Breakfast Canyon

This painting depicts a view from a portal of Breakfast Canyon. The painting is part of a small collection of work made by Williams in the 1950s. In 1938 Williams, along with his wife, Margaret Grosch Williams , and son Frank, began a trip from their home of Queens, New York through several national parks and called these special places "his cathedrals." He found the most inspiration from Death Valley National Monument.

In 1955, the plein air artist returned to Death Valley with his wife where they lived for three years in one of the Civilian Conservation Corps-built cabins at Wildrose. In the same year, Williams donated 31 paintings of 10 different national parks to the National Park Service.