Setting Sun of Sacramento Valley

This monumental painting depicts a glowing California sunset. In 1909, Chiura Obata worked in the hops fields of the Sacramento Valley, where he was first introduced to the dramatic natural landscape he later represented in this painting. Most of the composition is devoted to the dusk sky, which is energized by flame-like clouds over a blue-tinged landscape. The slightly domed horizon emphasizes not only the vast distance between the viewer and the sunset but also the immense geographical span of the Sacramento Valley, whose terrain encompasses all or parts of 10 counties. This painting, arguably the most well-known by the artist, resonates with the work of a close contemporary, the American Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), who shared an interest in depicting desolate landscapes of the American West.