Accession Number

983.773a-b

Description

a. Gold gilt frame, ornate. b. A framed oil painting of a landscape depicting a red sky at dusk, a crescent moon in the sky, the background with one low hill, the left foreground a mix of fir trees and brush on a rise, the right foreground a body of water, at its left shore a group of figures beside three teepees and one person in a canoe resting on the shoreline, at the bottom right the artist's signature, "F Schafer", on the verso in the black paint the title, "Ev. on Goose Lake" and on the frame "63", in pencil; "3..COL.WDON" in chalk; "14 by 24" in pencil.

Narrative

The Goose Lake depicted in this painting is probably the large alkaline lake by that name in the Goose River Valley on the Oregon/California border in the United States. This area was frequented by the artist of the work, Frederick Schafer.

The Dunsmuir family had many landscape paintings in Craigdarroch. Eight of them were created by the painter of this picture, German-American artist Frederick Ferdinand Schafer. A catalogue raisonné on Schafer has been prepared by Dr. Jerome Saltzer, Professor of Computer Science Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A record of this painting can seen here: http://ffscat.csail.mit.edu/ffshtml/descrs/FFSd0563.htm (last accessed May 12, 2020). 

This painting is usually displayed in Craigdarroch's smoking room because during the Dunsmuir's occupancy, the family displayed a similarly-themed Schafer painting titled Moonlight on the Sound in the smoking room. It sold as lot# 49 at the 1909 .

A biography of Schafer can be seen by clicking on his name at the bottom of this record.

History of Use

This picture was donated to Craigdarroch Castle in 1974 by Ada N. Halloran. Its previous history of use is unknown. It was exhibited at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria from February to April 1994 while Craigdarroch underwent life-safety upgrading.

Date

1880s

Dimensions

50.5 x 90 cm

Artwork Title

Ev. On Goose Lake (Evening on Goose Lake)

Subject/Image

Goose Lake

Medium

Oil

Support

Canvas

Technique

Painted

Inscription

F Shafer (the artist's signature)
Ev. on Goose Lake (on the support, verso) 

Country of Origin

United States of America