In 1910, after his marriage, Puthuff moved northeast of Los Angeles to Eagle Rock and then in 1926 moved to the nearby community of La Crescenta. Although he sometimes traveled as far afield as the Grand Canyon and Cuernavaca, Mexico, he preferred to paint the hills and mountains of Southern California. He began visiting the Laguna area in 1907.
In this early canvas Puthuff accurately caught the spirit of the gently rolling coastal mountains. After settling in California, Puthuff fell in love with the openness and freedom of such hills. The landscape is a classic example of the eucalyptus school, with its emphasis on the empty, sun-filled hills of Southern California. When this painting was exhibited at a group show during the early years of the new Los Angeles Museum, the Los Angeles Times critic Antony Anderson praised Puthuff for capturing "the lovely golden brown of Southern California’s hills in summer." This palette of soft golds, ochers, and greens as well as the fluid brushwork are characteristic of the lyrical style for which Puthuff was known. The landscape may have been titled Summer Morning at some time.
