California Art History

with an emphasis on representational art

 

 

Other online texts and images:

page 1 1894... through California...

page 2 Carmel... through Natural...

page 3 Ocean... through Wayne...

 

(above: William Wendt, Wandering Shadows, 1925, oil on canvas, 25 x 30 inches, Mills College Art Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

 

1894 Midwinter Fair: Women Artists, an appreciation - Historical Essay by Mae Silver, March 17, 1994, from FoundSF. Accessed July, 2015.

About The California Style from californiawatercolor.com. Accessed July, 2015.

Aesthetic Forces: Nature in the Modern California Landscape, 1915-2015 is a 2021 exhibit at Saint Mary's College Museum of Art which says: "In the 18th and 19th centuries, artists adapted the philosophical concepts of the sublime and picturesque to evoke moods and stir sensations in art viewers through a landscape painting's aesthetic experience. The sublime referred to a looming sensation -- a lurking threat and thrill -- alluded to as natural cataclysmic phenomena through darkened space or vast empty terrain. Whereas the picturesque, literally meaning "picture-like", referred to a pleasing sensation --ideal tranquility in nature -- often depicted as a manicured garden or a compositionally balanced vista. With the advent of the 20th century, these concepts fell out of practice as Modernism flourished. Despite this, aesthetic approaches to landscape painting remained and like language, the roots of the sublime and picturesque lingered and continued to adapt in the genre of landscape."  Accessed 6/21

Albert Bierstadt's The Domes of the Yosemite  is a 2018 exhibit at the Morse Museum of American Art which says: "The Domes of the Yosemite, the largest existing painting by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), is making its post-conservation debut at the Morse through a special loan from the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum in Vermont. The monumental 1867 painting, which has not been seen outside the Athenaeum since its installation there in 1873, appeared on the American scene in the context of the Hudson River School." Also see news release and essays about Bierstadt in America's Distinguished Artists and page about the painting's conservation.  Accessed 3/18

The Alliance For San Juan Art offers to San Juan Capistrano visitors and residents a map of Art in the Public Square, San Juan Capistrano (© 2021 The Alliance for San Juan Art). The map features QR codes which provide narratives and photos of major works of art, including, paintings, sculptures, tile panels, and more. The artworks are freely accessible to the public. A revised map with thumbnail photos is here. Accessed 12/21

American Legacy Fine Arts website has an Art Library page, including links to:

Also, there are links to biographical essays for several historic CAC members. Accessed July, 2015.

Ann Harlow, Independent Scholar, has a blog devoted to California art and culture, 1850-1950. In her page titled "Other Writings" she has links to three texts written by her: "The Beginnings of San Francisco's Art Museums," a 26-page article in The Argonaut, Journal of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society 21:2 (Winter 2010); "William Keith: California's Poet-Painter," a 6-page article from American Art Review 6:6 (Dec 1994), and "California Paintings, 1910-1940: Selections from the Mills College Collection," an 8-page article from American Art Review 12:5 (Sept 2000). Accessed April, 2016

 

(above: Guy Rose (1867-1925), Mist over Point Lobos, 1918, 28.5 ? 24 inches, Fleischer Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

 

Art & Environment: The Paintings of Andrew P. Hill is a 2017 exhibit at the New Museum Los Gatos which says: "Featured are 12 rarely displayed paintings by Andrew P. Hill depicting Santa Clara Valley landscapes and portraits of prominent San Jose citizens from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Hill's wife, Florence Hill, Jane Stanford, Julia Farney, and the Rea family."  Accessed 11/17

Autumn's Glory, Winter's Grace, an exhibit held September 29, 2012-January 17, 2013 at The Irvine Museum. Accessed February, 2015.

Bay Area Figurative Movement from Wikipedia. Accessed July, 2015.

Bay Area Figurative from askArt. Accessed August, 2015.

Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery offers an online archive of monthly newsletter articles dating from 2007. Accessed July, 2015.

Buena Vista: California Artists in Mexico 1928-1970, an exhibit held November 19, 2010 through May 1, 2011 at the California Heritage Museum. Accessed December, 2015

CaliforniaArt.com is a comprehensive website by Nancy Moure covering many aspects of representational California art including biographies, information on artworks, publications, exhibits, galleries and much more. See TFAO's Author Study and Index for links to essays by Ms. Moure published in Resource Library. Accessed July, 2015.

California Art Club and a list of artist members from AskART.com. Accessed July, 2015.

 

(above: Evelyn McCormick (United States, California, Placerville, 1869 - 1948), Carmel Valley Pumpkins, c. 1907, oil on canvas, 32 x 39 inches, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Purchased with funds provided by Robert and Kelly Day. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

 

California Artists collected by Kevin Daniel. Accessed July, 2015.

The California Art Research Archive is an online presentation concerning the 20-volume publication "California Art Research," created in the 1930s. Included are links to Gene Hailey's introduction about the California art research project and Ellen Schwartz's historical essay about the California art research project. Also included are comprehensive biographies of 36 historic California artists. Accessed July, 2015.

California as Muse: The Art of Arthur and Lucia Mathews is a 2008 exhibit at the Akron Art Museum which says: "Two of California's most important early twentieth century artists are finally being rediscovered by the rest of the country. California as Muse presents almost seventy paintings, drawings, furniture and decorative pieces by Arthur and Lucia Mathews, who strove to unite the fine and applied arts." Accessed 3/17

California Desert Art is an online magazine covering the art, history and and landscape of the California desert. Accessed July, 2015.

