CHARLES WORDEN BETHELL 'DESERT SUNSET', CALIFORNIA PASTEL GOUACHE CACTUS PAINTING

Charles Worden Bethell
American, 1899-1951
Desert Sunset, Poss. Palm Springs California
Signed: Worden Bethell (ll)
Pastel and gouache / Paper
8 x 10 inches
Condition report: Very good to excellent; 100% original surface paint. Very minor foxing most notably to sky area.
Otherwise excellent.

Lot Note(s): For a very similar but smaller work: See Doyle New York: Lot: 2367 with a presale estimate of $400-600 SOLD: $750.00 USD

Housed in a rustic colored contemporary wooden frame.

ARTIST BIO:
Landscape painter, pastelist. Born in Denver, CO on Jan. 23, 1899.

Bethell settled in Redlands, CA with his family in 1905. After attending public schools there, he served in WWI. Upon discharge, he opted for an art career and enrolled at the Newman Art Institute in New Jersey. During the 1930s and 1940s he was a designer of theatrical sets for the movie industry in Hollywood. In his leisure he was active in the southern California art scene and served on the art committee of the Nat'l Orange Show.

Working in oil and pastel, he painted subjects inspired by the Colorado Desert and the area around his home. Bethell died of cirrhosis of the liver in Redlands on Nov. 29, 1951.

Exhibitions:
Stendahl Gallery (LA), 1930; Gardena (CA) High School, 1933; Public Works of Art Project, So. Calif., 1934; Society for Sanity in Art, CPLH, 1944. In: San Bernardino County Museum. CA&A; Smiley Public Library (Redlands); DR; Redlands Daily Facts, 11-30-1951 (obit).

Very good to excellent; 100% original surface paint. Very minor foxing most notably to sky area.