As we have noted before, imagine seeing a landscape painting like this on display in a drab, industrial city of the Northeast in the late 1800s.ย It would capture the imagination of many and soon come to represent the magical world of the far west in this very young country (Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Montana, Arizona, and Washington were all granted statehood in 1889 or later)
Edwin Deakin, born in Sheffield, England, emigrated to the United States in 1856 at the age of 18.ย Just prior to 1870 Edwin, along with his entire extended family, moved from Chicago to San Francisco, California. He quickly established a successful career as a painter of the untamed California wilderness. In 1874 he exhibited a Lake Tahoe scene at the Chicago Academy of Arts. The top scene above is of Mt. Tallac, which lies just east of Dickโs Pass on the PCT.ย Mt. Tallac (9,735โฒ) is accessible from a trail that departs from the PCT on the south side of Gilmore Lake in the Desolation Wilderness. The bottom scene is of Donner Lake.
Although California remained home for Deakin (Berkeley, in fact), he traveled extensively in Europe as well as other parts of the US.ย Interestingly, Deakin became famous, and much copied, for his pendulous grapes he drew in his still lifes.
