(Sanmihaiu Roman 1882–1931 Santa Ana, California)
Clouds over a River Landscape, signed Joseph Kleitsch, oil on board, 30 x 40 cm, framed

Provenance:
European Private Collection.

We are grateful to Janet Blake, curator for Historical Art at the Laguna Art Museum, California, USA for the scientific assistance.

Joseph Kleitsch is one of the most prominent figures of Californian Impressionism and is particularly well-known for his sense of colour and expressive brushwork. His roots, however, lie in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where he grew up and opened his first studio as a portrait painter before 1900. He was self-taught and developed his superior technical skills and artistic talent without ever having attended an art school.
Around 1901 he emigrated to Germany and from there to the USA, where he stayed in different states before settling in Chicago in 1909. However, from 1920 his real home, in both a geographical and an artistic sense, was Laguna Beach in southern California. From the 1910s onwards, the small coastal town became an artists’ colony that was known beyond the borders of California. In 1918, the local artists founded the Laguna Beach Art Association, which Kleitsch also joined upon his arrival. Alongside portrait painting, which he continued to practise, he was drawn increasingly to landscapes, seascapes and still lifes during his time in Laguna Beach. These works capture the Californian attitude to life and the natural beauty of the south coast.