Afternoon among the Cypress

Arthur Frank Mathews

ca. 1905 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Mathews was not only a painter but an architect and a designer of interiors, furniture, and decorative objects. Through his publications and teaching, he did much to popularize his variation of Art Nouveau, sometimes referred to as the California decorative style. Mathews's landscapes celebrate California's distinctive topography, plant life, and tawny, golden tonalities. In "Afternoon among the Cypresses," he silhouettes the bent limbs and wide flat crowns of the Monterey-peninsula cypress trees to achieve a strong decorative effect. Heavy foreground shadows and the darkened copse contribute to the moody, slightly mysterious impression.

Artist

Arthur Frank Mathews

Date

ca. 1905

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Henrietta Zeile, 1909