John Lewis Shonborn (American, 1852-1931)
Palm Oasis in a Rocky Gorge at Sunset
Oil on canvas

Signed lower left Shonborn, the name repeated in pencil on the stretcher. 11 x 16 inches (28 x 41 cm), the frame 16 x 21 inches (41 x 53 cm). Gilt rope-twist frame with a linen slip. Good original condition, unlined, yellowed varnish.

The whole canvas is lit from one point on the horizon. The rock walls take the light on their upper faces and go violet in shadow, the water runs pale gold between the boulders, and the palms stand almost black against the sky.

Two rock walls close the sides of a receding gorge, a stony riverbed leads the eye back, and a pale range closes the distance at the center. The palms are grouped in two stands, one on each bank, and the low sun catches only their crowns. The paint is thin and worked wet into wet in the sky, heavier and drier on the rocks, where the brush has been dragged and the weave shows through.