Samuel Tilden Daken (1876-1935)

Born Samuel Tilden Daken, the artist never used the pseudonym Sidney Tilden Dakin as often quoted in literature. According to his granddaughter and her website tildendaken.com, his second daughter’s name was Sydney. Until about 1906, his signature was S.T.D. however many of these works were lost in the earthquake and fire of 1906. From c. 1906 to 1913, he signed S.T. Daken, from c. 1914 to 1917 he signed Tilden Daken, and from c. 1918 to his death he used the signature Tilden Dakin. Known primarily as a California artist, he also painted in other parts of the United States and in Mexico, Baja California, Hawaii, and Alaska. He briefly painted in parts of Europe and Japan and possibly the South Sea Islands. Daken painted over 4,000 landscapes. Source: tildendaken.com.

Born in Bunker Hill, Illinois on June 14, 1876. At age three Daken made the cross-country trek with his parents to California. When he was nine he began to learn the trade of decorator and mural painter. He grew up in San Francisco and studied briefly at the School of Design, but was mostly self-taught. By 1900 he was painting frescoes and decorating homes in the city. T he fire of 1906 destroyed his studio on Van Ness Avenue and much of his early work. He soon opened a studio in Santa Rosa. He taught there before joining the art faculty at Ursuline College in Sonoma. By 1932 he was living in Los Angeles. For artists during the Depression survival was difficult. Daken spent his last years in the mountains near Georgetown, CA mining for gold. He died of liver cancer on April 24, 1935. A prolific landscape painter, he painted in the redwoods, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Mann and Sonoma counties. Exhibition: Elks Club (Santa Rosa), 1908; PPIE, 1916. Collection: Fresno Museum; Saint Mary’s College (Moraga); Sonoma Co. Museum; Oakland Museum; Nevada Museum (Reno); Depot Park Museum (Sonoma). CA&A;