Frances H. GearhartAmerican, 1869–1958Untroubled Waters
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Untroubled Waters” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Spending most of her career teaching high school English history, Frances Gearhart had summers free to visit her vacation home at Big Bear Lake in the San Bernadino mountains, just 90 miles from her Pasadena home. That’s undoubtedly the spot depicted in Untroubled Waters, one of her most famous prints.
Gearhart first printed the lighter woodblocks, including the pinkish rock forms, dusty blue outlines, and pale blue lake. Then she added a dramatic black screen of pine trees, creating the illusion that we have suddenly come upon a hidden idyll that few are privileged to see. She was unique among California color block printmakers, who had their heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. Her thick oil paints and emphasis on the “key block, ” the darkly inked block that carries the outlines, produced a sense of majesty and depth rarely equaled in American printmaking.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 2017.67
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — © Estate of Frances Gearhart
