(b Bentzen, Germany, 1865; d Laguna Beach, California, 1946) American Painter. Dedicated to capturing both the spiritual and terrestrial qualities of nature, William Wendt was a devout painter en plein air. Having immigrated to the United States from Germany when he was 15, Wendt settled in Southern California in 1906 where he would ultimately become known as the Dean of Southern California landscape painters. Like his fellow painters, Wendt practiced a tempered version of French Impressionism. Like many of the Europeans counterparts, these California artists painted directly outdoors in order to capture the delicate light of the local landscape. The canvases of the California Impressionists however retained a solid sense of form unparalleled in the Impressionism of Europe. The aesthetic output remained roughly the same, with an incorporation of loose brushwork and wide applications of color majestically filling the canvas. (Credit: Christies, Beverly Hills, California, Western & American Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture, November 4, 1998, lot 24)