Massachusetts native and descendant of colonial father of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, Cyril moved to California in his late twenties. He settled in Glendale just north of Los Angeles where he remained the rest of his life. He painted backdrops for the movie studios, silent films at first, and opened a sign painting shop, a business which allowed him time to pursue his painting. He loved painting plein air in the California Desert, but logistics demanded he paint from photographs in Glendale. Like many part time artists today, he was reluctant to participate in exhibitions and associations due to time limitations. He sold his paintings out of his studio. Back to the Top

Ruth was born in Momence, Illinois, in 1899. She studied art at the ASL in New York City before moving to Los Angeles in the 1920's. There, she studied at the Chouinard and Otis Art Institutes with Emily Mocine, Armin Hansen, Karoly Fulop, Vysekal Schroeder, and Millard Sheets. She was an active artist, but for her day job, she taught wood carving at El Monte Union High School and in the Los Angeles public schools. She died on July 21, 1960. Back to the Top

John Appleton Brown enjoyed the community and friendships of artists his entire life. At the Louvre, he studied with Emile Lambinet. In 1874, Brown and his artist wife Agnes Bartlett painted in Ville d’Avray, the home of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, a year before Corot's death. Back in America, he had associations with many painters including famed artists John Singer Sargent and Childe Hassam. He is remembered as a impressionist painter in oils and pastels of seascapes and landscapes. Back to the Top

While Alice was still a baby, her parents brought her to California where she eventually studied at the San Francisco School of Design. She remained in San Francisco her entire life, and taught art at the San Francisco School of Design from 1897 until 1940. She is famous for her oil paintings of wildflowers, and painted mostly in Marin County. She was somewhat of a botanical student as well, as she painted 350 varieties of flowers in 256 studies. She exhibited widely, including at the San Francisco Art Association, the Bohemian Club, and the Artistes Francaise in Paris. Back to the Top

Known today as a plein air impressionist of the South, Clark is prized for his spiritualized rendition of nature, relating subtleties of the natural landscape in both mood and atmospherics. He traveled widely and associated with the major artists of his day. He taught at the National Art Club and the Art Student's League and New York City College.

Between 1904 and 1906, Clark studied in Paris and Giverny. In London he saw the impressionist work of James Whistler and wrote to his father, artist Walter Clark, sharing

his impressions of Whistler's work. Eliot wrote, "not so much in the handling, but in the use of color, and subtle arrangement of line and balance of masses." He was active in many art associations and exhibited widely. Back to the Top

Today, Clyde Forsythe ("Vic") is known as one of California's fine desert painters, along with his close friends Jimmy Swinnerton, Maynard Dixon, John W. Hilton and Sam Hyde Harris. He made his home in Alhambra living on Artists Alley and enjoyed associations with many artists of his day. During summers, he would host his old studio mate from New York, Norman Rockwell. They shared a studio once owned by Frederick Remington. It was Forsythe who introduced Rockwell to the Saturday Evening Post.

Forsythe loved the lore of the West and visited ghost towns on painting forays, imagining the times which once filled the now empty sites. His subjects were often of desert scenes with hopeful prospectors, burros, picks and shovels, as well as paying homage to the era of the cowboy. His unique style of painting the sky and cloud formations became the identifying feature of his landscapes. Back to the Top

In 1874, young Charles Henry Harmon moved to San Jose and became one of the city's fine artists.

His talent was expressed at an early age. He apprenticed with portrait painter Louis Lussier, and worked retouching negatives in a photography studio. He enjoyed visiting galleries in San Francisco and painted in the Santa Clara Valley, on the Monterey Coast and in the Sierras. By his mid twenties, he was selling his paintings exclusively through Gumps in San Francisco. In 1905, he moved to Denver and began doing art work for the major

railroads, doing promotional art of scenes along their routes. He returned to San Jose where he remained the rest of his life. He exhibited his works throughout the Bay area. Back to the Top

During half of 1913, Sam visited the great art museums of Europe, returning to LA where he married Phoebe Mullholland of the LA Water District family. During the depression, he taught art at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles.

In the early 1930's, Sam purchased the home and studio of Jack Wilkinson Smith on Champion Place in Alhambra. This eucalyptus and pine lined lane had a great view of the San Gabriel Mountains and has retained the nickname Artists' Alley, also known as the "Little Bohemia, the "Greenwich Village," and the "Montmartre" of the Southwest. The Alley attracted notable artist residents Frank

Tenney Johnson, Jack Wilkinson Smith, Eli Harvey, Clyde Forsythe and Florence Upson Young. Clyde Forsythe's old New York studio mate Norman Rockwell often spent summers visiting Artist's Alley. He was pictured in the local papers riding his bicycle in Alhambra and nearby Pasadena.
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Anna followed her passion for painting with studies at the Art Institute in Chicago, Cooper Union in New York, and studied with Rhonda Holmes Nicholls and Arthur W. Dow at Ipswich, Massachusetts. In 1908, she commenced four years of study at the Académie Julian in Paris and with John Noble Barlow in England.

