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Featuring The Joshua Meador
Collection
Desert Paintings
by Kathi Hilton
Seascapes & Landscapes
by Alex Dzigurski II
Seascapes & Landscapes
by Linda Sorensen
Watercolors by
Jean Warren
Bodega Bay Photography by Diane Perry


Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Exterior Thumbnail

California Women Artists
from our Gallery Collection
including paintings published in
Maurine St. Gauden's new book, Emerging from the Shadows
now through September '16
All the paintings below will be on exhibit
and available for sale.
(Click on photos for info on each painting.)
"Far from the shadows of the artistic movements on the East Coast, women artists in California successfully created a distinction in art to call their own. Although the Golden State's allure of unparalleled beauty and unique culture inspired the creative output of countless women, the full scale and reach of their talent remained largely unveiled from the general public view."
... Maurine St. Gaudens

Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery hosts this Exhibition of historic California's Women painters drawn from our collection, including works by Frances Upson Young, Florence Young, Una Gray, Anna Hills, Sebastopol's Grace Allison Griffith, Orpha Klinker and Thelma Speed Houston.

Frances Upson Young (1870-1950) was a member of the Laguna Beach Art Association as well as the Ruskin Art Club and West Coast Arts. She studied with Paul Lauritz, Lorenzo Latimer and Anna Hills. She resided in Laguna Beach beginning in the early 1930's and remaining there the rest of her life. She enjoyed painting California landscapes from the North Coast southward to the Mojave Desert.

She was born and raised in Cleveland, beginning her art studies at the Cleveland School of Art and continuing abroad at Ainwick and Oxford in England. At age 22, she married Robert Young, an attorney who soon would be named the first city attorney for Hollywood, California, before the town was annexed into Los Angeles. The couple was blessed with two children, Mary Young Salazar and Clarence Upson Young. Clarence achieved some fame as a screenwriter for the motion picture industry.

 The Edge of the Desert Oil on canvas, 25 x 30 Frances Upson Young, 1870-1950
The Edge of the Desert

Oil on canvas, 25 x 30
Frances Upson Young, 1870-1950
Cypress Cove Oil on canvas, 25 x 30 Frances Upson Young, 1870-1950
Cypress Cove

Oil on canvas, 25 x 30
Frances Upson Young, 1870-1950

In 1932, a typographical error merged the bios of Frances Upson Young and Florence Young. Art historian Maurine St. Gaudens discovered the error. Read more ...

Half Dome, Yosemite Oil on canvas, 24 x 28 Florence Young, 1872-1974
Half Dome, Yosemite

Oil on canvas, 24 x 28
Florence Young, 1872-1974
More about Frances Upson Young
in our Aug '13 newsletter

Maureen St. Gaudens
Maurine St. Gaudens, artist sleuth,
and "The Case of the Amalgamated Phantom"

Florence Young (1872-1974) lived to be 101 years old. Her training is impressive, having studied at the Art Institute in Chicago and at the Art Students League in New York. Among those she studied with are William Merritt Chase and the great Russian portraitist, Nicolai Fechin.

In 1920 when she was 48, she cared for her parents while living in Long Beach, CA. She then moved to Alhambra (near Pasadena) home to an artist colony centered on

Inlet Oil on canvas, 22 1/2 x 28 Florence Young 1872-1974
Inlet
Oil on canvas, 22 1/2 x 28
Florence Young 1872-1974
Cabin in the Foothills Oil on masonite, 12 x 16 Florence Young, 1872-1974
Cabin in the Foothills

Oil on masonite, 12 x 16
Florence Young, 1872-1974

Champion Place, often referred to locally as "Artist Alley," the wintertime home of Massachusetts artist Norman Rockwell. Full year residents of "Artist's Alley" included some of Florence's friends, Sam Hyde Harris and Clyde Forsythe. Florence's home was five blocks away on Granada Avenue.

Florence enjoyed landscape painting throughout California, including the

Mt. Whitney from the Alabama Hills Oil on board, 12 x 16 Florence Young 1872-1974
Mt. Whitney from the Alabama Hills

Oil on board, 12 x 16
Florence Young 1872-1974
Desertscape Oil on canvas, 12 x 15 Florence Young 1872-1974
Desertscape

Oil on canvas, 12 x 15
Florence Young 1872-1974

Monterey-Carmel area, Yosemite, the Eastern Sierra, the California desert, and even made a painting trek north to Alaska.

It was difficult for many women artists in Florence's day to get their work noticed. But Who's Who in American Art by Peter Falk compared Florence's work to some of California's most prestigious painters, Edgar Payne, William Wendt, Maurice Braun, Seldon Conner Gile, Percy Gray, the Wachtels, Hanson Puthuff and Sam Hyde Harris.

Mount Hood oil on canvas, 24 x 28  Una Gray, 1873-1930
Mount Hood

oil on canvas, 24 x 28
Una Gray, 1873-1930

Una Gray 1873-1930* According to Maurine St. Gaudens, author of Emerging from the Shadows, A Survey of Women Artists Working in California, 1860-1960

Mt. Shasta Oil on board, 12 x 20 Una Gray, 1873-1930
Mt. Shasta

Oil on board, 12 x 20
Una Gray, 1873-1930

there was an exceptionally skilled painter named Una Gray active in California as early as the 1890's. But, tragically, there is nothing known of her.

