Western Americana Paul Grenbeaux Cattle at Sunset Photograph Circa 1920s

Paul Grenbeaux Cattle at Sunset

Photograph

Grenbeaux, Paul. Western cattle photograph, circa 1920s, showing a herd silhouetted against a bright sunset sky and placing the open range within the stylized Western imagery circulating during the silent-film era. Grenbeaux worked in the Los Angeles motion-picture industry, including as head of the still-photography studio at Triangle-Keystone by 1916, connecting this landscape study to a photographer experienced in the visual conventions of early Hollywood.

Original matte-finish photograph, circa 1920s, measuring 11 x 14 inches. A herd of cattle occupies the darkened foreground and middle distance while the remaining light of sunset illuminates the sky behind them, reducing the animals largely to sharply defined silhouettes. The contrast between the nearly black herd and bright horizon gives the composition its principal visual effect. Original surrounding mat embossed “Grenbeaux” at lower right.

Grenbeaux’s surviving work from the late 1910s and early 1920s includes photographs now held by the Library of Congress, while his employment in studio still photography documents his participation in Los Angeles film production during the period in which Western subjects became firmly established in American screen culture. This image records cattle and open landscape through the strong tonal contrasts and expansive sky characteristic of an idealized pictorial West rather than as a detailed record of ranching activity. Mat with minor scuffing and bending; photograph itself in excellent condition. Overall very good.

Item #14045

Price: $225.00