Ferdinand Burgdorff (American 1881-1975) Southwest Landscape oil on board Signed, dated 1926 l/l 28 1/2in. x 39in. (72cm.x 99cm) Framed: 361/2in. x 46 1/2in. (93cm. x 118cm) Bearing label on reverse; Ferdinand Burgdorff Gallery, Pebble Beach, Calif.1954 Ferdinand Burgdorff is known for his romantic landscape paintings of the Monterey Peninsula and the desert Southwest. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Burgdorff studied at the Cleveland School of Art before heading to Paris to work with Rene Menard and Florence Este. In 1907 he settled in Carmel, California and became an active member of the art colony. In 1919 he lived in Mill Valley, California but moved back to the Monterey Peninsula the next year and built a house in Pebble Beach designed by the legendary architect, Bernard Maybeck. He lived there for the rest of his life. During the years 1907 to 1924 Burgdorff made numerous trips to the southwestern deserts, including the Hopi and Navajo reservations and the Grand Canyon, which provided him with subject matter for the rest of his life. He accompanied railroad crews and surveyors into uninhabited desert areas to find and record unspoiled landscapes. He stayed, for a time, in Santa Fe where he preferred to paint desolate stretches of desert rather than the more popular aspen and adobe themes.