California Regionalism and California School of Painters

(above: Millard Owen Sheets (1907-1989), San Dimas Train Station, 1933, Watercolor on paper, 15" x 22." The Hilbert Collection)

Introduction

This section of Topics in American Art is devoted to California Regionalism and California School of Painters, one of our most developed topics.

Articles and essays specific to this topic, published in our Resource Library, are listed below. Links to online resources outside our website are then listed, followed by information about offline resources..

We recommend that researchers always search within our website for additional material. Please see our page How to research topics not listed for more information.

Also see TFAO's topics: California Art History, California Artists: 19th-21st Century and California Impressionism

Please view introductory remarks on California Regionalism here.

14 Resource Library essays honoring the American experience through its art:

The American Scene: Regionalist Painters of California 1930-1960: Selections from the Michael Johnson Collection by Susan M. Anderson

Dream and Perspective: American Scene Painting in Southern California by Susan M. Anderson

Regionalism: The California View by Susan M. Anderson

The Metamorphosis of California Landscape Art by Rexford E. Brandt

George Gibson (1904-2001), Scene Painter by Janet Blake

Rex Brandt: In Praise of Sunshine by Janet Blake

(above: Dong Kingman, Coastline, California, c. 1935-41, 15.7 x 22 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1985.8.9. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Additional paintings by Dong Kingman

The California Water Color Society: Genesis of an American Style by Janet Blake Dominik

California Watercolor Painters in Context by Donelson Hoopes

Painting World War II: The California Style Watercolor Artists by Glen Knowles

Introduction to Art at Scripps: The Early Years by Mary MacNaughton

Chasing Daylight: Philip Latimer Dike, 1927-1943 by Sara Molina

California, Seen: Landscapes of a Changing California, 1930-1970 by Ronald C. Nelson

California Style: 1930s and 1940s by David Stary-Sheets

10 Articles contained in Resource Library without named authors honoring the American experience through its art:

The American Scene: Regionalist Painters of California: 1930-1960, Selections from The Michael Johnson Collection

Bold Strokes: California Watercolors

California Landscape into Abstraction: Works from the Orange County Museum of Art

California Scene Paintings from 1930 to 1960

California Style: 1930s and 40s

California Style: 1930s and 1940s

Damngorgeous: Millard Sheets and His Southern California Legacy

First Generation: Art in Claremont, 1907-1957

Millard Sheets: The Scripps Years, 1932-1955

Painting World War II: The California Style Watercolor Artists

(above Ben Messick (1891-1981), Feeding the Swans, 1940, Lithograph,16" x 20." The Hilbert Collection)

Information from other websites:

About the Art, from California Watercolor. Includes information about California watercolor artists between 1850 and today. Accessed July, 2015.

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

"Happy Birthday Millard Sheets: Top Ten Public Art Projects to See in Person" by Ed Fuentes, published June 24, 2013 in the KCET website. Accessed February, 2015.

Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University opened in 2016. According to Chapman University, "The collection, which includes oils, watercolors, sketches and lithographs of urban and industrial scenes, coastal views, farms, ranches and landscapes of everyday life, is a significant repository of art of the 20th century by California artists." Orange County, California is blessed with three museums dedicated to California art. The Hilbert Museum of California Art, in the City of Orange, and Mission San Juan Capistrano, Landmark, Chapel, Museum and Gardens, in the City of San Juan Capistrano, are connected by a 35 minute train ride between Metrolink stations. Both museums are within a one block walking distance from their respective stations. By auto, they are 1/2 hour apart. The UCI Institute and Museum of California Art, in the City of Irvine, is available by auto 15 minutes from the Hilbert Museum and 20 minutes from Mission San Juan Capistrano. Accessed July, 2016.

(above: Lee Blair (1911-1993), Mary by the Sea, 1934, Oil on canvas, 34"x 48." The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University. Gift of the Hilbert Collection)

Interview with E. Gene Crain, conducted by curator Susan M. Anderson in 1999 as a part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program. Accessed February, 2015.

Interview With Gordon McClelland, Curator of "Narrative Visions," an exhibition at the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University. The interview was conducted June 6, 2016. McClelland discusses the California Scene paintings collection of Mark Hilbert. The Art Collections at Chapman University blog page for the interview also contains a video. Accessed August, 2016

Interview with Phil Dike, conducted by Betty Lochrie Hoag in Claremont, California, June 9, 1965 as a part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program. Accessed February, 2015.

Los Angeles Area Scene Paintings is a 2020 exhibition at the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University which says: "Curated by California Scene painting experts (and father-son team) Gordon T. McClelland and Austin D. McClelland, the show features more than 70 paintings created between the early 1900s and the present day. The exhibition focuses on vibrant paintings of everyday life in 20th century Los Angeles and its surrounding region." The Hilbert Museum opened in 2016. According to Chapman University, "The collection, which includes oils, watercolors, sketches and lithographs of urban and industrial scenes, coastal views, farms, ranches and landscapes of everyday life, is a significant repository of art of the 20th century by California artists." Orange County, California is blessed with three museums dedicated to California art. The Hilbert Museum, in the City of Orange, and Mission San Juan Capistrano, Landmark, Chapel, Museum and Gardens, in the City of San Juan Capistrano, are connected by a 35 minute train ride between Metrolink stations. Both museums are within a one block walking distance from their respective stations. By auto, they are 1/2 hour apart. The UCI Institute and Museum of California Art, in the City of Irvine, is available by auto 15 minutes from the Hilbert Museum and 20 minutes from Mission San Juan Capistrano. Accessed July, 2021Accessed 7/21

Millard Sheets in Wikipedia, including a link to Millard Sheets: A Legacy of Art and Architecture, a 12-page booklet from the Los Angeles Conservancy. Accessed February, 2015.

Narrative Visions: 20th Century California Art From The Hilbert Collection is a 2016 exhibition at the Hilbert Museum. See the 2/24/16 KCET article by Liz Goldner for information about the museum's inagural exhibition. Accessed 7/21

Phil Dike: At the Edge of the Sea is a 2017 exhibit at the Laguna Art Museum which says: "The exhibition at Laguna Art Museum will be the first comprehensive museum exhibition in over forty years of works by this prominent member of the California regionalist movement of the 1930s and 1940s, with more than sixty of his paintings that span from the 1920s through the early 1980s. Works exhibited will be from private and public collections from around California, including many that have never been exhibited before." Accessed 8/17

(above: Josephine Joy, San Diego Mission, c. 1935-41, oil on fibreboard, 39.7 x 48 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 11971.447.45. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Books:

A Tapestry of Life: The World of Millard Sheets, by Janet Blake and Tony Sheets. This full-color catalogue features essays written by exhibit director Tony Sheets, son of Millard Sheets and curator/art historian Janet Blake, with a forward by Cristeen Martinez, and more than 130 high quality images of artwork featured in the exhibition, A Tapestry of Life: The World of Millard Sheets. Paperback: 100 pages. ISBN: 978-0-9789111-2-6 (book description and image of book cover courtesy of Millard Sheets Center for the Arts)

Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, by Janice Lovoos. Publisher: Northland Press (1984). ASIN: B00110B6A6

Windows in Time: California Scene Paintings from the Hilbert Collection, by Jean Stern and Mark Hilbert. Amazon says: "Windows in Time offers an extraordinary glimpse at some of the finest works in the Hilbert Collection, accompanied by artist biographies and essays that set these works into context." Publisher: California Scene Press (January 1, 2015). ISBN-10: 0692519793

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