Lot 33254: BEN CARLTON MEAD (American, 1902-1986) Santa Ynez Mission Oil on linen 36 x 60 inches (91.4 x 152.4 cm) Signed lower left: Ben Carlton Mead Ben Carlton Mead was born in Bay City and lived in Amarillo, Lamesa, Plainview, and Tulsa. Mead studied at the

BEN CARLTON MEAD (American, 1902-1986)
Santa Ynez Mission
Oil on linen
36 x 60 inches (91.4 x 152.4 cm)
Signed lower left: Ben Carlton Mead

Ben Carlton Mead was born in Bay City and lived in Amarillo, Lamesa, Plainview, and Tulsa. Mead studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, focusing on illustration and commercial art. In 1932, he moved back to Amarillo to live in his ranch home in Palo Duro Canyon and teach at Amarillo College. That same year, the Witte Museum commissioned Mead to sketch the Indian pictographs in Edwards County.

Mead lived and worked in Dallas from 1941 to 1967 as art director for an advertising agency. Besides his advertising career, Mead enjoyed success as a magazine and book illustrator, focusing primarily on southwestern scenes and themes. He worked with J. Frank Dobie on Coronado's Children: Tales of Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of the Southwest, I'll Tell You a Tale, and Cow People. He also worked with Frontier Times and True West magazines.

Once retired, he was able to focus on his historic research and southwestern painting. In 1981, he settled in Santa Ynez Valley. This painting is the last great historic subject he produced before he died.

The Santa Ynez Mission was founded in 1804 to serve the peaceful Chumash Indians and serve as a link between the Santa Barbara and La Purisima Conception Missions. Having experienced many changes since its founding, often times tumultuous ones, Mission Santa Ynez remains rich in tradition, legend, and history. The mission, which commands a superb view of the Santa Ynez River Valley and the Santa Ynez and San Raphael mountain ranges, continues its central role in the social and spiritual life of the community. The mission is an active parish church of approximately 1,000 families and is administered by the Franciscan order.