Ferdinand Burgdorff (1881-1975)
Flagstaff Arizona, ca. 1925,
Oil on board,
Signed lower right.
Together with a hand written letter explaining the painting to Miss V. May Nader of Cleveland, OH, dated January 28, 1925. The letter is inscribed 'Cleveland Ohio, Jan. 28, 1925, My Dear Miss Nader, It is a pleasure to know that you like the Arizona picture of mine which I painted just for the joy of it, yet still hoping that there would be someone- sometime who also would enjoy it. The location is at Flagstaff, Arizona, the peaks are 'Humphrey' and 'Agassiz' of the 'San Francisco Peaks' mountain. The tall trees are pines but the brilliantly colored spots are scrub oak; being this color because of November frosts and late afternoon sun hitting these groups and leaving others in shadow. It is one of those hazy afternoons that come rarely in the high altitude; the air is quite(sic), no noise from humans just the stillness while nature waits for the change of costume of winter's beautiful snow. I hope the picture will always bring just that feeling of peace to you. Yours sincerely, Ferdinand Burgdorff'.'
H: 13 1/2 W: 15 1/2 in.