Born north of San Francisco near Calistoga on Temescal Dam Lake, Maurice Logan was an adept watercolor and oil painter of ghost towns, desert landscapes, and marine scenes. The artists he most admired were John Singer Sargent and Joaquin Sorolla.

He was part of the Society of Six*, a group in the 1920s led by Selden Gile that espoused bright color (Fauvism*), a sense of region, Impressionist style, and rebellion against the prevalent Tonalism* and classical strictures of William Keith and Arthur Mathews. The Six exhibited together at the Oakland Art Gallery. Later in his career, he reverted to a Tonalist style.

From childhood, Logan wanted to be an artist, and he took his first lessons from a Miss C...