She arrived in Los Angeles at age 31. She moved south to Laguna Beach and helped organize the Laguna Beach Art Association, serving as its president for six terms. In her early works, her style was dark and tonal, but she evolved to preferring brighter colors in a more impressionist style.

Anna exhibited widely, including solo shows at the Kanst Galleries in Los Angeles, the Los

Carl Henrik Jonnevold was born in Norway in 1856. He came to America during the 1880s. While still in his twenties, he painted in the Northwest, but in his thirties, moved south to San Francisco where he established a studio near 16th and California Streets which he maintained for years. He lived in Paris (and Munich) in the first decade of the 20th century. In Paris, he continued his course of self-education by devoting his time to studying works in the museums and galleries. His paintings thereafter took on aspects of 19th-century French genre and landscape painting, a style suited to Jonnevold's representational approach to landscape. Back to the Top

Orpha Klinker, an accomplished and well known artist of western scenery and portraits, was quite busy in her hilltop Hollywood studio. But her love was always painting California history and the desert.

She became the only female member of an elite fraternity of famed desert painters including Maynard Dixon, Jimmy Swinnerton, Clyde Forsythe and John W. Hilton. In 1960, Orpha was the only woman in Ed Ainsworth’s notable book, Painters of the Desert. Ainsworth wrote, "this

notable painter finds her greatest artistic expression in her annual jaunts into the arid wilderness of the West. The call of the desert is the most compelling challenge she heeds in her painting endeavors."

Early in her career, she studied in Europe at the Académie Julian, returning to America to work in commercial art including the Ladies Home Journal in Philadelphia. From there, she came back to California to pursue her interests in California history and the California desert. She was widely exhibited, and her paintings were in the collections of both Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Back to the Top

which would be better able to withstand the stresses of future quakes.

As a painter, he shows the influence of his backgrounds in French Impressionism and his art in stained glass. He moved to the Bay Area for health reasons, and lived in the Berkeley Hills, often spending summers on the Mendocino Coast. Back to the Top

Emilio Lanzi is also known as Ernest Emil Lanz. He was an internationally known painter, lecturer, writer and teacher. Born in Bern, Switzerland, he studied at the Swiss Art Academy of Bern, at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Colorossi, and Académie Julian in Paris, France. Lanzi took a course in portraiture at the Academy at Munich, Germany, and two years of anatomy at the Sorbonne University of Paris.

He studied with the greatest artist-teachers of the day, Robert Fleury, Plinio Colombi, Christopher Baumgartner, etc, and exhibited extensively in Europe and America. His work is represented in many private collections and galleries, and includes portraits and landscapes.

He taught at the Keszthelyi Academy of Fine Arts and held many positions of responsibility at clubs and societies in the U.S. and abroad. He was the President-Founder of the Atheneum of Philosophy, Science and Art, and a member of the AAPL, the Bohemian Club, Prof. Artists Guild, California Art Club, F.I.A.L., St. Martin, Hermetic Lodge, Gnostic Sc., Phoenix, Es. Phil., Masonic Lodge, and others. Back to the Top

Born in California a year after the completion of the transcontinental railroad, young Bertha Stringer was privileged and lived life as a socialite and an art student. She studied with William Keith and at the California School of Design with Arthur Mathews. She traveled and pursued continuing art studies in New York, Paris, and Germany. She married Louis Eugene Lee, an electrician Like other artists in San Francisco at the time, many of her works were lost in the fire following the 1906 earthquake.

Her works were exhibited widely, including at the Mark Hopkins Institute, the Sequoia Club, the California State Fair, the San Francisco Art Association, and the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Back to the Top

Florence MacKenzie studied art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the National School of Fine and Applied Arts, and the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. She maintained studios in both Washington and San Francisco. In Washington, she was the head artist of the Bureau of Exhibits and the U.S. Forestry Service from 1917 - 1942. She was a member of the Washington Art Club, the Society for Sanity in Art, and the Society of Western Artists. Her works have been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, the Society for Sanity in Art, and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. Back to the Top

Gustav (not Gustave) Adolph Magnussen was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany, near the border with Denmark. He traveled and hiked throughout Europe as a young man. His art training was in the old German classical style at the University of Heidelberg. He came to the United States and became a resident of San Francisco in 1900, moving soon afterward to Los Angeles. He was closely associated with Emil Kosa, Sr., William Wendt, and Henry Leopold Richter and his wife. He lived in various places including Annondale and Newport Beach, and married an artist, Lura Bisant (listed as Laura Bisant in Hughes and Davenports). During the 1930's, he had a gallery

Jean Mannheim was a deserter from the German Army, and probably for good reason. As a young man, he fled his native Germany for Paris, pursuing art studies at the Ecole Delecluse and Academie Colorossi. Later in the 1880's, Mannheim emigrated to the U.S., settling in Chicago where he was a portrait painter, and also an art teacher in the downstate Illinois town of Decatur. From there, he went to London where he taught for two years, and after returning to the U.S. and teaching art for a brief time in Denver, in 1908, he settled in Pasadena and built a home on the rim of the Arroyo Seco.

