Martella Cone Lane (American, 1875-1962). Redwoods and Mountains. Oil on board, n.d. Signed at lower left. A beautiful painting by American artist Martella Cone Lane depicting a serene landscape of a pine forest with towering redwoods in the foreground and jagged crags of mountains in the background. Warm pink hues of the setting sun spread over the lavender-colored peaks, contrasting the spring green and viridian tones of the pine needles and orange and browns tree trunks. A majestic scene, aesthetically pleasing and sure to bring tranquility and comfort wherever it is hung! Size of painting: 7.25" W x 17.25" H (18.4 cm x 43.8 cm); with frame: 9.5" W x 19.5" H (24.1 cm x 49.5 cm)

According to "An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West" by Phil Kovinick and Marian Yoshiki-Kovinick (University of Texas Press, 1998): "From Albia, Iowa, Martella Cone Lane became a painter especially noted for the redwood trees of northern California. She was the youngest of five children in a family supported by a father who was a minister. In 1890, when she was fifteen, her family moved to Hollister, California, but she remained in the Midwest to attend Cotner College in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1895, she had earned a diploma in art, and in 1931, the College bestowed an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree upon her.

She studied briefly at Drake University in Des Moines and then went to northern California where she married George Robert Lane in 1899. The couple moved to Fortuna, and she taught art privately and at Fortuna Union High School. In 1927, she went to southern California where she taught art at Chapman College and also taught adult classes.

Her early paintings were portraits, animals and still life, but in 1908, after taking a break from her painting to raise four children, she again took up her brushes and this time turned to the redwood trees for her subjects. Shortly after that recognition came including in 1912, when she won an award at the California State Fair and when the Kanst Gallery in Los Angeles began a long-term association. In 1915, representatives of Humboldt County, submitted Cone's painting, Monarch of the Forest, owned by the county, to the Panama Pacific Exposition. Also a well-known calendar publisher, the Thomas D. Murphy of Red Oak, Iowa, commissioned redwood paintings from Lane.

By 1920, her name was prominently linked to the 'big trees', and she, realizing they were in jeopardy of being destroyed, began years of service with the Save the Redwoods League. She traveled widely to speak to groups, and in 1923, as recognition for her good service, the State Forestry Service gave her land for a studio among the redwoods.

In 1927, Lane moved to Southern California and continued to paint trees but also did many seascape easel paintings and did murals. She traveled to surrounding states including Arizona, Colorado and Utah, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City has one of her paintings.

In the early 1950s, she lived in Whittier and quit painting because of a stroke. She died there in 1962. Eureka, California, in redwood country, has paintings by Martella Cone in the Carnegie Library and Clarke Memorial Library."

Provenance: private southern California, USA collection, acquired in January 2022; ex-Auctions by B. Langston, LLC, Jacksonville, Florida, USA, acquired in October 2018; ex-John Moran Auctioneers, Monrovia, California, USA

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#186134

Signed at lower left. In excellent overall condition; fit with gold-colored wooden frame with suspension wire on verso for display.