Henry Percy Gray Original Antique Monterey California Cypress Tree American Tonalism Landscape Watercolor Painting
Original, antique, watercolor Tonalism painting of Monterey Cypress trees in a California coastal landscape, by American artist Henry Percy Gray (1869-1952). The painting is a beautiful example of the artist's work in California, capturing atmosphere and mood in the soft mist. It is estimated to have been created in approxomately 1925. The painting's medium is a watercolor on very light cardboard. The measurements of the painting, sans frame, are approximately 5" x 7". In frame, the entire artwork measures approximately 11" x 13". The painting is in overall fair to good and stable condition, with no prior restorations nor inpainting. Facing the artwork, he painting has a tear in the far right. There are also two light scratches across the height that only appear when tilted at a certain angle. Please review all images as a supplemental and necessary addition to the written condition report, for quality assurance.
Percy Gray was a California landscape painter celebrated for his romantic and atmospheric paintings of Northern California landscape scenes, particularly glades with oak, eucalyptus trees, and Monterey Cypress trees.
Born in San Francisco, Gray was the latest in a long line of British artists in his family and displayed an early talent for painting. He studied at the California School of Design, and later at the Art Srudents League in New York. Initially painting in oils, he switched to watercolor after developing an allergyvto oil paints.
Percy Gray began as a newspaper illustrator in both San Francisco and New York, returning to his hometown for good after covering the 1906 earthquake. By 1920, he had established himself as a professional landscape painter. In 1923, he married and moved to Monterey, where his work began to feature coastal cypress trees more prominently.
Gray's classic representational style was influenced by the Barbizon School and Tonalism, focusing on capturing the interplay of light and shadow, and conveying a sense of mood. Northern California landscapes featuring oaks, eucalyptus trees, Monterey cypress, and fields of poppies and lupines were his signature subject matter. He also painted the rocky California coast and desert scenes in the Southwestern United States.
In 1915, Percy Gray's watercolor, "Out of the Desert, Oregon", won a bronze medal at the Panama- Pacific International Exposition. He also received a prize at the Golden Gate International Exposition, in 1949.
Percy Gray's work is held in the permanent collections of several museums, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Crocker Museum in Sacramento, and the Monterey Museum of Art.
Contact Us:
Pacificfineart@gmail.com
424-259-3290