Provenance
Acquired by American Legacy Fine Arts directly from the artist
Description After a good winter's rainfall, spring in California proclaims nature's bounty with fields of vibrant wildflowers. In Purple Wonder, Alexey Steele captures a moment of the season's ephemeral beauty by portraying the land as abundant with regal blooms of purple. In this landscape, large patches of lavender flowers flourish in full force on the Irvine Land Preserve in Orange County with a spectacular view of Mt. Baldy in the distance. This painting was created as a testament to nature after the 2008 Santiago Fire, caused by an arsonist, which destroyed more than 80% of the historic oak trees on the preserve. The artist expressed, “To me, the lavender blooms represent the indistinguishable and enduring force of nature that always prevails even in the face of man's destruction of the land.”
Exhibitions California Highlights; A Collection of Curated Favorites Showcasing Quintessential California Inspired Subjects, American Legacy Fine Arts, May 7 – June 20, 2021
