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Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Monthly May 2009 News, Articles, and Opinions from the world of California’s Heritage Art & Beyond, & Gallery and Museum exhibits, near & far |
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Celebrating Early California, Western, and American Art 1580 Eastshore Road, PO Box 325 Bodega Bay, CA 94923, 707-875-2911 just below and around back of the Terrapin Creek Cafe Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays, Noon until 5:00 PM (or other times by prearranged appointment) email: Art@BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com | www.BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com |
 Linda Sorensen & Daniel Rohlfing |
 Bill Bender ... Palm Desert Museum Features Three Desert Painters |
 Ansel Adams:Masterworks Now showing at the Sonoma County Museum |
 Carl Sammons 1886 -1968 is now On Exhibit at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah |
 A new chapter in the tale of Vincent Van Gogh and his Ear |
 Florence Upson Young Western Woman Impressionist |
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Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Notes Our Neighboring Galleries Museum Exhibits Near and Far |
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 Fred Chisnall and Carl Bray |
Palm Desert Museum Features Three Desert Painters by Ann Japenga |
Palm Desert was a hang-out and a refuge for the often-broke early desert artists. Bill Bender camped under an Ironwood tree here, and Fred Chisnall sold paintings out of his truck. It’s a colorful heritage, but one that’s long been eclipsed by flashier attractions in this resort town near Palm Springs. |
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So it was a breakthrough for fans of California art when three desert artists were featured recently in a show at the Historical Society of Palm Desert Museum. The artists—Carl Bray, Bill Bender and Sally Ward—are all over age 90 and still painting. The opening reception was Friday March 6, and the art sale is ongoing. The Museum, housed in an old firehouse, is tucked amongst elite boutiques and galleries on El Paseo, |
 Carl Bray and Locomotive through the Desert |
known as the Rodeo Drive of the desert. The opening reception drew a steady stream of patrons from all over Southern California. They wove past the vintage fire trucks and antique fire masks to admire a dense selection of desert scenes. Carl Bray attended the opening and drew a steady stream of admirers who were warmed by his Oklahoma accent and his Will Rogers-style humor. |
 Bill Bender's works at the exhibition |
Bray got his start painting while he was working on the Southern Pacific Railroad. His work is drawing increasing interest locally, partly due to the efforts of Indian Wells to tear down his former home and gallery, a Highway 111 landmark since the 1950's. The other two artists (who did not attend the opening) include Sally Ward, who’ll be 100 in June. She now lives in Tucson, but she once painted all over the Coachella Valley, often accompanied by artists Karl Albert, |
 Sally Ward Smoke Tree and Mountains |
 Bill Bender a few years ago at easel with portrait of Jimmy Swinnerton, his mentor. Ed Ainsworth's Painters of the Desert, 1960 |
Darwin Duncan and Wilton McCoy. Bill Bender, once a working cowboy, lives out on old Route 66 near Victorville. He learned to paint from a master while working as Jimmy Swinnerton’s driver. In recent years, he’s best known for his Western paintings but for this show he dug out of storage his classic desert landscapes. The Palm Desert firehouse walls were crowded with scenes of purple verbena, railroads steaming through the San Gorgonio Pass, and the exquisite desert washes of Bender, looking strikingly like the washes painted by his mentor, Swinnerton. The fields of verbena are mostly gone now, buried under development, but the landmarks that drew the artists were still visible outside the front door of the museum—Toro and Santa Rosa peaks, San Jacinto and San Gorgonio mountains. Painting these peaks and desert bajadas has been a must-do for every serious student of the California landscape. While major painters such as Jimmy Swinnerton and John Hilton lived in the Coachella Valley, almost every other well-known California impressionist—including Guy Rose and Maurice Braun--came through to paint. As the desert scene evolved, Palm Desert became the nexus of a great underappreciated art movement that rivals the plein air hubs of Carmel and Laguna Beach. Hal Rover and Kim Housken of the Palm Desert Historical Society—along with others—have in recent years championed the city’s legacy of dune-painters. Just down the street from the museum is Painters’ Path, a lane named for the artists who set up their easels there. Also nearby is the original Desert |
 Bill Bender today at age 90 |
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Magazine building (now a steakhouse), which housed the influential Desert Southwest Art Gallery. Jimmy Swinnerton, R. Brownell McGrew, Paul Grimm, Olaf Wieghorst and others partied there, imbibing the proprietor’s famous “fish house punch”. The city has recently begun to honor this forgotten history. Last year they sponsored a competition for a public art piece honoring the early desert artists. And public arts manager Richard Twedt has proposed a plein air painters month to spotlight the artists; discussions are underway. The city that has shown more affinity for Chihuly chandeliers than Carl Bray smoketrees may be on its way to being a refuge for desert art, once again. |
