San Ysidro - patron saint of farming and gardening

      One of my readers sent me a photo of his Fred Geary print and gave me permission to post his story of it.

       Karl, great hearing from you.  Hope you are well.  I’m in southern California right now and will be heading back to New Mexico on Sunday.

So here’s the story: I generally have always been interested in western history.  Further, I am a long-time fan of the Santa Fe Railway and over time developed an interest in the Fred Harvey Company.  Of course, when you are interested in Fred Harvey you become aware of and develop an appreciation of Fred Geary.

My wife and I have stayed at La Posada Hotel in Winslow many times over the past ten years.

There we became aware of the the Fred Geary woodcut print San Ysidro.  One of the prints, in the original stylized frame made at the hotel, is on display in a glass curio case in the lobby of La Posada.  As you know, prints from the woodcut hung in the guestrooms at La Posada during the Harvey years and today you may purchase items with the San Ysidro graphic in the hotel’s gift shop.

Last October 11-13, my wife Catherine and I attended the Fall For Antiques dealer show at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico.  Here’s a the museum’s page for that annual show:

http://www.millicentrogers.org/index.php/calendar-news/event-calendar/2-fall-for-antiques-at-the-millicent-rogers/event_details

While looking at the dealer displays on Friday evening, my wife spotted a San Ysidro print in a plain black frame.  It had been brought to the show by a dealer from Montecito, California, named Michael Haskell.  Here’s a link to his business: http://www.michaelhaskell.com/

We went back to our hotel room and proceeded to research online Fred Geary and the print.  Your name came up in Google searches and so we contacted you and we had our phone conversation.  We did purchase the print on Sunday, the last day of the show.

We were told by Michael that the print had come from the estate of Robin Jones.  As it turns out, Robin Jones was a fine art and antiques dealer in Santa Barbara.  Here is her obituary:

http://www.independent.com/obits/2012/nov/19/robin-jones/

Here the trail grows cold.  We don’t know how Ms. Jones came to acquire a copy of the San Ysidro print.  Michael Haskell dealt with Robin Jones’ son Evan.  Evan’s contact information is in the obit.  I have not yet tried to contact him to find out more. http://www.isa-appraisers.org/extranet/FindAnAppraiser/Profile/1915

So that’s the story as I know it.

If you think it would be helpful, when I return to New Mexico I can photograph the framed print and email you a copy of the photo.  It is hanging in our dining room there and is in the same condition as when we purchased it.

Hope this helps!  If you have any other questions, please let us know.

Best regards,

--------------------------------------------------------
Brian Kreimendahl
Edgewood, New Mexico
http://www.laposada.org/hotel_history.html
http://millicentrogers.org/index.php/about-the-museum 

Brian Kreimendahl,
Rio Rancho, New Mexico,
Documenting, photographing and modeling BNSF in the Southwest
http://www.pbase.com/intermodal
http://www.pbase.com/image/86990567 photo of brian

Brian Kreimendahl
Edgewood, New Mexico
Documenting, photographing and modeling BNSF in the Southwest
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/santafetrail/conversations/messages/187 
http://www.columbiatribune.com/arts_life/ovation/barile-traces-a-rich-history-in-new-santa-fe-trail/article_f4ec17f4-8b84-5825-9fcd-db079b775dc8.html
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/santafetrail/conversations/messages/175

"Hanging in each room was a picture of San Ysidro, the patron saint of farming and gardening, a hand-colored linoleum-block print created by Harvey artist Fred Geary that depicted the saint standing behind a plow with oxen and attended by guardian angels, conveying the essence of La Posada's make-the-desert-bloom aura." p.174-175. [La Posada in Winslow, Arizona, 1930.]

As a followup, Tony Garcia III, an antique dealer in southern Texas sent me this photo of his print. Which I believe is one of the prints, in the original stylized frame made at the hotel, on display in a glass curio case in the lobby of La Posada.  (double click on next photo)

    COMPARE both images. It looks like a border was added on the bottom edge of the print, where Fred Geary hand printed his name in pencil. Makes me WONDER how large his edition was of that particular print.