildings in the period of their neglect." Of special note among the 24 etchings is the Santa Barbara Mission, destroyed by an earthquake in 1925, and the ruins of the old La Purisima Mission, damaged in 1812, is now only a remnant of what Ford recorded.