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Ann Japenga is a Palm Springs writer specializing in stories about the California deserts and the West. As a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, she developed a love for tales tied to the Western landscape. After moving to Palm Springs more than a decade ago, she zeroed in on “deserata”--the natural and human history of the California deserts from the San Gorgonio Pass to the Colorado River. Learn more of Ann Japenga on her website. |
| Ann Japenga's Website | Historical Society of Palm Desert Museum | Back to the Top | |
| Ansel Adams: Masterworks now showing at the Sonoma County Museum | |
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Ansel Adams Documentary 1983 BBC Production, four parts, 33 min |
As an adventurous fourteen year-old youth, Ansel Adams made his first of many visits to the Yosemite Valley. Beginning with a small Brownie Box camera and a sense of awe, he began his life's work. |
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Photography wasn't his only talent. He was an aspiring concert pianist, and while on one of his subsequent Yosemite treks, he sought out a piano to play. It happened to be in the parlor of a Yosemite Valley artist named Harry Cassie Best. Young Ansel received Harry's permission to play the piano, along with an introduction to Harry's daughter, Virginia. Ansel remained long enough to marry Virginia, and in 1922, began selling his photos in his father-in-law's gallery. Upon Harry Cassie Best's death, the Best Art Gallery became the Ansel Adams Gallery. |
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 Oak tree silhouette |
What is magical is how "painterly" his photographs are. His composition is astoundingly remarkable, as good as any landscape painter ever. He would choose his subject and wait for his moment. Where did this sense of composition come from? Perhaps he learned much from dinner table conversations with artists who would visit his father-in-law while on their Yosemite visits, nurturing his talented eye and imagination. The Sonoma County Museum exhibit consists of 48 works of Yosemite, the New Mexico desert, California Oaks, the Snake River, and dunes of the American Southwest. A second portion of the exhibit downstairs features exhibits of Adams' cameras and a video documentary describing Adams' artistic process along with some of the technical aspects of his photography and printing. |
 Snake River in the Grand Tetons |
 Yosemite Valley |
Ansel Adams: Masterworks runs through June 14th, and is well worth the visit. Also on exhibit are paintings from the museum's collection, including a work by Maynard Dixon, William Keith, Will Sparks, William S. Rice, Sydney Tilden Daken and a stunning Yosemite scene by Thomas Hill. There is also an exhibit of stunning Wine Country posters from the collection of George and Denise Rose. Visit the museum's website for more. |
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| Carl Sammons 1886 -1968 is now On Exhibit at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah (This article was previously published for the Sammons exhibit last fall at St. Mary's College in Moraga) |
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 Carl Sammons "Ocotillo" BBH Gallery Collection, 12 x16 |
Throughout much of the early and mid twentieth century, Carl Sammons was a popular Bay Area plein air painter. Today, he is known for his beautiful landscapes and California Coastal scenes. He was an early enthusiast of the automobile, and accompanied by his wife Queen, drove throughout the West sketching and painting. |
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A boy from the Platte River town of Kearney in western Nebraska, Sammons first moved to Petaluma, |
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To the right is a video of a Carl Sammons lecture. The lecturer is given Alfred C. Harrison, Jr. on the occasion of the Carl Sammons Exhibit at St. Mary's College, Moraga, California, July 13, 2008. (44 minutes in length) (Mr. Harrison is an art historian and President of The North Point Gallery on Jackson St. in San Francisco. The North Point Gallery specializes in traditional painting, and particularly Early California Art. It has an excellent Sammons collection.) |
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California in 1913 at the age of twenty seven. Three years later, he moved to the river town of Monte Rio, a short distance from the mouth of the Russian River, to open a studio. In 1917, he returned to Kearney, Nebraska, for three years, returning to California in 1920. He made his way to San Francisco and studied at the California School of Fine Arts. At this point, he transitioned his style from Tonalism to Impressionism. As a young man, Sammons was an enthusiast of the automobile, and loved to take car trips and find new new scenes to paint. On one such trip to Northern California’s Humboldt County, Sammons met Queen Esther Steward in the town of Petrolia. They had much in common, both coming from large midwestern families, common religious beliefs, and an awe for the natural beauty of California. Queen made a fine traveling partner, and the couple toured the West, including all corners and climates of California, painting as they went. |
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Sammons is described as a quiet, soft-spoken and gentle man who could be warm and friendly when he was sketching or painting. He enjoyed having children watch him paint, often having them fetch a leaf or bark so he could get the color right. He was also a willing teacher, and had some notable students, including William Frates and Henry Vardon Going. Among his friends were artists Edward Borein, John Gamble, Deidrich Gremky, Paul Grimm, Lorenzo Latimer, and Thaddeus Welch.
