The Legacy of Brother Cornelius, the Hearst Gallery and the William Keith Collection

The Legacy of Brother Cornelius, F.S.C.

In 1908, Brother Cornelius, FSC, was teaching in Martinez when, as he tells it, "One day I took a walk up to the home of John Muir, the famous naturalist. There, above the desk in Muir's study, was a painting of the 'Berkeley Oaks' by William Keith." "I was intrigued," Brother Cornelius recalled later. "I talked with John Muir for an hour, and I made up my mind to go back again. I began to look for some other Keith works, because I found them nearest to expressing the quality, mystery and wonder of nature of any paintings I had ever seen."

So began a life's work that spanned more than half a century and made Brother Cornelius the world's foremost expert on this important California landscape painter.

Brother Cornelius worked for nearly 20 years on his benchmark book Keith, Old Master of California (1942). In preparation for his books, he relived Keith's life, following his footsteps in Europe and America, even to the Mackenzie River in Alaska. Throughout his career, he carried on a voluminous correspondence with a wide audience while continuing his exhaustive and meticulous research into the life of Keith.

Brother Cornelius was an exceptional educator in his own right. For 48 years at Saint Mary's College, he was an artist, educator and inspiration to students. He was born in 1877 in Emmishofen, at the foot of the Alps in northeastern Switzerland. The beauty of his native land inspired his love of the California landscape and his immediate and intense appreciation of Keith's art.

Brother Cornelius worked to make the art gallery the showplace of the campus, attracting art enthusiasts from near and far. He began assembling a collection and envisioned it being housed on the Saint Mary's campus in a fitting space. Over the years, he patiently endured three temporary galleries. "I can think of no better memorial to Keith than a Keith gallery at Saint Mary's College where the students can understand and appreciate Keith and absorb the sublime messages of his art," wrote Brother Cornelius in 1931. "The work of California's Old Master would be found in an ideal setting - a sanctuary of learning."

In 1953, with the help of outside benefactors, he dedicated a remodeled and enlarged space as the William Keith Art Gallery. He lectured on his favorite painter every Sunday in the gallery, until his death in a 1962 automobile accident at the age of 84. In the last year of his life, he was still renovating and extending the gallery and working on a book on art education.

Brother Cornelius' focus on Keith had significant impacts far beyond the Saint Mary's campus. He energized museums and galleries to re-evaluate their Keith paintings and display them for public enjoyment.

The legacy of Brother Cornelius' energy and effort is the William Keith Collection at Saint Mary's College that will be treasured for generations to come.