Agua Caliente by Helen Bruton

Agua Caliente by Helen Bruton

Agua Caliente

Helen Bruton

Title

Agua Caliente

 
Artist

Helen Bruton

  1898 - 1985 (biography)
Year
c. 1930  
Technique
woodcut 
Image Size
6 1/4 x 7 1/16" image size 
Signature
pencil, lower right 
Edition Size
not stated, presumed small 
Annotations
 
Reference
 
Paper
delicate cream laid 
State
 
Publisher
 
Inventory ID
QUHI103 
Price
SOLD
Description
An amusing depiction of swimmers - possibly during the height of tourist season - in the small town of Agua Caliente in Northern California. Figures in black woolen swimsuits lounge and play, carefree, in the contrasting ripples of a natural pool. In 1930 Bruton and her sister Esther spent a summer in the mountain town of Saint Helena, just an hour’s drive north of the Sonoma Valley where Agua Caliente is situated. It’s possible that the sisters took a sojourn to the valley town for a visit to its namesake, “hot waters,” the naturally formed hot springs that were formed by the geothermal disruptions of the volcanic Mt. Saint Helena thousands of years ago. Boyes Hot Springs, Fetters Hot Springs, and Agua Caliente make up what is now colloquially called “The Springs,” an area once used medicinally by local tribes, the Miwok, Pomo, and Wintun.