(Mexican Landscape)

Richard Day

A moody, stylized depiction of an adobe church in rural Mexico, towering mountains and stormclouds in the distance. Emblematic of its time, this fractal, chiaroscuro landscape showcases Day's art deco-era eye for composition.

In 1918, having recently finished his tour of duty in World War I, Canadian self-taught painter Richard Day arrived in Hollywood hoping to find a career in the emerging motion picture industry. Befriended by director Eric Von Stroheim, he was hired as a scene painter for the film Blind Husbands, but was quickly elevated to art director.

He designed and built some of the largest sets of his time and in 1935, Day was the highest-paid art director in Hollywood. He would go on to design the sets for On the Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, How Green Was My Valley, and over 200 more films, winning seven Oscars throughout his career and receiving a total of twenty nominations.