In Southern California, Mannheim developed the bright style of painting landscapes for which he is best known. In Pasadena, he continued his interest in teaching art by establishing the Stickney Memorial School of Fine Arts in 1913.

He was exhibited widely, received numerous awards, and his paintings are in the Oakland Museum, the Irvine Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Back to the Top

Charlotte was born in 1867 just north of San Francisco Bay in a sheep ranching region along the Petaluma River in the small town of Lakeville. She studied art at the San Francisco School of Design with Arthur Frank Mathews, Amedee Joullin and Emil Carlsen, and studied further with Armin Hansen and L. P. Latimer. In 1896, she married Ross Morgan and settled in Berkeley where she taught in the public schools. Her husband died in 1917, and a few years later she moved to Carmel. She maintained a studio there, along with her sister-in-law Mary McNeale Morgan. Charlotte was involved in teaching and exhibiting art with the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club. She received a masters degree from Cal Berkeley in 1928, and she exhibited her paintings throughout California. She remained in Carmel until her death in 1947 at the age of 80. Back to the Top

At fourteen years of age, Danish painter Peter Nielsen arrived in Chicago in 1887 where he studied at the Chicago Art Institute. In the 1920's, he went west to Los Angeles where he remained most the rest of his life. Having first exhibited at the Art Institute in Chicago, he went on to a successful painting career in California, noted for his still lifes and landscapes, and his public murals.

The art works of William Frederic Ritschel are held by at least 16 museums including the Oakland Museum of California, with an extensive collection at the Monterey Art Museum. He is discussed in over 50 reference books. William Frederic Ritschel was a California Impressionist painter who was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1864. He studied art at the Royal Academy in Munich before emigrating to New York City in 1895. Much of his young life was spent at sea, and it is not surprising that as an artist his focus was on capturing the sea with its many personalities. Ritschel settled in Carmel in 1911, becoming one of the first artists to establish residence there subsequent to the devastating earthquake in San Francisco in 1906, and that is where he died in 1949. On the rocky cliffs of Carmel Heights he built a home called "Castellamare", named for an Italian seaport town south of Naples. Back to the Top

Davis Francis Schwartz studied at the Chicago Art Institute, and then at art schools in Dayton and Cleveland, Ohio; he then spent three years in Montreal studying under Adam S. Scott. He was a commercial illustrator in Ohio for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He moved to California in 1903 and worked for the Los Angeles Times before moving to San Francisco in 1924. In 1924 he was elected artist for the State Board of Harbor Commissioners. He established a studio in the Ferry Building and for 30 years acted as custodian of the huge relief map of the State of California there.

During the 1940s he sometimes signed his works "Francis Davis" due to anti-German sentiment. He worked in both

oil and watercolor and won many awards. His memberships included the Carmel Art Association, Oakland Art Association, Santa Cruz Art League, and Society of Western Artists. His works are held by the California Historical Society, St. Mary's College, the State Museum Resource Center (Sacramento), and Shasta State Historical Museum. Back to the Top

Dedrick Brandes Stuber studied at the Art Students League in New York. He painted landscapes in New York's Westchester County and Long Island. In the 1920's, he moved to Los Angeles, painting and exhibiting until 1940. He is best known for his pastoral landscapes of southern California, although he did paint mountains and seascapes. He painted plein air preferring to work early mornings around sunrise, as shadow plays a major role in his paintings. He participated in many painting organizations and associations, including Painters & Sculptors of Los Angeles; Laguna Beach Art Association; Glendale Art Association. His works are held in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art; the Irvine Museum, and the Pasadena Art Museum. Back to the Top

James Gale Tyler's famed maritime paintings express mood in an impressionist style, his work dancing with subtle light effects. As a teen, he was fascinated by sea going vessels and in time would paint all types of boats from old sloops to clipper ships. He painted a variety of seamen, coastal scenes and seascapes. Between 1900 and 1930 he painted every America's Cup Yacht Race, painting many race related scenes, some for magazine publication for Harper's, Century and Literary Digest.

He lived in New York State, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Providence, Rhode Island. He exhibited widely, and today his works may be seen at the Corcoran

Manuel Valencia was born in Marin County on Rancho San Jose in 1856, six years after California became a state. He was an aristocrat, his family having received many land grants in the San Francisco area. He is a descendant of General Gabriel Valencia, the first governor of Sonora under Spanish rule. His grandfather came to Alta California and was an administrator at the Presidio