The following description for has been prepared entirely by the current owner, Roberts S. Fastov, Esq., and, at the collector’s request, has not been edited by Sloans & Kenyon

 

Note 1) The following biographical materials are taken from the Askart.com website:

 

Biography from Lawrence Beebe Fine Art:

 

Anna Althea Hills was born January 28, 1882 in Ravenna, Ohio. She studied at the Chicago Art Institute; Cooper Union Art School in New York City; she worked with Arthur Dow (1857-1922) and later studied at the Academie Julian in Paris. While in Europe she studied with John Noble Barlow (1861-1917).

In 1912 she moved to Laguna Beach, California becoming a leading member of the Laguna Beach art community. She was an active member of the California Art Club, held a membership at the Washington Watercolor Club and served at the Laguna Beach Art Association as president from 1922 to 1925 and from 1927 to 1930. 

Hills was highly regarded as an art teacher and encouraged the study of the visual arts at the local public schools. Captivated and inspired by her new surroundings, she created atmospheric impressionist landscapes showing a reverence and appreciation of nature. The subjects of her plein-air landscapes varied from treescapes, the Laguna Beach coastline, Mission San Juan Capistrano, the vast Southern California and Arizona deserts, Santa Ana Canyon, arroyos and interior scenes.

Hills won the Bronze Medal at the Panama-California Exposition, San Diego in 1915; the Bronze Medal at the California State Fair, 1919; and the Landscape Prize at the Laguna Beach Art Association, 1922, 1923.

She died at the early age of forty-eight on June 13, 1930 in Laguna Beach, California.”

 

Note 2) The foregoing biographical considerations and the following auction records regarding Hills' sales warrant the conclusion that the presale estimate of $15,000-$25,000 is reasonable and justifiable.

Bonhams & Butterfields San Francisco - The dancing sea, Mussel Rocks, Laguna Beach, 1923

Title/Subject: The dancing sea, Mussel Rocks, Laguna Beach, 1923 Signed. Oil on artist's board. 14 in. x 18 in. sold for $16,250 on 08/07/2012 at Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco, CA

Bonhams & Butterfields San Francisco - The emerald sea

Title/Subject: The emerald sea Signed. Oil on artist's board. 10 in. x 14 in. sold for $15,860 on 11/22/2010 at Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco, CA

Bonhams & Butterfields San Francisco - Gulls at Play 

Title/Subject: Gulls at Play Signed. Oil on artist's board. 10 in. x 14 in. sold for $24,400 on 11/22/2010 at Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco, CA

John Moran Auctioneers - Waves and Rocks, Laguna

Title/Subject: Waves and Rocks, Laguna Signed. Oil on artist's board. 12 in. x 16 in. sold for $21,850 on 10/25/2005 at John Moran Auctioneers, Altadena, CA

John Moran Auctioneers - Dog's Head Point, Laguna Beach, CA

Title/Subject: Dog's Head Point, Laguna Beach, CA Signed. Oil on artist's board. 10 in. x 14 in. sold for $23,000 on 06/21/2005 at John Moran Auctioneers, Altadena, CA