Lot 45
Guy Rose(1867-1925)The Sea, Laguna 24 x 29 1/4 in. framed 33 3/4 x 38 3/4 in.
6 August 2024, 13:00 PDT
Los AngelesSold for US$254,500 inc. premium
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Aaron Bastian
Director
Megan Gallagher
Cataloguer
Guy Rose (1867-1925)
The Sea, Laguna
signed 'Guy Rose' (lower right) and titled (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
24 x 29 1/4 in.
framed 33 3/4 x 38 3/4 in.
signed 'Guy Rose' (lower right) and titled (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
24 x 29 1/4 in.
framed 33 3/4 x 38 3/4 in.
Footnotes
Provenance
Property from a Midwestern Collector.
Exhibited
Los Angeles, Stendahl Galleries, The Ambassador Hotel, no. 52.
Los Angeles, The Biltmore Salon, no. 46.
Literature
Will South, Guy Rose: American Impressionist, Oakland, 1995, p. 134, illustrated.
After thirteen years abroad, Guy Rose returned to his native California in 1914 bringing with him a first-hand knowledge of French Impressionism that would inform the latter part of his career. The looser, brighter and more vibrant style Rose encountered in Giverny, by the hands of Monet in particular, was in direct opposition to the dark and rigid manner of the Academic tradition. Upon his return, Rose set out to paint up and down the California coast in this new style, unwittingly developing what Ruth Westphal called his own unique brand of Impressionism. With its high-key palette, atmospheric elements, and coastal setting, The Sea, Laguna Beach incorporates each of the elements that make Guy Rose California's most notable disciple of impressionism.
Laguna Beach was still a quiet sea-side hamlet when Guy Rose visited in both 1915 and 1916. Names like William Wendt and Joseph Kleitsch had yet to establish studios in town and it would be another 14 years before the Laguna Art Association was founded cementing the community as an official artist colony. Given Rose's inclination toward secluded locales this hardly would have been a deterrent. "In painting the Pacific, Rose could indulge two of his major pictorial interests explored at Giverny; reflections on water and multifarious atmosphere. It also satisfied his personal penchant for creating images of solitude and quiet."
While Roses's depictions of Laguna Beach appear less often than his Carmel and Monterey seascapes, they are equally impactful. The present lot places the viewer at the center of a swell with a wave crashing against a rocky cliff taking center focus. Looking south down the coast a sliver of greenery peaks out from behind the atmospheric spray of foam and salt water. The white caps in the distance suggest a blustery day resulting in a cloudless sky and a sharp horizon line.
