Paul Forster (American, 1925-2012). "Santa Cruz Revisited" or "Night in Santa Rosa" oil on board, n.d. Signed with title on verso. A haunting painting by American artist Paul Forster depicting a lone female figure, draped in dark robes suggestive of mourning as she meanders alongside the gates of a cemetery with cruciform gravestones sprinkled through the middle-ground and a tall church towering in the background. The stark contrast between the figure and the glow of the desert sand at night creates a dynamic composition. This mourner's presence seems beyond the corporeal, more like a haunting specter, and prompts us to ask: Is this spirit-like figure real or perhaps an illusion or apparition? Has she come to honor the deceased or is she simply a phantasm? The fact that Forster's painting leaves us with more questions than answers makes it even more entrancing, exuding an undeniable air of mystery yet also calling to mind the country ballad "Long Black Veil." Size of painting: 35.4" W x 23.4" H (89.9 cm x 59.4 cm) Size of frame: 40.75" W x 29" H (103.5 cm x 73.7 cm)

Though Forster inscribed the title "Santa Cruz Revisited" on the verso, he also titled the piece "Night in Santa Rosa" on the website "Art Gallery - Worldwide."

At the age eight, Paul Forster became the youngest member of the Albright Art Gallery Association in Buffalo, New York and also started studying at the Museum School with watercolorist Robert Blair. During World War II, Forster served in the Army Air Corps, and in 1952, he graduated from Brigham Young University with a Fine Arts Degree. In the late 1950s, Forster had a studio in Nevada painted murals for the Mormon Church. In the early 1960s, he taught art and became Chairman of the Art Department of the L.D.S. Schools of the South Pacific in Tonga. In 1969 he left Brigham Young University to paint full time. For the greater part of the next decade, Forster traveled throughout the American Southwest in an Airstream trailer to paint. In time, he moved to Oregon followed by Kansas City, but eventually returned to Arizona.

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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#174759

Signed with title on verso. Set in custom frame with suspension wire on verso for display. Painting and frame in excellent overall condition.