Like so many artists, he loved painting but disliked marketing his work. Sammons did not enjoy public or juried exhibits. He believed painting was not competitive, but an act of creation. He found his inspiration in the natural beauty around him, painting in his belief in God and his love of God’s creation. Source: Exhibit catalogue, California Impressionist Landscapes from the Donna Walsh Sumner Collection, July 12 through September 21, 2008, Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s College of California. |
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| A new chapter in the tale of Vincent Van Gogh and his Ear |
 Self portrait, Bandaged Ear and Pipe |
The old long accepted tale occurred just prior to Christmas in 1888. Supposedly, Vincent Van Gogh in fit of lunacy cut off his own ear with his razor after he and Paul Gauguin had a fight outside a brothel in Arles, France. But German academics Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans researched the original police documents, the artists' letters and witness accounts, and now believe that Paul Gauguin, a handy swordsman, severed Van Gogh's ear in the fight.
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 Self Portrait-Bandaged Ear and Green Coat |
Kaufmann and Wildegans have been researching their book Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence for the past ten years. They researched police records, letters of the two painters, and other eye witness accounts. According to their research, Kaufmann and Wildegans say that after the event in a romantic gesture, Van Gogh wrapped his detached ear in cloth, and presented it to a prostitute named Rachel. The research leaves unanswered the question whether Gauguin injured Van Gogh intentionally or not, but that a plan was hatched by the pair of artists to conceal the facts of the case to protect Gouguin from prosecution. They formulated a tale as skillfully as they mixed paint on a palette, that Van Gogh retired to his home and severed his own ear. The book says the traditional account is not backed up by any witnesses and is |
based on an improbable and contradictory series of events. Furthermore, after the event, the behavior of both Van Gogh and Gauguin suggests they were hiding something. Soon after the event, Gauguin sailed off to Tahiti, and within a year and a half, Van Gogh killed himself, shooting himself in the chest. |
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| Florence Upson Young, Western Woman Impressionist | |
One of our favorite California Impressionists is Florence Upson Young, who was born in 1872 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and was one of the influential signature California Impressionists in the group located in the artists colony in Alhambra, California. Although her work has been compared to several of the master California plein air painters by Peter Falk in “Who was Who in American Art”, we think of her work as most closely comparable to that of Hanson Puthuff and Sam Hyde Harris, especially seen in her excellent “The Edge of the Desert” and the painting that we believe depicts an inlet in Alaska, which would no longer be recognizable because of a tidal wave that changed that area after the time of the painting. There have been many depictions of the Mt. San Jacinto view in Palm Springs by many famous painters, but we believe hers to be the superior one. |
 Florence Upson Young, Alaska Inlet |
 Florence Upson Young, The Edge of the Desert |
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She has been discussed in at least 12 books as surveyed by AskArt.com. It is reported that she studied at some very influential art schools and with highly noted teachers: The Art Institute of Chicago with John Vanderpoel; at the Art Students League in NYC with Kenyon Cox, Carol Beckwith, Frank DuMond, William Merritt Chase, Wilbur Reaser, and Nicolai Fechin. Great numbers of museums and art exhibits are listed, for example in the biographical entries in AskArt. Her memberships stand as testimony to her influence and importance in the society of Southern California Impressionist artists of her time. She established the Friendly Arts Club while in Alhambra. She was a contributor to Widening Horizons in Creative Art. Like Sam Hyde Harris, she was a member of the Society for Sanity in Art, and she was part of the Theosophical Society of Southern California. Additional contributions about her life and works would be appreciated. |
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Gallery Notes
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| What's showing at Bodega Bay Galleries & Beyond? click on their links and discover the wonder to be found in the galleries of West Sonoma County |
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IN BODEGA BAY Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery |
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NEW IN BODEGA BAY SMITH & KIRK FINE ART & CUSTOM FRAMING GALLERY Libby Kirk's fused glass, Susan Amalia's multi-media works, and Gary Smith's Custom Framing. Also offering works of the late Gail Packer. Conveniently located next to The Ren Brown Collection 1785 A Highway One, PO Box 1116, Bodega Bay, CA 94923 SWFraming@Comcast.net | 707-875-2976 |
