Edwin Siegfried, American Artist, SLL, pastel, Northern California coastal scene, Edwin Siegfried has been dubbed “Artist of the Marshlands,” because more than half his works depict either dawn or dusk on the salt-water marshes that once lined Alameda and San Francisco Bay. Siegfried began painting in oils, but in the early 1920s he set aside the brush for pastels, a medium well suited to his style and subject. He excelled in depicting the subtle, delicate variations in light and color of the marshlands. The range of mood in his marshes is impressive, particularly when they are seen side by side in an exhibition. In addition to marshes, Siegfried painted scenes from his travels, including the Monterey coastline, Monument Valley in Arizona, Lake Tahoe and Point Reyes. One of his WPA projects was a series on the California missions. Mary Baker Eddy’s birthplace was the subject of one of his pastels, a gift to the Alameda Christian Science Church, to which Edwin belonged. Perhaps the most fascinating is the pastel entitled “Dream House,” showing a Southern-style mansion with lights blazing in every window. Edwin drew accompanying floor plans to his “Dream House.” They included grand pianos at either end of a magnificent ballroom. It is said that he did little painting on location, probably because pastels are difficult to work with in the open. He did most of his pastels from memory or from sketches he made at the scene. He did most of his smaller works on his lap, using his thumbs for shading and occasionally swept a broom across the surface for a rain effect. According to newspapers of the day, Siegfried’s pastel technique received great acclaim in the United States and Europe. Art students were sent to Siegfried to observe the best pastel artist of the time. During the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition at Treasure Island, Siegfried showed some 30 to 40 pastels in the Alameda-Contra Costa Counties Building. He exhibited the entire duration of the exposition and sold his works to people from all over this country and abroad. In 1949 the Alameda Times-Star reported that some 300 Alamedans possessed Siegfried pastels. Today many still grace Alameda homes, as well as businesses and public buildings, including several schools, City Hall and the Main Library.

Excellent

20 x 30 in