CYRUS J. FULTON American, 1873–1949 Late Autumn Oil on canvas Signed lower left. The composition is of an autumn riverside scene with golden-yellow leaves clinging to bare trees along a calm river. Framed. 17 x 21 inches (excluding frame) $700-1,100
PROVENANCE: Abrams Fine Arts, Palo Alto, CA, 2001
ARTIST PROFILE: Cyrus James Fulton (1873–1949) was an Oregon painter celebrated for his vivid depictions of the Pacific Northwest landscape. Born in Pueblo, Colorado in 1873, he became a resident of Oregon at the age of three and spent the rest of his life deeply connected to the state, favoring subjects such as eastern Oregon vistas, the rolling surf of the coast, and the Cascade Mountains. By profession a haberdasher, Fulton gradually gravitated toward the visual arts by taking up sign lettering, window painting, and advertising work, which inspired him to establish a home studio and art shop on NE Sandy Boulevard in Portland — though that early venture ultimately did not succeed. He later worked for the WPA, completing projects in Salem and Eugene, and from the 1930s onward embraced a modernist style. In 1935 he built a studio in Eugene and devoted himself entirely to painting for the remainder of his life, his work growing bolder and more vibrant in color in his final years. A close friend of the Northwest's Indigenous peoples and able to converse in several of their languages, Fulton made the portrayal of Native Americans in traditional fishing and hunting scenes one of his most distinctive and celebrated subjects. He passed away in Eugene in 1949, leaving behind a rich body of work held today in the collections of institutions such as the Portland Art Museum.
