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. Sheets exhibited at many commercial and public venues, including the following public venues:

“Los Angeles County Fair, 1918, 1928 (1st prizes); California Watercolor Society, 1926-55; Arizona State Fair, 1928 (1st prize); Paris Salon, 1929; Hatfield Gallery (LA), 1929 (1st solo); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1930 (1st prize, watercolor); Oakland Art Gallery, 1932; Century of Progress Exposition (Chicago), 1933; Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1937 (Washington, D.C.); Whitney Museum (New York City), 1939; New York World's Fair, 1939; Golden Gate International Exhibition (San Francisco), 1939; Pasadena Art Institute, 1950 (solo); Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1966.”

Sheets is in the collection of many very significant museums and public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, all of New York City, New York; the White House, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American Art; and National Gallery of Art, all of Washington, DC; San Diego Museum; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; De Young Museum (San Francisco), Millard Sheets Center for the Arts at Fairplex (Pomona), Orange County Museum; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, all of California; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; Carnegie Institute Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Seattle Museum, Washington; Cleveland Museum, Ohio; High Museum, Atlanta, Georgia; Fort Worth Museum, Texas.

See Askart.com for 7 Sheets’ biographies. and a significant number of additional museums which hold Sheets’ work.

Note 2) The foregoing biographical information and the information contained in the 7 Askart.com biographical sketches of Sheets makes clear that, during his lifetime, Sheets was one of the best, most revered and leading California artists and the leading California watercolorist of his generation. The extensive holdings of Sheets' work by many very important Museums support this view. This watercolor, “Oaxaca Ruins,” is very beautiful; historically significant and a rare early Sheets watercolor, as it was executed when he was only 23 years old and won first prize for watercolor at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This watercolor is a good example justifying the observation in one of the Askart.com Sheets’ biographic sketches that “It is said that of all the Depression-era artists, he was the most representative of the California School, part of the American Scene movement.” All of the foregoing considerations and the following auction records regarding Sheets sales warrant the conclusion that the presale estimate of $20,000-$40,000 is reasonable and justifiable.

Title/Subject: Church in Maurea Signed. Watercolor on paper. 22 in. x 30 in. sold for $31,625 on 06/15/2010 at John Moran Auctioneers, Altadena, CA

Title/Subject: Kona, Gateway To The Sea, 1983 Signed. Watercolor on paper. 22 in. x 30 in. sold for $19,520 on 04/20/2010 at Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco CA

Title/Subject: Tahitian Beach At Evening Signed. Watercolor on paper. 21.38 in. x 29.20 in. sold for $23,940 on 03/18/2008 at Matthew's Galleries, Lake Oswego, OR

Title/Subject: Beached Outriggers, Hawaii Signed. Watercolor on paper. 22 in. x 29.50 in. sold for $25,875 on 02/19/2008 at John Moran Auctioneers, Altadena, CA

Title/Subject: Upper Island Signed. Watercolor on paper. 22 in. x 30 in. sold for $14,950 on 10/23/2007 at John Moran Auctioneers, Altadena, CA

Title/Subject: Street with Nets, Janitzio Signed. Watercolor on paper.22 in. x 30 in. sold for $17,250 on 06/19/2007 at John Moran Auctioneers, Altadena, CA

Title/Subject: Balboa Island Signed and inscribed. Watercolor on paper. 16 in. x 20 in. sold for $25,875 on 02/20/2007 at John Moran Auctioneers, Altadena, CA

Title/Subject: Rooftop Romance Signature information unavailable. Watercolor on paper. 22.20 in. x 15 in. sold for $25,300 on 08/03/2006-08/04/2006 at Eldred's Auction, East Dennis, MA

Title/Subject: Old Maori Church, New Zealand, 1974 Signed. Watercolor on paper. 22 in. x 30 in. sold for $17,625 on 12/12/2005 at Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco CA

Title/Subject: Enchanted Island Signed. Watercolor on paper. 28 in. x 36 in. sold for $23,500 on 12/12/2005 at Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco CA

Title/Subject: Life in California Signed. Watercolor on paper. 13.50 in. x 26 in. sold for $21,600 on at Christie’s, Los Angeles, CA

Title/Subject: Lava Beach-Hawaii Signed. Watercolor on paper. 22 in. x 30 in. sold for $33,000 on 06/15/2004 at John Moran Auctioneers, Altadena, CA

Title/Subject: Windswept Signed. Watercolor on paper. 22.30 in. x 30.10 in. sold for $24,000 on 12/19/2003 at Sotheby’s, NY

Title/Subject: Church in Maurea Signed. Watercolor on paper. 21.25 in. x 29.25 in. sold for $41,250 on 06/11/2002 at John Moran Auctioneers, Altadena, CA

Title/Subject: Birth of Spring Signed. Watercolor on paper. 30 in. x 36 in. sold for $33,000 on 09/27/1990 at Christie’s, NY

Title/Subject: Horses by the River Signed. Watercolor on paper. 21.50 in. x 29.50 in. sold for $27,500 on 03/22/1989 at Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco CA

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