{"id":4420,"date":"2017-03-21T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T14:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=4420"},"modified":"2017-03-21T07:04:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T14:04:00","slug":"painting-the-columbia-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=4420","title":{"rendered":"Painting the Columbia River"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sometimes the painters are more interesting than their paintings. Take George Gibbs<\/em>, for example, who was an ethnographer, mapmaker, geologist, historian, attorney, and, for nearly twelve years, an explorer, artist, and administrator in the Pacific Northwest. 8 careers! And here I thought I was versatile. We certainly share an interest in Mr. Audubon, the naturalist and bird lover, who he got to meet in person as a youngster, an encounter that shaped his life’s trajectory.<\/p>\n

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See more at: https:\/\/www.williamreesecompany.com\/pages\/books\/WRCAM37235\/george-gibbs\/pastel-painting-of-a-scene-in-the-pacific-northwest-probably-the-columbia-river-with-indians#sthash.kLSM9vyC.dpuf<\/a><\/p>\n

Gibbs\u00a0painted the Columbia river, my choice of subject for today’s photographs. So did John Fery<\/em>, another European non-conformist who ended up in the Northwest. First he was a hunting guide for millionaires’ expeditions and hunting parties. Later he somehow became a steady deliverer of paintings commissioned by the Pacific Railroad company, I believe 350 or or so. You wonder what it does to your growth and development as an artist if you paint for the man, one pretty landscape after another….<\/p>\n

Later in life he settled on Orcas Island where a fire destroyed his studio and most of his accumulated work – he died a few years later.<\/p>\n

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