Guy Rose (1867-1925)Off Point Lobos signed 'Guy Rose' (lower left)oil on canvas24 x 29 in.framed 33 x 38 in.Footnotes:ProvenancePrivate collection, San Diego, California, until 1996.K. Nathan Gallery, La Jolla, California.Property of a Private Collector, since 1996.ExhibitedLos Angeles, Kanst Galleries, Ten Painters Club of California, April-May 1919.Los Angeles, Kanst Galleries, One-man show of nine works, August 1919.Los Angeles, Stendahl Galleries, Guy Rose, October 1922.LiteratureEarl Stendahl, Guy Rose, Stendahl Galleries, The Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, 1922, pl. 2, p. 2, illustrated.Rose V.S. Berry, A Painter of California, International Studio art Magazine, January 1925, pp. 332-34, 336-37.Carmel-by-the-Sea and the surrounding Monterey Peninsula was already known as a stunning setting for plein air painting when Guy Rose made his first excursion to the region. Artists had been making trips and depicting the locale since before the turn of the century. The community grew significantly with an influx of artists who resettled in Carmel and Monterey following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Additionally, well-known East Coast artists such as Childe Hassam and William Merritt Chase had completed painting trips to the area and returned with rave reviews. Guy Rose brought his unique skills to this inspiring place for the first time in the summer of 1918, the same year this work was painted. He would ultimately settle in Carmel and the distinctly rugged coastline would remain a focal point for the rest of his career. 'Indeed, Rose painted a number of his best-known works in what was less than a year's time at Carmel, and, focusing on coastal views, he attempted to extend the expressive significance of the painted atmosphere.' 1Rose applied his years painting in France to the California coast and Off Point Lobos illustrates the artist's command at capturing light and atmosphere and applying it to canvas. The afternoon glare off the water is stunningly realistic, as thick dabs of white impasto dance across the waves, travel through the tree branches along the edge of the canvas, and into the viewer's eyes. The shimmering effect is mesmerizing, a technique that few artists have been able to achieve as successfully as Rose. The foreground is thickly painted with quick dabs of bright pigment and its rich texture exhibits Rose's confident brushwork. The heavier, more grounded earth gradually leads the eye toward the sea. The distant intangible sky reveals the spirituality in Rose's landscapes, a testament to his personal, transcendent impressions of nature.1 Will South, Guy Rose: American Impressionist, Oakland, California, 1995, p. 67.