Untitled (Old Cypress, Monterey)

In the mid-1880s California’s sand dunes became one of Amédée Joullin’s favorite subjects, and the artist traveled the coast from Santa Barbara to San Francisco making careful studies that he later adapted to larger oils in the studio. In an 1895 interview with the San Francisco Call, he explained: “I am examining the sand all round the City, and am becoming more and more impressed with the peculiar color relation—the beautiful harmonies that exist between the sagebrush and the sand it grows upon.”

Born in San Francisco to French parents, Joullin studied at the San Francisco School of Design and then, privately, under fellow Frenchman Jules Tavernier. From 1882–84 he trained in Paris. Upon his return to California in 1885, he painted Chinatown scenes and landscapes. He later became known for his American Indian subjects of the Southwest.