HARVEY OTIS YOUNG (1840-1901)
Born in Lyndon, Vermont, Harvey Otis Young became one of
the American West's leading 19th-century artists, known for his landscapes
and mining scenes in oil and watercolor. Young attended St. Johnsbury
Academy in Vermont, and in 1859 went to California, via Panama, to prospect
for gold and pursue painting. After serving in the Civil War, he returned
to California in 1866 and established a studio. Between 1869 and 1879, he
made six trips to Europe to further his art study, which included classes
in Paris at the Academie Julian and private classes with Carolus Duran as
well as academic training in Munich. In 1878, his work was exhibited at
the Paris Salon. He also retained his ties to the American West. In the
early 1870s, he went with his wife and children on the first cross-continental
train trip to California. By 1879, having earned a fortune from silver mining
in Colorado, he abandoned painting for many years. After lossing the
money during the Panic of 1893, he returned to painting, focusing on scenes
along the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Railroad personnel loaned
him the use of a private studio car in which he traveled and painted advertising
literature for the railroad. His travels also took him to southern Arizona
between 1889 and 1894. There, traveling by burro, he did many sketches including
drawings of Tucson in the winter of 1890. Young was in Denver in 1893 and
was a charter member of the Artists Club formed for the purpose of "advancing
the Art interests of Denver." Art works collected by the Artist's
Club, eventually renamed the Denver Art Association, formed the core of
the Denver Art Museum. Young's work is in the collection of the Oakland
Museum, the Denver Art Museum, the Copley Library in La Jolla, California,
Colorado College in Colorado Springs, and the Colorado Historical
Society Because of confusion in his family records, he is sometimes mistakenly
listed as Harvey B. Young.
BRIDAL VEIL FALLS, YOSEMITE
Oil on canvas, laid down on masonite board, 30 x 20"
Signed lower left: Young 1884
Inscribed verso: "Bridal Veil Falls / Yosemite"
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