Barn at San Andreas

 

William Seltzer Rice

  1873 - 1963 (biography)

c. 1940  

drypoint 

8 7/8 x 9 15/16" platemark 

pencil signed, lower right 

about 10 impressions 

pencil titled, lower left 

e-cv4(b) 

ivory wove 

 

 

ETS112 

$600.00 

In his watercolors, woodcuts, etchings, and linocuts, William S. Rice often depicted the disappearing indicators of early California settlement. In Barn at San Andreas, he created an elegant portrait of a once functioning barn that is slowly collapsing due to the elements. The small unincorporated town of San Andreas, located in Calaveras County, was settled by Mexican gold miners in 1848 and, in 1850, over 1000 tents dotted the hillsides. In August 1852 the large San Andreas Nugget was found in a claim just north of the current town and sold to the Wells Fargo company for $12,000. The Gold Rush was one of the largest human migrations in history but once the gold was depleted the people move on to seek their fortunes elsewhere. The current population of the town is less than 3,000.