05/26/2022
From the North Point Gallery Archives:
Julian Rix (1850-1903), "Sunset near Monterey". 26" x 40". Oil on canvas. Now in a private collection.
Born with a natural talent for art, Julian Rix was deflected from his ambition to become an artist by his father, Judge Alfred Rix of San Francisco, who apprenticed the young man to an ordinary house painter. Rix soon graduated from painting houses to painting signs, which required artistic talent. By 1872 his name had started appearing in the art columns of San Francisco as a young man of great promise. He spent 1874 honing his artistic skills in New York City and returned to San Francisco the following year where he became an enthusiastic participant in the flourishing art world of the middle 1870s. He struck up a friendship with the transplanted French artist Jules Tavernier. Together, they became known for their beer-drinking prowess and their enthusiasm for the newly-founded Bohemian Club. Rix followed Tavernier to Monterey, setting up a studio there in 1876, and painting the local scenery. In March of 1877, the art critic for the San Francisco Bulletin praised a Rix painting titled Sunset near Monterey as “the best which Rix has ever painted.” The critic continued, “A bold and rocky point juts into the sea, with two cypress trees on the very edge of the rocks. The light is thrown back from the setting sun… The handling of the water is remarkable. Taken as a whole it is a rich warm picture.” (March 31, 1877). Our painting is an incredibly rare California view from the 1870s by one of the best early California artists. ~Alfred C. Harrison, Jr.
