FERDINAND BURGDORFF (1881-1975)
Known for his desert and coastal landscapes, genre painting, and printmaking.
Burgdorff was born in Cleveland, Ohio and studied at the Cleveland School of Art, and in Paris with René Menard and Florence Este. In 1907 he moved to California to become a landscape painter, and settled on the Monterey Peninsula. He worked for a time as an illustrator for "The Sunset Magazine", and was an active part of the Carmel Art Colony. During the time from 1907 to 1924 he made numerous painting trips to the Grand Canyon and to the Hopi Reservation in Arizona, where he painted desert landscapes and was inspired by the Hopi. He also worked in Santa Fe, NM, and in the Sandia region near Albuquerque, NM.
In 1911, he exhibited a number of his desert paintings in Cleveland, Ohio, and successful sales allowed him to finance a two year trip around the world. He was especially interested in the ancient desert worlds of Greece and Egypt. He painted along the Nile, which reminded him of the Colorado River.
At the time of his death, in Pebble Beach, CA. he was the oldest working artist on the Monterey Peninsula. His work was romantic, conveying a sense of mystery and drama in his landscapes.
Member: Carmel Art Association; California Society of Etchers
Exhibited: Del Monte Art Gallery, Carmel, CA, 1907; California Society of Etchers, Stanford University, CA, 1928; Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Print Club of Philadelphia, PA; Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, CA, 1939.
Works Held: Santa Fe Railway; Harrison Library (Carmel, CA), Yosemite Park Museum (dioramas); U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA); California Historical Society; de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA; Cleveland Museum of Art (37 works); Oakland Museum, (Oakland, CA); Ross General Hospital (San Rafael, CA); Monterey Peninsula Community Hospital.