Charles Surendorf (1906-1979) -Parrott's Ferry - Linocut AP1950
1/100, 6 x 7 1/2" image , 13 x 17" matte.
Parrott's Ferry is a historical cable ferry site in Columbia, California in Tuolumne County, California. It is California Historical Landmark No. 438, listed on June 2, 1949.
Parrott's Ferry was built by Thomas H. Parrott in 1860. The ferry crossed the Stanislaus River, connected the mining towns of Tuttletown and Vallecito. A bridge across the river was built in 1903, ending the need for the ferry. The ferry used a large wooden flat bottom boat, a type of barge. In some summers the water level was too low for the ferry to operate, so a sandbag dam was built on the river to raise the water level at the ferry, and heavy-duty cables were used to pull the ferry across the river. The site is now under water, since the New Melones Lake reservoir was created with the New Melones Dam.
Born on Nov. 9, 1906 in Richmond, Indiana, Charles Surendorf, following graduation from Ohio State University, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League in New York City.
In 1935 he moved to the San Francisco Bay area and taught at Mills College. Active in the local art scene, he was director of the first San Francisco Art Festival. In 1946 he settled in the town of Columbia in the Sierra foothills. There he served as director of the short-lived Mother Lode Art School (1956) and produced works with an historic California theme.
He died of cancer in Columbia on May 28, 1979.
His paintings and prints depict the rough-and-tumble life of the old mining country in a regionalist style akin to that of Thomas Hart Benton.
Member:
California Society of Etchers; San Francisco Art Association; Mother Lode Art Association; Bay Region Art Association (Oakland).
Exhibition:
Foundation of Western Art (LA), 1936-41; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1936; SFMA, 1936, 1946; California Society of Etchers, 1938-54 (awards); Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939; De Young Museum, 1946.
Collections:
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Mills College (Oakland); Monterey Peninsula Museum; Library of Congress; Wichita Art Museum.
