FRANZ BISHOFF (1864-1929)
Mount Whitney (4,421 m - 14,505 ft)
United States of America (California)
The mountain
Mount Whitney (4,421 m - 14,505 ft) is the tallest mountain in California, as well as the highest summit in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada. It is in Central California, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties. The west slope of the mountain is in Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail which runs 211.9 mi (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. The east slope is in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County.
The rise is caused by a normal fault system that runs along the eastern base of the Sierra, below Mount Whitney. Thus, the granite that forms Mount Whitney is the same as the granite that forms the Alabama Hills, thousands of feet lower down. The raising of Whitney (and the downdrop of the Owens Valley) is due to the same geological forces that cause the Basin and Range Province: the crust of much of the intermontane west is slowly being stretched.
In July 1864, the members of the California Geological Survey named the peak after Josiah Whitney, the State Geologist of California and benefactor of the survey.
The painter
Franz Albert Bischoff was an American artist known primarily for his China painting, floral paintings and California landscapes. He was born in Steinschцnau, Austria (now in Czech Republic).He immigrated to the United States as a teenager where he became a naturalized citizen. While in Europe, his early training was focused upon applied design, watercolor and ceramic decorations. After arriving in the United States, Bischoff worked in New York, Fostoria, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan and Dearborn, Michigan. While in Detroit and Dearborn, he gained success as a porcelain painter, and as a teacher of the techniques, as well as a manufacturer of ceramic glazes as well as a teacher of watercolor painting.Franz Bischoff decided to visit California in 1900 and ultimately chose to settle in the Los Angeles area in 1906. Shortly after arriving, he started making arrangements to design and build a large Italian Renaissance style home in Pasadena that also became his studio. This landmark home was completed in 1908. Bischoff was one of the earliest members of the California Art Club, and the group's second meeting was held at his studio on February 5, 1910. Also present at that meeting were Carl Oscar Borg and William Wendt.Inspired by the California countryside, Bischoff attempted to capture the area's brilliant light and diverse landscapes. Spending less time with ceramic painting following the start of World War I, Bischoff took up canvas painting. He painted local farms, fishing wharfs, coastal landscapes and scenes of the Sierra Nevada and the mountains of Utah, including Zion National Park. Recognized during his career for use of color and vivid composition, his paintings always displayed reverence for nature. One critic commented that some of his later works flirted with Expressionism and his use of colors were reminiscent of Fauvism. Franz Bischoff died of heart failure at home in his adopted city of South Pasadena, California on February 5, 1929.
2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
