These young artists meet regularly with a forester from Laguna Beach who provides them with the wood of their frames and with construction materials. Wendt loves the wildness of the small coves. Located near Santa Ana, Laguna Beach will become a popular summer resort for Hollywood producers and actors.
Wendt explores his new paradise whose warm colors seduce him. An undated oil on canvas 76 x 91 cm shows a panorama at sunset. In front of the sea along Old Coast Road, the cottage is very close to the place where he will install his own home and studio in 1918. This painting was sold for $ 1,56M including premium by Bonhams in Los Angeles on 28 April 2015.
On August 4, the same auction room sells an oil on canvas 103 x 128 cm dated 1915, lot 28 estimated $ 300K.
The title, the Silent summer sea, reflects the artist's ambition to express the torrid beauty of the Californian coast with methods inspired by Impressionism. The contrast between the deep blue of the sea and the clear blue of the sky reminds Monet's experiments in Antibes. The landscape is not located but the dry bare rock enables to suggest that Laguna Beach is not far away
Stunning William Wendt painting- view the #California & Western Paintings catalog, now online: http://t.co/FjO6JEM9rS pic.twitter.com/U5uoE8degM
— BONHAMS (@bonhams1793) July 2, 2015