Mid Century Modern Pacific Northwest Rain Forest, Earthtone Abstract Landscape

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Wonderful mid century modern mixed media abstracted Northern California landscape by Hilda Davidson Kaster (American, 1912-2008), circa 1950. The artist … Read more Wonderful mid century modern mixed media abstracted Northern California landscape by Hilda Davidson Kaster (American, 1912-2008), circa 1950. The artist uses layers of mixed media earth tones and natural textures such as leaves and bark to create the aesthetic of the deep forest of Sebastopol, California. Signed lower left corner, on verso with exhibition and gallery labels. Unframed: Image 18"H x 24"W.


Hilda Davidson Kaster was born in Oakland, California in 1912 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. She went to New York in the early 1930s to study art. At the Traphagen School of Design, she was a student of Moses Soyer and William Gropper, who were founders of the Ashcan School. Later in the 1930s she worked as a commercial artist and designer for I. Miller Shoes.

On her return to California to take care of her ailing mother she began to study with Chinese-American artist Dong Kingman in San Francisco.

She and her husband were blacklisted in the late 1940s for their socialist activities. In 1949 they retreated with their two children to Sebastopol, California, where they were part of a left wing Jewish community of chicken farmers. She continued doing her art.

She was included in a recent important exhibition at the Museum of California Design at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, titled California Designing Women, 1896-1996.

Prior to shipping, our resident Art Conservator will inspect the piece and if necessary clean, remove any old, yellowed varnish, repair blemishes and minor issues and put on coat of UV-resistant varnish to insure against future tonal depreciation. See less