An African Landscape. Watercolor on pebbleboard, signed and inscribed in the lower right "To Shep and Opal...Paul B. Travis...1955), 18-3/4" x 26-1/4", framed in a light wood frame, overall size 25" x 32-1/2". This fluid and colorful scene is a fine example of the artist's preoccupation with Africa. Please note the man with a pith helmet in the vegetation at the far right, and the menacing alligator cruising for prey in the pond. There is a framer's label on the back of the remaining dust cover from a gallery in Colorado, indicating that the painting has done some travelling of its own before returning here to Cleveland.
"The boyhood of Mr. Travis was signalized by two major interests, love for the out-of-doors, and a passion for Africa, the country of Stanley's adventures. Spending a year in his beloved country collecting primitive African art was made possible by the Gilpin Players...and the African Art Sponsors. These two groups jointly raised fifteen hundred dollars for the project. Mr. Travis brought back many rare objects of African art for the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, and the Playhouse Settlement.....Mr. Travis went to Africa primarily for picture inspiration, and he succeeded in recording many amazingly vivid and astonishing impressions of the equatorial region." - "Ohio Art and Artists" by Edna May Clark, M.A.
600/800 Sold $517.50
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