William Wendt's The Silent Summer Sea (1915) is valued at $300,000-500,000 ahead of a sale at Bonhams Los Angeles on August 4.

Wendt was known as the "dean of Southern California painters" for his skill as a painter and his role in mentoring others.

William Wendt was an important Californian painter

Along with his wife, Julia, he founded the California Art Club in 1909 - an organisation that still exists to this day.

Bonhams comments: "The essence and lucidity of Wendt's art in 1915 is fully present in his large-scale work The Silent Summer Sea…

"Open, vast, and serene, The Silent Summer Sea is an homage to natural grandeur, a sensual success in terms of sheer color, and an object lesson in what he felt painting should leave out."

Wendt's auction record stands at $1.5m, set for The Old Coast Road earlier this year.

Armin Hansen's Lumber Carriers is valued at $100,000-150,000.

Hansen's work tends to focus on the west coast seafaring community. The present lot depicts dock workers unloading a ship and displays his characteristically muscular brush strokes.

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