Untitled (High Sierra landscape)

Maurice Del Mue

Designed for the Velvetone Poster Company to advertise their superior color commercial printing, this California mountain landscape was originally painted by French-born, San Francisco-based Maurice Del Mué. Velvetone utilized the single-screen stenciling process developed by the Selectasine company - which Velvetone had recently bought - which allowed for a more economical approach to mass printing without sacrificing color.

A work by Del Mué was likely chosen to represent the company as it wanted to project an association with the West, and a California color idealism: sunset light on a Sierra mountainside, its foothills draped in snow as the valley below begins to change color with the coming spring. This kind of imagery was Del Mué's oeuvre and he depicted such scenes in nearly all of his mediums, whether oils, watercolors, graphic art, or murals. See our biography (linked above) for more information the artist.