Arthur William Best (1859-1935) was an early 20th Century landscape Candadian-American artist born in Mt. Pleasanton near Petersboro, Canada. He was best known for his paintings depicting the Grand Canyon, Arizona desert and Sierra Nevada mountains. His works blended traditions, representational styles with bold, unorthodox colors. It's noted that he used to play clarinet in a band alongside his brother, then moved to San Francisco after breaking up. He and his wife opened the Best Art School in San Francisco, then became a staff artist for the San Francisco Examiner, where he did a series of Grand Canyon paintings in 1904. Then in 1905, he was commissioned by the Southern Pacific Railroad to paint parts of the Southwest and Mexico. During an earthquake in 1906, a lot of his oils and watercolors were destroyed.