George Douglas Brewerton (California/Rhode Island, 1827-1901) large pastel on paper maritime landscape painting titled "Newport Rocks," depicting a Rhode Island coastline with rocky terrain and waves crashing against the shore under a cloudy blue sky. Ships are visible in the distance. Signed "Brewerton, 1874" lower right. Titled en verso of frame. Housed under glass in a gilt and ebonized wood frame with incised foliate decoration to each corner, acanthus leaf interior, a linen mat, and giltwood filet. Sight: 18 1/4" H x 27 3/4" W. Framed: 31" H x 40 1/2" W. Note: Newport, Rhode Island-born George Brewerton was best known for his paintings of American landscapes in oil and pastel. As a young man he prepared for a military career and studied with Robert Weir, the drawing master at West Point. When war with Mexico loomed in 1846 he went to California and eventually met Kit Carson, with whom he traveled and drew many Western landscapes. Brewerton resigned from the army in 1852 and became a journalist, illustrator, and attorney. His works, exhibited in many settings including the National Academy of Design, are records of his wide ranging travels from California to the Tropics and along the New England coast and even to Ireland. (Sources: Harold and Peggy Samuels, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West" and Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940").

PROVENANCE: Private Illinois Collection.

CONDITION: Some minor flaking to the sky and areas where white pastel was used throughout. Light toning, grime, and scattered foxing.