If you’ve been in the REC during Karen Saunders’s special installation, You and Me and the Space Between: Our Expedition Starts Now, you may have seen the large, printed landscape painting on the main wall. This panoramic painting inspired Karen’s work. You may recognize this stunning landscape if you’ve ever been to Yosemite National Park before, or if you’ve explored Gallery 219 here in the museum. However, what you may not know about this painting is that we have no information about the mystery artist L.A. Roberts.

This enigmatic artist is only known by their signature. As of now, we only know of two paintings by them, both of which now hang in the Folk Art gallery (G219) here in the museum. These artworks joined the CAM collection in 1967 as a donation from Dr. Mary M. Clift. An elderly couple gave these paintings to Dr. Clift’s parents in the 1930s as payment for medical services in Over-the-Rhine. Despite extensive research by museum historians, L.A. Roberts remains a mystery. Even more mysteriously, no other paintings by L.A. Roberts have surfaced despite the distinctive style and skill of the artist.

Be sure to catch Karen’s installation, You and Me and the Space Between: Our Expedition Starts Now, and L.A. Roberts’s super-sized Yosemite Valley before they’re gone at the end of October!