Ecuadorian painting is not our specialty and yet, the Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired three examples by two early-twentieth century artists.

During the recent move into a new storage facility, a box turned up connected with our donor Monroe Thorington, Class of 1915. Thorington was a mountaineering enthusiast and the author many guidebooks, primarily about the Canadian Rockies. While there is no record of his climbing in Ecuador, he was cited in 1973 as one of the “mountaineers who readily provided invaluable help,” for the article “A Survey of Andean Ascents: 1961-1970. Part I. Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,” for the American Alpine Journal.

This unstretched canvas is signed by the unidentified artist C.A.V., depicting El Cotopaxi, a potentially active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located about 50 km south of Quito, Ecuador, South America. If anyone has more information about the artist, we would be happy to add it to our files.

This view of Cotopaxi was created by the Ecuadorian artist Jose Yepez Arteaga (born 1898). Equally little is known about this painter and we will continue to research works, if anyone has additional information.


Along with the canvases, Thorington collected the costumes of Ecuadorian climbers including this suit and hat below.