Flores Peak
ClassificationsPaintings-oils
Artist
Anna Althea Hills
(American, 1882-1930)
Date1918
Place DepictedCalifornia, United States, North America
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions17 × 13 in. (43.2 × 33 cm)
Framed: 18 1/2 × 22 1/4 in. (47 × 56.5 cm)
Framed: 18 1/2 × 22 1/4 in. (47 × 56.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of Miss Nellie Hills
Object number6349
DescriptionAnna Hills’ Flores Peak, depicts a region in Santiago Canyon in Orange County named after the 19th century Californio bandit Juan Flores. Hills painted using both a brush and palette knife, and most likely created this small painting en plein air. It shows Hills was interested in the varied and changing aspects of light, but Flores Peak leans toward Post-Impressionism in its expressionistic color and brushwork.Anna Althea Hills grew up traveling the Midwest with her Presbyterian Minister father, four brothers, and sister. By sixteen, she had moved out to Michigan on her own where she studied drawing at Olivet College. Between 1898 and 1913 she attended some of the most prestigious painting academies in the world, including the Art Institute of Chicago, New York’s Cooper Union, and L’Académie Julian in Paris. Anna Hills’ early style was tonally dark and focused on interiors. This changes drastically when Hills moves to Los Angeles from Europe to join her family. Hills also shifted from a focus on genre paintings to landscapes. After exploring the southlands in her first year living in Los Angeles, Hills concluded that Laguna Beach was the place to be for any artist in the area and moved there in 1914.
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