Norton Bush (American, 1834-1894) Madrone Falls of Milliken Creak (Six Rivers National Forest, California), 1882 Oil on canvas 50-1/4 x 30 inches (127.6 x 76.2 cm) Signed and dated lower left: NBush 1882 PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT TEXAS COLLECTION PROVENANCE: Private collection, Northern California; Bonhams, Los Angeles, California, November 25, 2013, lot 4; Private collection, Texas, acquired from the above. Known primarily for his tropical views of South and Central America, Norton Bush was also one of the West Coast's earliest landscape painters, especially of Sierra Nevada mountain scenes. He arrived in 1853 and established a studio in San Francisco, and remained there excepting for a few years in Sacramento and several trips to Latin America. Bush was born in Rochester, New York and took his first art instruction from James Harris, a local artist. He also studied with Jasper Cropsey in New York and associated with Frederic Church, both Hudson River School painters whose style continued to influence Bush. Many of his paintings were done with the goal of inspiring the viewer with the overwhelming aspects of nature and the diminished relative position of human beings. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved See More