Photograph of the painter Paul De Longpre among his roses at his home in Hollywood, California, ca.1905-1906. De Longpre stands on a paved walkway at center surrounded by flower blossoms. He wears a dark suit and bowtie and sports a white moustache. He wears a cap reminiscent of railway conductors. The window of a house is just visible in the left background while a palm front makes its way into the frame from the right. De Longpre, French-born, relocated to Hollywood with his wife and family after his traditional watercolor paintings of flowers sold well neither in Paris or New York. It was there that he met Daieda Wilcox, the land-rich widow of the founder of Hollywood, who enlisted De Longpre in her campaign to promote culture in the town. She turned three lots on Cahuenga Boulevard over to him, which he turned into a widely-visited tourist attraction where people would come to see his Moorish-style mansion and lavish gardens.
California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960