Suspicions are high that she is the same Una Gray, born and raised in Nova Scotia who eventually studied at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

There are reports of her exhibiting her work in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, but there isn't the slightest whisp of evidence that she ever painted in California, except for the exceptional landscapes of California and Oregon which bear her name.


Grace Allison Griffith age 19 1905
Grace Allison Griffith, 1905, age 19

Grace Allison Griffith 1885-1955 Grace Allison Griffith created pastoral scenes of Sonoma County, often of the area surrounding her home on Vine Hill Road, just north of Sebastopol. He father, Nathaniel Griffith is credited with having brought the Granvenstein Apple to Sebastopol.

A successful fruit rancher, Nathaniel Griffith was a good

Early Spring Oil on canvs, 16 x 20 Grace Allison Griffith, 1885-1955
Early Spring

Oil on canvas, 16 x 20
Grace Allison Griffith, 1885-1955

friend of horticulturists Luther Burbank. Luther put Grace's talents to work as she often did some botanical sketches and paintings for Luther which he used for governmental documentation of his work.

Her painting talent was first recognized while she was a student at Cogswell Polytechnic High School in San Francisco. She later studied with Lorenzo Latimer.

In 1919, Grace and her sister Alice maintained a studio in Honolulu where Grace created a number graceful watercolors of early 20th century scenes of Oahu life.

In the 1920's, Grace visited and exhibited in Scotland and England. Her work was well received and she was invited to become a member of the Royal Watercolor Society. During Grace's lifetime, she often sold her paintings through Gumps in San Francisco and the Claremont Hotel in the Berkeley Hills. Today, her work is compared with some of the best of California's early watercolor artists, including the works Percy Gray.

In 1939, she married A. O. Harris of Berkeley, and lived there until her husband's death in 1950. Soon afterward, she moved back to the family farmstead in Sonoma County. She died there at the age of 70.

Sheep, Hills and Eucalyptus Watercolor, 13 1/2 x 16 1/2 Grace Allison Griffith, 1885-1955
Sheep, Hills and Eucalyptus

Watercolor, 13 1/2 x 16 1/2
Grace Allison Griffith, 1885-1955
Spring Shower, Valley of the Moon Watercolor, 16 x 20 Grace Alllison Griffith, 1885-1955
Spring Shower, Valley of the Moon

Watercolor, 16 x 20
Grace Allison Griffith, 1885-1955
Woodland Clearning Watercolor, 9 3/4 x 12 1/2 Grace Allison Griffith, 1885-1955
Woodland Cleaning

Watercolor, 9 3/4 x 12 1/2
Grace Allison Griffith, 1885-1955
Anna Althea Hills 1929
Anna Althea Hills, 
Photo Portrait 1929
Silver gelatin photograph by George Hurrell,
fellow artist of the Laguna Beach Art Association
White Daffodils, 1904 Watercolor, 17 1/2 x 14 Anna Hills, 1882-1930
White Daffodils
, 1904
Watercolor, 17 1/2 x 14
Anna Hills, 1882-1930

Anna Hills 1882-1930 Anna Hills was an exceptional impressionist, trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cooper Union in New York. She helped establish the Laguna Beach Art Association and helped establish the Laguna Museum of Art.

After her studies in Chicago and New York, she moved to Paris for four years in 1908. There, she studied at the Julian Academy and painted throughout France, Holland and the South of England.

In 1912, she moved to Southern California, and a year later, settled in Laguna Beach. According to Ruth Westphal (author of Plein Air Painters of California), Anna Hills became "a prominent figure in the art history of Southern California."

She found time to to serve six terms as president of the Laguna Beach Art Association. She used this position to express her passion for the beauty of the Southern California landscape. Ever the teacher, Anna could often be seen leading a class of plein air painters along the cliffs of Laguna Beach She was active in the public schools, promoting arts education.

Red Roses Watercolor, 14 x 19 Anna Hills, 1882-1930
Red Roses

Watercolor, 14 x 19
Anna Hills, 1882-1930

Pale Opal Watercolor, 5 x 7 Anna Hills, 1882-1930
Pale Opal

Watercolor, 5 x 7
Anna Hills, 1882-1930

Her favored locales were in and around Laguna Beach, Mission Capistrano, the California Coast north to Carmel, and she often spent the winter months in nearby Banning and Hemet from where she enjoyed painting excursions into the California and Arizona deserts.

Tragically for the California Art World, Anna Hills died of a heart attack at the age of 48 (according to the Fleischer Museum website).

