EarlierLandscapes

Sam spent his childhood and much of his adult life in Millboro, a small village in the mountains of western Virginia. Though he also lived in Mexico, California, and more urban areas of Virginia, the mountains and rivers of Millboro informed all his landscapes. He captures the calm, almost sad beauty of the place that was his home until his death in 2001.

These two landscapes were both done in the early 1970s in Los Angeles. Both are painted on wood, not canvas, and both are very thick with paint. The many layers of paint were not always to create texture— Sam would paint and repaint until he was almost satisfied. He was never totally happy with his work, especially during these years, but he persisted until he could let it go. The painting on the left is a meadow near Millboro, Virginia. It is a large piece, about 3.5 feet by 4 feet. The mountains and field on the right, also of land near Millboro, is quite small, maybe 1.5 by 2 feet. The painting on the left is one of his best in my opinion. It lives with Jerre Hitz, who has a substantial collection of Sam’s work, in Los Altos Hills, California. The one on the right lives with Donna Gottlieb in Los Angeles.