Keith, William -Wooded Landscape
William, Keith (1838-1911) Landscape Painter. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland on Nov 21, 1838. In 1850 Keith immigrated with his family to New York where, as a teenager he was apprenticed ot a wood engraver. He is believed to have come to San Francisco for two month in 1859 as an employee of Harper Brothers Publishers. Following this assignment, he visted DScotland and worked in England for the London DAily News. He returned to San Francisco and worked as an engraver for Harrison Eastman. Keith became interested in painting and studied with Samual Brookes in 1863. In 1868, he gave up engraving to devote full time to his painting. in 1872 Keith met John Muir who showed him the most remote parts of Yosemite and thoroughly acquainted his with nature's wonders. In 1883 Keith made another trip to Europe to study portraitures with Carl Marr in Munich fir 3 yrs Upon returning to California he settled in Berkeley Ca 2207 Atherton where they lived until he passed away on Apr 13 1911. His paintings can be divided into periods: his early works are often Mountain epics in descriptive realism as espoused by the Dusseldorf School; whereas the paintings done during the last two decades of his life are more closely akin to those of the Barbizon painters His later paintings are darker, smaller and more intimate with emphasis on mood. During Keith's commute by ferry to his San Francisco studio he would offer sketch Oak trees, cos and ponds. He painted nearly 4000 Oil paintings of which 2,000 burned inthe fire of 1906. Honors accorded Keith include an entire room devoted to his work at the PPIE of 1915; the Keith Gallery was opened in 1934 at St Mary's College in Moraga; and in 1956 the William Keith Memorial Gallery opened at the Oakland Public Library. Exh: Calif State Fair, 1872-94,(medals) SFAA,1872-1911; Midwinter Expo 1894; Londan 1892 (solo) Pan-American Expo (Buffalo) 1901 (bronze medal) Lewis & Clark Expo (Portland) 1905;