Mountains on the Coast

Mountains on the Coast
Painted by Theodore Gegoux (1850-1931) in Southern California

Photo by Fran Bryant 1999

Oil on canvas, measuring 12 7/8 inches by 59 3/16 inches, signed and dated 1915.  Painted at Topanga Canyon, California.  In the center of the painting can be seen a small group of tents and a few cattle.  The site of this painting was buried when the road bed for Pacific Coast highway was excavated in the mid twenties.  This is one of only two known Gegoux canvases from the Topanga area.  Gegoux was interested in capturing the "marine layer" effect of this coastal area.  In this effort he would travel to the beach at Topanga Canyon and observe the dominant atmospheric effect known as the "Catalina Eddy".  This vortex forms periodically off Santa Catalina Island and throws marine air on shore, resulting in periods of up to a week or more when fog persists through out most of the day.  Excerpts from "The Topanga Story", by Louise Armstrong York, © All Rights Reserved.