Keith Crown American (1918 - 2010) Sunflowers, 1957 watercolor on paper signed and dated lower right. Provenance: Purchased from Ernesto Mayans Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 11/95. From AskArt: Born in Keokuk, Iowa, Keith Crown became a leading abstractionist in Southern California following World War II. His primary medium was watercolor, and he was on the board of directors of the California Water Color Society, and in 1959 served as President. He was raised in Gary, Indiana, and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1936 to 1940, earning a BFA.. He was in the Army during World War II and served as a field artist and correspondant in the Pacific Theatre. After the war, he returned to Chicago for more art education, and then moved to California. From 1946 to 1983, he was Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Living in Manhattan Beach, he painted colorful abstractions of coastal views, and in the early 1960s, his style became radically abstract, often in the medium of transparent watercolor. After his retirement, he moved to Columbia, Missouri. From 1956, he was an active participant in the Taos, New Mexico art scene. He built an adobe house on 7 acres in Talpa, New Mexico, a town near Taos, where he spent his summers from 1972 until 1998. In 1986, the University of Missouri Press published a monograph, "Keith Crown Watercolors", by Sheldon Reich. 20 1/2"H x 28"W (sight), 29 1/4"H x 37"W (frame)