Blanche Dougan Cole (American, 1869–1956)
Arizona Sunset, 1911
Oil on canvas
22 × 42½ in.
Bands of turquoise, gold, and deep brown transform the Arizona landscape into an almost abstract study of color and atmosphere. Near the lower left, a solitary shepherd and flock emerge from the shadowed foreground, emphasizing the immense scale and stillness of the desert.
Cole trained in Europe before traveling through the American West. Railroad sponsorship brought her to Hopi lands in northern Arizona in 1898 and encouraged her sustained engagement with Southwestern subjects. Arizona Sunset later belonged to the Santa Fe Railway’s art collection, which displayed romantic images of the region in stations, offices, hotels, and promotional materials.
