William Keith (artist)
Encyclopedia
William Keith was a Scottish-American painter famous for his California landscapes.
, Aberdeenshire
, Scotland, and emigrated to the United States in 1850. He lived in New York City, and became an apprentice wood engraver
in 1856. He first traveled to the American West in 1858, after being assigned to do illustrations for Harper's Magazine
. He moved to England briefly, working for the London Daily News
.
He studied art in Düsseldorf
, Germany in 1869 and 1870. Upon his return to the United States, he shared a studio in Boston with William Hahn from 1871 to 1872.
, with a letter of introduction to John Muir
. The two men became deep friends for the next 38 years. Both had been born in Scotland the same year, and they shared a love for the mountains of California. James Mitchell Clarke described their friendship as one "in which deep affection and admiration were expressed through a kind of verbal boxing, counter-jibe answering jibe, counter-insult responding to insult."
His first wife Elizabeth died in 1882. In 1883 Keith married Mary McHenry Keith (1855–1947), who was the first female graduate of Hastings Law School
and a leading suffragette
.
In 1888, Keith travelled north with Muir, visiting Mount Shasta
and Mount Rainier
. Muir encouraged Keith to depict mountain scenery realistically, but as Keith's artistic sense matured, he felt free to depart from geologic reality, placing an imagined glacier or a river in a scene to enhance the beauty of the painting. The two friends argued frequently about such artistic issues.
Keith was part of a group of friends of John Muir who met in San Francisco starting in 1889 to support the establishment of Yosemite National Park
. This group went on to encourage Muir to establish an association to protect the Sierra Nevada. In 1892, this plan was realized when the Sierra Club
was founded.
In October 1907, accompanied by Muir, he visited and painted the Hetch Hetchy Valley
in Yosemite National Park, soon to be dammed to create a reservoir to provide water and power for San Francisco. Linnie Marsh Wolfe wrote that Keith "left behind all his synthetics of the last twenty-five years and humbly, reverently portrayed what he saw, as objectively as in the seventies when Muir first infused into him his own spirit and vision."
Early life
Keith was born in OldmeldrumOldmeldrum
Oldmeldrum is a village and parish in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, not far from Inverurie in North East Scotland. With a growing population of over 2000, Oldmeldrum falls within Scotland's top 300 centres of population. The A947 road from Aberdeen to Banff runs through the centre of the...
, Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
, Scotland, and emigrated to the United States in 1850. He lived in New York City, and became an apprentice wood engraver
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
in 1856. He first traveled to the American West in 1858, after being assigned to do illustrations for Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
. He moved to England briefly, working for the London Daily News
Daily News (UK)
The Daily News was a national daily newspaper in the United Kingdom.The News was founded in 1846 by Charles Dickens, who also served as the newspaper's first editor. It was conceived as a radical rival to the right-wing Morning Chronicle. The paper was not at first a commercial success...
.
California
Keith moved to California in 1859, settling in San Francisco, where he went into the engraving business. He first studied painting with Samuel Marsden Brookes in 1863, and took watercolor instruction from his wife, Elizabeth Emerson, whom he married in 1864. Keith received a commission from the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1868 to paint landscape pictures of scenes along its tracks.He studied art in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Germany in 1869 and 1870. Upon his return to the United States, he shared a studio in Boston with William Hahn from 1871 to 1872.
Friendship with John Muir
Keith then returned to California, and travelled to Yosemite ValleyYosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
, with a letter of introduction to John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
. The two men became deep friends for the next 38 years. Both had been born in Scotland the same year, and they shared a love for the mountains of California. James Mitchell Clarke described their friendship as one "in which deep affection and admiration were expressed through a kind of verbal boxing, counter-jibe answering jibe, counter-insult responding to insult."
His first wife Elizabeth died in 1882. In 1883 Keith married Mary McHenry Keith (1855–1947), who was the first female graduate of Hastings Law School
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law is a public law school in San Francisco, California, located in the Civic Center neighborhood....
and a leading suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
.
In 1888, Keith travelled north with Muir, visiting Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...
and Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier is a massive stratovolcano located southeast of Seattle in the state of Washington, United States. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of . Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most...
. Muir encouraged Keith to depict mountain scenery realistically, but as Keith's artistic sense matured, he felt free to depart from geologic reality, placing an imagined glacier or a river in a scene to enhance the beauty of the painting. The two friends argued frequently about such artistic issues.
Keith was part of a group of friends of John Muir who met in San Francisco starting in 1889 to support the establishment of Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
. This group went on to encourage Muir to establish an association to protect the Sierra Nevada. In 1892, this plan was realized when the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
was founded.
In October 1907, accompanied by Muir, he visited and painted the Hetch Hetchy Valley
Hetch Hetchy Valley
Hetch Hetchy Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in California. It is currently completely flooded by O'Shaughnessy Dam, forming the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The Tuolumne River fills the reservoir. Upstream from the valley lies the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. The reservoir...
in Yosemite National Park, soon to be dammed to create a reservoir to provide water and power for San Francisco. Linnie Marsh Wolfe wrote that Keith "left behind all his synthetics of the last twenty-five years and humbly, reverently portrayed what he saw, as objectively as in the seventies when Muir first infused into him his own spirit and vision."
Painting Style
William Keith began his career as a follower of the Hudson River School artists, painting large, grandiose landscapes of California. However, according to the art writer Jeffrey Morseburg, "he turned from a romantic approach to a more subjective and poetic view of nature and he seems to be the only notable California painter who made this type of transformation."Death
Keith died in his home in Berkeley, California. He is buried in plot 14b at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.Legacy
- The Hearst Art Gallery at Saint Mary's College of CaliforniaSaint Mary's College of CaliforniaSaint Mary's College of California is a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California, United States, a small suburban community about east of Oakland and 20 miles east of San Francisco. It has a 420-acre campus in the Moraga hills. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church...
in MoragaMoraga, CaliforniaMoraga is a suburban incorporated town located in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named in honor of Joaquin Moraga, whose grandfather was José Joaquin Moraga, second in command to Juan Bautista de Anza...
owns 170 paintings by William Keith. Two thematic exhibitions of his work are held each year.
- Keith Avenue in Berkeley was named after William Keith.
- Mount KeithMount KeithMount Keith is a thirteener on the crest of California's Sierra Nevada, between Mount Bradley to the north, and Junction Peak to the southwest. Its north and west facing slopes feed the Kings River watershed by way of Bubbs Creek, and its east and south slopes feed the Owens River via Shepherd Creek...
was named after William Keith by Helen Gompertz (later Helen LeConteJoseph Nisbet LeConteJoseph Nisbet LeConte was a noted explorer of the Sierra Nevada. He was also a cartographer, a photographer and a professor of mechanical engineering. He often went by J. N. LeConte in photographs and articles...
) in July 1896.
- San Francisco Mayor Edward Robeson TaylorEdward Robeson TaylorEdward Robeson Taylor was the 28th Mayor of San Francisco serving from July 16, 1907 to January 7, 1910....
published an 1898 book of sonnetsSonnetA sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
based on Keith's paintings.
Gallery
External links
- Guide to the Keith-McHenry-Pond Family Papers at The Bancroft Library
- William Keith on artnet
- William Keith's Yosemite Valley at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- 1913 Exhibition Book from Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, with Bio & Painting images/descriptions - Sierra Nevada Chronicles Bio & Paintings
- William Keith Biography