Shadow Box Diorama Featuring Hand Painted California Plein Aire Landscape and Mission Painting, circa 1920's

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About the Item

This Shadow Box Diorama features a three-dimensional hand painted plein air landscape painting accented by a California Mission, palm trees and desert landscape. While it is a modest size of 10" x 23" x 12" the interior scene has tremendous impact when lit and also displays well unlit. Set in a handcrafted oak unit this diorama will display well on a shelf or set into a wall. Dioramas featuring views of the California Landscape were commissioned and featured in several of California Museums, banks and at the San Francisco World's Fair offering views of the county-side to visitors. In addition to being made by professional artists, they were also made at varying degrees of proficiency by craftspeople and art students. This one, while housed in a rustic but well-crafted handmade shadow box is most certainly by an accomplished artist. The electrics work well, with easy access to reach in and change the bulb through the cut out opening in the top. This diorama has been attributed to Hanson Duvall Puthuff (1875-1972) who was both an accomplished plein aire painter and created dioramas. Puthuff was born in 1875 in Waverly, Missouri. Studied at the Chicago Art Institute, the University of Denver Art School and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1903, where he worked for the next twenty-three years as a commercial artist, primarily painting billboards as well as a theater scenes and a teacher of private art classes. His great love, was "plein aire" landscape painting, which he took up full time in 1926. In addition to his own artistic achievements, Puthuff was an activist in the art community and in the formation of the two most important artists organizations of the period, the California Art Club and the Art Students League of Los Angeles. He won numerous awards including a Diploma from the Alaska-Yukon Exposition in 1892 and Silver Medals at the Panama-California Exposition in 1915. He was a member of numerous clubs, including the California Art Club, the Laguna Beach Art Association, the Los Angeles Watercolor Society, the Pasadena Society of Artists, the Salmagundi Club of New York, the San Francisco Art Association, and the Southern States Art Association, and the Southern States Art League.

Attributed to:
Hanson Duvall Puthuff (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 23 in (58.42 cm)Depth: 10 in (25.4 cm)
Style:
Arts and Crafts (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Metal,Paint,Wood
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
Early 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1920s
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Los Angeles, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU92191119100