California Dreaming: Contemporary Art from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation is a 2017 exhibit at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University which says: "This exhibition focuses on California art from the 1960s to the present, with an emphasis of the historic period of the 60s through the 80s. Businessman and art collector Frederick Weisman believed in supporting the art in his own city and during this time became an important patron to many of the region's up and coming artists. The work on view reflects his deep personal relationships with many of the painters and chronicles the period when Los Angeles emerged to become one of the nation's leading art centers." Accessed 9/17

California Dreaming: Ed Moses, Billy Al Bengston, & Ed Ruscha  is a 2017 exhibit at the New Britain Museum of American Art which says: "The work of Moses, Bengston, and Ruscha defines an epoch in American painting, and this exhibition - the largest ever to be staged at the New Britain Museum of American Art - shines a spotlight on their collective achievement and resounding legacy."   Accessed 8/17

California Impressionism from Wikipedia is a multi-part posting. The introduction says "The terms California Impressionism and California Plein-Air Painting describe the large movement of 20th century California artists who worked out of doors (en plein air), directly from nature in California, United States. Their work became popular in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California in the first three decades after the turn of the 20th century. Considered to be a regional variation on American Impressionism, the painters of the California Plein-Air School are also described as California Impressionists; the terms are used interchangeably." Contents include 1 History, 1.1 Artists, 2 Northern California Tonalism and Impressionism, 3 Southern California Impressionism, 4 Decline of California Impressionism, 5 Revival of interest in early California Impressionism, 6 California en plein air revival, 6.1 Original California Plein-Air School, 6.2 Rehabilitation of the early California Impressionists, 6.3 Teachers form a bridge between the Plein-Air School and the Plein-Air Revival, 6..4 Origins of the California Plein-Air Revival, 6.5 Re-organization of the California Art Club, 6.6 Plein-Air shows. Accessed August, 2016.

 

(above:  Lucy Bacon, Garden Landscape, 1895, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

 

California Impressionism: Selections from The Irvine Museum, an exhibit held September 28, 2013-January 9, 2014 at The Irvine Museum. Accessed February, 2015.

California Painters by Teta Collins from AskArt.com. Accessed July, 2015

 

(above: Joseph Kleitsch (1882-1931), Madonna of the apples,1927, oil on canvas, 27.9 x 36.2 in. Source: Bonhams. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

 

California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 from Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015.

The California School of Design: Supplement of the Mark Hopkins Institute Review of Art, [article from] The Mark Hopkins Institute Review of Art: An Illustrated Magazine, June, 1902, Volume 1, Number 5. Accessed July, 2015.

California Scene Painting is the focus of a 2016 exhibit held at the Hilbert Museum at Chapman University in Orange, CA. Students interviewed Gordon McClelland, the curator of Narrative Visions. The video and full transcript of the interview was posted on a Chapman blog June 6, 2016 and may be seen here. Accessed June, 2016.

"California's Not So Radical New Deal Murals," is a historical essay by Steven M. Gelber, excerpted from "Working to Prosperity: California's New Deal Murals" by Steven M. Gelber in California History magazine, Summer 1979, Vol. LVIII, No. 2. The article excerpted with permission of California Historical Society, San Francisco, CA. Accessed 4/21

"California's Religious Awakening" is a 11/19/00 Los Angeles Times article by Mary Rourke written about an exhibit at LACMA. The article says: "California has a reputation for starting trends, and the state gets special credit for its contributions in religion at one local exhibition. "Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000," at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, traces the uninhibited history of religions, cults and spiritual beliefs that took root here during the past century. Religion is only one of many themes in the show, which focuses on art and culture. But spiritual references offer a lesson in how California artists relate to the sacred." Accessed September, 2016.

California Stories from Thámien to Santa Clara is an ongoing exhibition at de Saisset Museum which says: "California Stories from Thámien to Santa Clara is the museum's permanent history exhibition that traces aspects of Ohlone heritage, Mission period history, Californio lifestyles, and early Santa Clara College events, to offer insight into the changes across Santa Clara Valley and the roots of Santa Clara University." Accessed 4/22

California Style from AskArt.com. Accessed July, 2015.

California Tonalism from Wikipedia is a multi-part posting covering the Barbizon influence, Whistler influence, Tonalism in Northern California, Tonalism in Southern California, California Pictorialist Photography, California Pictorialist Photography exhibitions, California Tonal Impressionism and also California Tonalism Exhibitions. Accessed August, 2016.

"California Watercolors" article from The California Style by Gordon McClelland & Jay T. Last, posted with the written permission/consent of the author. Copyright 1985, Hillcrest Press, Inc. from CalArt. Accessed July, 2014

California Society of Printmakers, California Society of Etchers from Wikipedia. Accessed July, 2015.

 

(Above: William Henry von Herwig, Old Mission, 1924, oil on burlap, 34 x 30 inches. Private Collection.)

Baptismal font is shown temporarily relocated from present location while conservation underway in Serra Chapel, Mission San Juan Capistrano.

 

 

page 1 1894... through California...

page 2 Carmel... through Natural...

page 3 Ocean... through Wayne...

 

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10/16/13: TFAO wishes to thank Elaine Adams for suggesting references for this page.

Links to sources of information outside of our web site are provided only as referrals for your further consideration. Please use due diligence in judging the quality of information contained in these and all other web sites. Information from linked sources may be inaccurate or out of date. TFAO neither recommends or endorses these referenced organizations. Although TFAO includes links to other web sites, it takes no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, nor exerts any editorial or other control over them. For more information on evaluating web pages see TFAO's General Resources section in Online Resources for Collectors and Students of Art History.

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