Samuel Marsden Brookes
British-born Samuel Marsden Brookes eventually ended up in California, where he earned a great following among collectors of the “huntsman’s still life” genre, especially among the wealthy San Francisco elite. He was a prominent figure in the city’s early art world, and his studio was a popular gathering place for artists. Although he never trained formally himself, Brookes began teaching art in his mid-20s and continued throughout his career.
What trophies represent your achievements?
Brookes’s body of work mostly consists of the still lifes of game and fish for which he became well known and quite successful. The artist gave serious attention and rendered with painstaking skill the features of his captured animals. In this painting, two enormous salmon trout are presented at life size; the scale suggests the artist’s respect for his subject. Additionally, the painting also could have served as a permanent fishing trophy.
Gift of Collis P. Huntington
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