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Study for My Citadel, 1925
Study for My Citadel is a plein air sketch of Cuprien's home on a bluff above the Pacific. The photograph shows the house from another angle. Cuprien used the sketch as the basis for a larger work titled My Citadel of Inspiration.
The "citadel" was at 1619 Coast Boulevard (today Pacific Coast Highway), at the end of Bluebird Canyon. Cuprien constructed it himself in 1914 at a cost of $2,500, and dubbed it The Viking Studio. Some of the building material was driftwood that he found along the beach. Cuprien was noted for dressing all in white, with riding breeches and spats or high brown riding boots. When he wanted a ride somewhere, he walked to the boulevard and stopped the next car or wagon. |