Yellow Daffodils Watercolor, 15 1/8 x 19 3/4 Anna Hills, 1882-1930
Yellow Daffodils

Watercolor, 15 1/8 x 19 3/4
Anna Hills, 1882-1930

Wooded Stream and Sheep, 1924 Oil on canvas, 14 x 17 Anna Hills, 1882-1930
Wooded Stream and Sheep
, 1924
Oil on canvas, 14 x 17
Anna Hills, 1882-1930

Thelma Speed Houston 1914-2000 Thelma did a painting a day for 50 years! The joy she found in painting and teaching matched her self discipline. Her recent retrospective exhibition in Vista, California was attended by hundreds of her former students, each with stories of how Thelma and her painting touched their lives.

This California painter was born in Brooklyn and studied at the Pratt Institute in New York. As a young painter, she was a member of the Nassau Art League and exhibited at the New York World's Fair in 1939. Professionally, she worked as a stylist for the St. Andrews Textile Company of New York and later as a designer for A Sulka Company

San Francisco Fog Watercolor, 19 12 x 13 1/2 Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000
San Francisco Fog
Watercolor, 19 12 x 13 1/2
Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000
Thelma Speed Houston
Thelma Speed Houston
Aurora Borealis Watercolor, 14 x 20 Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000
Aurora Borealis

Watercolor, 14 x 20
Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000
Bell Tower, San Luis Rey Mission Watercolor, 10 1/8 x 8 1/4 Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000
Bell Tower, San Luis Rey Mission
Watercolor, 10 1/8 x 8 1/4
Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000

of New York and Paris. Her position allowed for extensively.

As a painter, she strived to capture the soul of the landscape, its intrigue and mystery. Her mix of colors, subject matter, and composition suggest a deep appreciation of the mystery of life and its many possibilities. Whether painting in Europe, Canada, Hawaii, or her adopted California, she felt blessed to “capture the color and excitement of a few moments in time.” She did this and more. Some of her paintings have a mythical dimension that point to deeper meanings and realities. They draw you in, and let you become a part of the landscape. Rather than fleeting moments in time and space, they are permanent expressions of an emotional landscape that speak to all. This is her legacy.

Balboa Park Scene Watercolor, 21 1/2 x 29 1/2 Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000
Balboa Park Scene

Watercolor, 21 1/2 x 29 1/2
Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000
Church Door Watercolor, 22 x 30 Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000
Church Door

Watercolor, 22 x 30
Thelma Speed Houston, 1914-2000
Orpha Klinker
Orpha Klinker
pictured her in the magazine
The Western Woman, 1939

Orpha Klinker 1891-1964 Orpha was a Hollywood socialite, a portraitist, and also a California Desert Painter. She was included in Ed Ainsworth's famous book, Artists of the Desert. She once was given free run of Scotty's Castle in Death Valley when she was commissioned to paint a portrait of Death Valley Scotty.

Fascinated by history, she painted many of California's Adobes, hoping to inspire interest in preserving them or at least to capture images of them them before they all disappeared.

Valley Oaks and Mountain Oil on canvs, 25 x 30 Orpha Klinker, 1891-1964
Valley Oaks and Mountain

Oil on canvas, 25 x 30
Orpha Klinker, 1891-1964
Winter Touches the Desert, #100 Etching, 6 3/4 x 9 Orpha Klinker, 1891-1964
Winter Touches the Desert, #100
Etching, 6 3/4 x 9
Orpha Klinker, 1891-1964
(Winner of CA Society of Etchers, 1930
Gifted by Klinker to her friend, Howard Hughes)

After one of her friends, Will Rogers was killed in an Alaskan plane crash, Orpha painted a portrait of Will Rogers and his pilot friend Wiley Post. With the help of another friend, Howard Hughes, the painting was exhibited at the New York World's Fair in 1939. Orpha thanked Howard for helping to have the painting at the Fair, and thanked him with a gift, an award winning print, Winter Touches the Desert #100.

Orpha Kinker and her portrait of Wil Rogers and Wiley Post
Orpha Klinkers thank you note to Howard Hughes
Orpha poses next to her posthumous 1935 portrait of American Humorist Will Rogers and pilot Wiley Post,
shown at the 1939 World's Fair, and her thank you note to Howard Hughes.

This very print is available for sale, including this amazing handwritten thank you note from Orpha, July 13, 1939, written in her distinctive calligraphic printing style.

Our exhibition also includes these "one of" paintings by California women artists
Ruth Manerva Bennett Oak Grove
Oak Grove
, oil on canvas, 24 x 30
Ruth Manerva Bennett 1899-1960
Virginia Darce Spring Landscape
Spring Landscape
, watercolor, 15 x 19 1/2
Virginia Chism Darce 1910-1985

Henrietta Riddle Fish Marsh at Sunset
Marsh at Sunset
, watercolor, 16 x 24
Henrietta Riddle Fish 1856-1925
Grace Fountain Sunrise Grand Canyon
Sunrise Grand Canyon
, oil on canvas, 35 x 42
Grace Fountain 1858-1942
Isabelle Lockwood California Seascape Nocturn
California Seascape Nocturn
e,
oii on canvas laid down on masonite, 20 x 24
Isabelle Lockwod, early 20th century
Lydia Vercinsky Redwood Forest
Redwood Forest
, oil on canvas, 36 x 48
Lydia Vercinsky 1918-2001
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