Early 20th Century California Landscape - Sunrise on Tin Mountain, Death Valley by Edward Langley

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Gorgeous California landscape titled, "Sunrise on Tin Mountain, Death Valley" with Oak in foreground and mountains and Eucalyptus trees in … Read more Gorgeous California landscape titled, "Sunrise on Tin Mountain, Death Valley" with Oak in foreground and mountains and Eucalyptus trees in background by Edward Langley (American, 1870 - 1949), 1929. Impasto brushwork adds interest and depth. Signed and dated lower right corner and signed/titled on verso. Condition: Good; professionally cleaned and restored; one tear repaired (see images). Presented in rustic period frame of gilt-toned patinated framed. Image size is 23"H x 28"W.

Edward Langley born in London, England on March 27, 1870. When quite young Langley was abandoned by his parents in Australia. Making his way to Canada, he traveled alone by canoe down to the Gulf of Mexico. In Chicago he worked with Wm Selig in developing the motion picture camera and became a U.S. citizen in 1904. Before that he had played trumpet in the Illinois State Guard for many years. Sometime before 1917 he came to Hollywood, CA with Selig where they produced the pioneer epic, 'The Spoilers." A few years later Langley became art director for the Fairbanks Studio on such films as "Thief of Bagdad," "Three Musketeers," and "Mark of Zorro." From 1921 until 1934 the Langley home in Los Angeles was a gathering place for artists and the film colony. Close Friends with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. When not busy with the movies, he was active in the local art scene. As a lecturer at local women's clubs, he used his paintings and special lighting effects to show the moods of the desert. Langley was painting in Japan when war erupted and was a prisoner there until 1943. Returning to California, he lived in Salinas, Laguna, and La Jolla where he taught painting classes. He died in Los Angeles on May 11, 1949, Langley is best known for his southern California desertscapes. Exhibition: Painters & Sculptors of LA, 1926; Mission Inn (Riverside), 1927; Bullocks (LA), 1929 (solo); Ebell Club (LA), 1920s. In: Desert Hot Springs (CA) Museum; Nevada Museum (Reno). PF; lnvw; CA&A; CD; SCA; DR.

From an article in Riverside Daily Press, Jan. 2, 1928, p. 6.
Edward Langley was a painter of desert scenes, who was active with Atascadero Studios, 1917 and other studios in Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s. “Choosing as his topic, ‘The Evolution of the Motion Picture,’ Edward Langley, technical director of the Fairbanks-Pickford studio, will lecture at 7:30 o’clock tonight in the Little Theatre. ‘The first enemy of the motion picture,’ said Langley recently in an interview, ‘was the saloon. The innovation of the motion picture, as an amusement, gave many a new diversion and drew them away from the saloons.’ Langley, who has been with the Fairbanks production company for more than seven years, confesses that his hobby is neither golf nor tennis, but sketching and painting. Painting the California desert and studying its moods is his chief delight. … Langley may be considered as an important figure in the world of art. He sings and plays the cello, is writing a book on motion picture work, and lectures frequently aside from his work as technical director. At present the artist has 250 sketches, drawings, engravings, and water colorings on exhibition at the Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Painters and Sculptors Club of California and a member of the Board of Governors of Artland, an artists’ club of Los Angeles. Research Attractive. ‘One of the beauties of a technical director’s work is the vast amount of research necessary to gather information as a background for the production of any picture. Before we began filming ‘The Three Musketeers’ I read thirteen histories of France in order to understand the character of the people, their mannerisms, how they ate and drank, the size of the buildings during that era, and other similar things about the period. ‘I think I have read all the pirate stories ever written,’ declared Langley in speaking of the preliminary work on ‘The Black Pirate,’ which is now playing in San Francisco and is the first complete picture produced in Technicolor photography. Langley, who is a pioneer in the motion picture industry, started in the field of photography before the introduction of the motion picture which was first begun in 1901. For about six years previous to that time, the director was concerned with the production of slides and pictures. Slides Once Used. In outlining the history of the slides, Langley remarked: ‘When we wanted to put on in a small town, an entertainment with slides, we secured a store, whitewashed its back wall, arranged some chairs in the room, and hung out a big sign in front of the store. There was no attempt made to have the slides tell a continuous story except as one slide would represent a man being chased up a tree by a dog with the succeeding slide showing him falling out of the tree. ‘The large sum of five cents was charged each person who came to the entertainment. The whole show lasted only about thirty minutes.’ Begins with ‘The Spoilers’. Fifteen or sixteen years ago, Edward Langley came to the Pacific Coast as technical director of ‘The Spoilers,’ the first big picture ever produced on the Pacific Coast. He was a member of the art staff producing the Jack London series and was concerned with several other ventures in the motion picture industry before becoming an art director for Douglas Fairbanks. ‘We call them Doug and Mary,’ said Langley, when asked about Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks. ‘Mary is one of the sweetest girls I have ever known. She is full of joy and happiness and Doug is full of pep, always playing a prank on us or showing us a new trick. ‘I believe the success of the Fairbanks studio results from the co-operation of the film stars and their staff of workers.’ All the high schools in San Francisco are to hear Edward Langley lecture on the motion picture. This morning he spoke before the San Francisco Polytechnic school and will address the other student bodies during the next two weeks,” per The Daily Palo Alto, Stanford University, April 13, 1926, pp. 1, 4 (on the Internet). “Langley Paintings Displayed at Inn… Mission Inn… One of the most delightful features of his work is his ability to interpret music in oil. Included in the exhibit… are several musical moods, or tone-poems as he calls them. One, suggested by Mendelssohn’s Spring Song, is a lovely dream in green, its trees and lake and flowers veiled by the mist of imagination. His interpretation of a Schumann prelude suggests the cathedral through its handling of a forest glade. Light and airy as the French court of Louis XIII waltz. A picture of Cadman’s ‘Canoe Song’ is interesting. In direct contrast to these pictures, which might almost be termed spiritual, so ethereal are they, are the pictures of the desert. Mr. Langley excels in his portrayal of the brassy heat of the desert.… Sunset moods.… Scenes in and around Death Valley, where Mr. Langley spent some weeks with his friend, ‘Death Valley’ Scotty, recently, show a Dore quality… handling of the chasms and valleys of the region… Mr. Langley is a versatile man. He paints. He writes. He plays the cello. He has sung in opera. He is now art director for Douglas Fairbanks, and has worked in the art field of motion pictures for 29 years. His wife is a pianist of distinction, and their small daughter is a dancer…,” Riverside Daily Press, Jan. 2, 1928, p. 6.

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