California Plein Air News, article by Sarah Beserra

The Plein Air Scene

by Sarah Beserra

http://www.thepleinairscene.com/

(above: Scott Burdick, Sarah in Catalina, oil on panel, 8 x 10 inches. Please click on image to enlarge it.)

California Plein Air News

by Sarah Beserra

Autumn in Paris

A stint in Europe was a rite of passage for many early California painters one hundred years ago. The Academie Julien in Paris and other art academies were the destinations for ambitious painters when "all things European" was the order of the day. No artist was considered "finished" until he or she had copied paintings in the Louvre or absorbed the lessons of the Impressionists and their peers. With the imprimatur of a continental education, the returning painters found increased respect. A regional school of art was born -- California Impressionism -- which flourished here for over 30 years.

"Masters of Light" is the first international exhibition of California plein-air paintings to tour Europe. This landmark exhibition, comprised of 58 California Impressionist paintings, is assembled from the Irvine Museum collections and loans from important private collections.

Artists represented include most of the greats -- Franz Bischoff, Maurice Braun, Benjamin C. Brown, Colin Campbell Cooper, William Ritschell, Guy Rose and other top names. The exhibition has been in the planning stages for four years. It will debut at the Mona Bismarck Foundation Museum in Paris, just across the river from the Eiffel Tower. The show will continue there through December 14, 2002 when it will travel to Krakow, Poland, and Madrid.

A full-color book with essays by Irvine Museum Executive Director Jean Stern and Dr. William H. Gerdts, American Impressionism authority, will accompany the exhibit. For details call: (949) 476-2565.

Pay Strong Feted

Ray Strong, veteran landscape painter and a founder of Santa Barbara's OAK Group, was honored recently with the "Wilderness Spirit Award" presented by the Wilding Art Museum in Los Olives. Strong, who is approaching his centennial year, was also recognized by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors for his decades of service to the county. A retrospective of his work closed at the Museum in September.

Strong studied and taught at the Arts Students League in San Francisco with such greats as Maynard Dixon,
Frank Von Sloun and George Post. Among his many accomplishments are bird and animal murals which hang in the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and, until recently, San Luis Obispo Natural History Museum. Those murals were recently rescued during a remodel and now reside in the State Parks collection.

A 30-page color catalog was published in conjunction with the exhibition. Art historian Gloria Rexford Martin, Dennis Power, Executive Director of the Oakland Museum, Dr. Michael Whitt, co-founder, along with Strong, of the MALT show and OAK Group painters Larry Iwerks and Arturo Tello made contributions to the book.

For more on Strong see: www.RayStrong.com.

Hughes Book Imminent

Edan Hughes, author of Artists in California, 1786-1940, has donated his upcoming edition along with all future income and publishing rights, to the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. Hughes is putting the finishing touches on the third and final edition of this important text.

Long considered an indispensable reference for collectors, the book has been updated and enhanced, and will be more comprehensive than before. The Crocker is in the process of raising funds for the project. The two-volume set will sell for about $175.

To reserve an advance copy contact Scott Shields, Curator of Art at: (916) 264-5423; or to contribute to its publication contact the Membership Office at (916) 264-5802.

Resource Library editor's note:

Sarah Beserra is Editor and Publisher of The Plein Air Scene - a monthly newsletter on plein air painting in California. Please see the website for The Plein Air Scene for email address and phone number.

For further biographical information on selected artists cited above please see America's Distinguished Artists, a national registry of historic artists. Following are examples of artworks created by artists referenced in the above article. Artworks and/or photographs shown may not be specific to this article and are likely not cited in it. All images were obtained via Wikimedia Commons, which believes the images to be freely available for presentation here. Another source readers may find helpful is Google Images.

(above: Franz Arthur Bischoff, Arroyo Seco, 18 x 24 inches, Steven Stern Collection. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

(above: Maurice Braun, Crashing Surf Near Point Loma, California, oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches, American Eagle Fine Arts, Benicia, California. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

(above: Benjamin Chambers Brown, Grand Canyon, before 1942, 30 x 22 inches, Private collection. Source: The Athenaeum.

(above: Colin Campbell Cooper, The Lotus Pool, El Encanto, Santa Barbara, between circa 1921 and circa 1922, oil on canvas, 35.9 x 29 inches, Reading Public Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

(above: Guy Rose (1867-1925), Monterey Cypress, circa 1918, oil on canvas, 21 1/8 x 24 inches, Crocker Art Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Also see:

California Art History

California Artists: 19th-21st Century

California Impressionism

California Regionalism and California School of Painters

(1) This page was originally published in Resource Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for more information. rev. 5/28/11

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.

*Tag for expired US copyright of object image:

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