Charles Dormon Robinson (1847-1933) American, Oil on Canvas. Signed bottom right. Stamped "Gump's San Francisco" on back. Depicts Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County, California.

Depth: 2 in.

Overall size: 18 1/2 X 15 1/2 in.

Sight size: 12 1/2 X 9 1/2 in.

#1552 .

Charles Dormon Robinson was born in East Monmouth, Maine in 1847. In 1850 his father, a theatrical producer, moved the family to San Francisco, constructing and developing the first theaters in the area. Introduced to genre painting by Charles Nahl, he earned his diploma from the Mechanic’s Institute at the age of 13. In the 1860s his family fled San Francisco for Vermont to escape the Vigilance Committee. Here, he studied under marine artists William Bradford and M.F.H. De Haas. In 1870 he traveled through South America, painting tropical scenes, before moving to Clinton, Iowa, where he met and married Kathryn Wright. In 1874 he returned to San Francisco, where he and his wife worked for Overland Monthly and Century Magazine retouching photographs and drawing illustrations. By 1876 Robinson was exhibiting regularly as a painter, and in 1880 began making trips to Yosemite Valley and the Grand Canyon, which became his most regular subjects. He traveled to the Paris Exposition in 1900 and offered a painting of Yosemite for consideration that was 50 x 380 feet and weighed five tons. When the committee rejected the panorama, he cut it into pieces, which he sold for passage money home. The earthquake and fire of 1906 destroyed many of his paintings, and in 1921 a fire in his home destroyed twenty years worth of Yosemite paintings alone. Renowned for his interest in light and atmospheric effects, captured in the plein air style as seen in this particular piece, he passed away in May, 1933 in San Rafael, California.