Open daily. Always free.
Landscape painting of a river winding between sunlit canyon walls and shadowed slopes, featuring travelers in covered wagons with horses and cattle paused at a rocky riverbank under a soft, golden sky.

Devil's Slide, Weber Canyon, Utah

On View

Not currently on view

William Keith

The transcontinental railroad was finished in 1869 and facilitated the increased migration of U.S. Americans to the West. Painters searching for new subject matter and adventure followed. The majestic western mountains and rock formations fascinated Americans. William Keith was one artist who settled in California. His most important patrons were railroad magnates who purchased paintings of western landscapes to promote westward expansion and celebrate the taming of the landscape through industry. Paintings like this one expressed and promoted the belief that the continent was destined for U.S. settlement. In this painting, Keith includes covered wagons, celebrating the settlers who confronted harsh conditions and treacherous mountains. The Devil’s Slide is a natural rock formation in the Wasatch Mountains near a rail line. Although Keith traveled there to sketch the landmark in the fall of 1873, this oil painting was completed upon return to his California studio.
Artist
William Keith
(American, b. Scotland, 1838 - 1911)
Title
Devil's Slide, Weber Canyon, Utah
Date
1874
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
39 x 72 in. overall
Credit
Gift of Michael Goodman
Accession No.
2014.15.1
Classification
Paintings
Geography
United States

Related

Private Collection (Sonoma, CA); 9 March 1999, Michael S. Goodman (Glencoe, IL) acquired [possibly from] Maxwell Galleries, Ltd. (San Francisco, CA); 2014, Michael S. Goodman gifted to Chazen Museum of Art

  • Hassrick, Peter and Patricia Trenton. "The Rocky Mountains." Cody, WY: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 1983. p. 284, pl. 39
  • Olpin, Robert S., Ann W. Orton, and Thomas F. Rugh. "Painters of the Wasatch Mountains." Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith, 2005. p. 36

This horizontal landscape painting depicts a river valley nestled between towering canyon walls beneath a soft, golden sky. On the left, sheer, craggy cliffs with striated textures and varying shades of brown, orange, and gray rise dramatically, illuminated by warm sunlight. The right side features a steep, shadowed slope covered in dark vegetation and gray, rocky outcroppings, angling sharply down to the water. A calm river flows through the center, reflecting the sky and cliffs, as it winds into the distance, narrowing as it recedes. In the left midground, a white-topped covered wagon drawn by two brown oxen approaches the water’s edge. Figures sit at the wagon’s opening, looking out. Nearby, a man in a bright red shirt and wide-brimmed hat sits on a dark horse, facing the wagon team. A white horse lowers its head to drink from the stream, accompanied by a small brown horse. Further back on the grassy, rocky bank, a second covered wagon appears with cattle and figures on foot. The foreground is framed by sparse trees with twisted trunks, and the ground is rocky and uneven. The sky transitions from a dark purple to a pale blue and warm yellow with billowing clouds, suggesting early morning or late afternoon. Earth tones—browns, ochres, and greens—dominate the palette, contrasted by the white wagons and the sky’s misty light.

The Chazen Museum of Art welcomes comments or inquiries about works in our collection. Please allow two–three weeks for a response. Chazen staff is not able to provide valuations or authentications and such inquiries cannot be answered.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name*