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IN BODEGA BAY Local Color Gallery |
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IN BODEGA BAY The Ren Brown Collection Now showing - Bruce Johnson: Sculpture The gallery was established in 1989 and specializes in contemporary art from both sides of the Pacific. http://www.renbrown.com | Back to the Top |
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IN DUNCANS MILLS Christopher Queen Galleries 3 miles east of Hwy 1 on Hwy 116 on the Russian River Current Show: "North of The Gate" All Things California Heading North From The Golden Gate Bridge & Beyond http://www.christopherqueengallery.com | Back to the Top |
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IN DUNCANS MILLS Quercia Gallery "Scent of Spring" Dianna Soderlind Hours: 11am-5pm, Thur - Mon (707) 865-0243 http://www.quercia-gallery.com | Back to the Top |
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IN CALISTOGA the Lee Youngman Gallery |
 Paul Youngman "Mustard" |
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IN TOMALES Tomales Fine Art |
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IN FORESTVILLE The Quicksilver Mine Co. |
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IN GRATON Graton Gallery 9048 Graton Road, Graton, California (707) 829-8912 "No Unifying Factor" - April 14 – May 24 Rik Olson - Linocut Prints, Wood Engravings and Paintings Pam Lewis - Western Folk Paintings - plucky gals and dapper dudes William O'Keeffe - Abstract Paintings, mixed media Opening Reception - Sat. March 7 :: 3 to 5:30 pm http://www.gratongallery.com/ Back to the Top |
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IN BODEGA Bodega Landmark Gallery Collection regional seascape and landscape painting, fine art photography, blown glass, etching, sculpture, ceramics, stained glass, woodwork, and jewelry by local artists. 17255 Bodega Highway Bodega, California USA 94922 Phone 707 876 3477 http://www.artbodega.com | Lorenzo@ArtBodega.com | Back to the Top |
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IN VALLEY FORD West County Design |
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IN FREESTONE Boho Gallery 463 Bohemian Hwy, Freestone, CA 95472 Phone 707-874-9792 "an eclectic range of art that includes romantic wine country landscapes, whimsical animal portraits, and contemplative visual abstracts that allude to natural objects and mystery." Jan, Feb, & March: By appointment only April through December: Fri, Sat. & Sun 11 to 6 barbara@bohogallery.com | http://www.bohogallery.com | Back to the Top |
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IN PETALUMA Vintage Bank Antiques Vintage Bank Antiques is located in Historic Downtown Petaluma, corner of Western Avenue and Petaluma Blvd. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Warren Davis and the rest of the team at Vintage Bank Antiques has assembled a spectacular inventory of paintings. From the 18th Century to Contemporary Artists. We have paintings to suit every price point and collector level. If you have a painting for sale, please consider Vintage Bank Antiques. Contact Warren Davis directly at WarrenDavisPaintings@yahoo.com http://vintagebankantiques.com | Back to the Top |
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IN PETALUMA Petaluma Arts Council "... to celebrate local artists and their contributions and to involve the whole community in appreciation, involvement and recognition of art ... http://www.petalumaartscouncil.org | Back to the Top |
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| And, while on the Big Island, visit these ... | ||
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IN Waimea, Big Island, Hawaii Isaacs Art Center visit a superb Museum and Gallery. http://isaacsartcenter.hpa.edu | Back to the Top |
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IN Hawi, Big Island, Hawaii The Banana Gallery formerly of the William Lester Gallery in Point Reyes Station, CA, visit Robin Fahey Cameron at the Banana Gallery http://www.thebananagallery.com/gallery.htm | Back to the Top |
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| Links to current museum exhibits relevant to Early California Art and beyond |
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| Oakland Oakland Museum of California The Art and History Galleries are currently under renovation, and will reopen in 2010. Exhibit:Future of Sequoias: Sustaining Parklands in the 21st Century February 7–August 23, 2009 |
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San Francisco de Young Museum de Young Museum: American Painting Collection, & "Warhol Live" Warhol Live presents an exploration of Warhol’s work through the lens of music. Feb 14 - May 17 King Tut opens June 27 |
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| San Francisco California Historical Society Fine Arts Collection ... & Hobos to Street People: Artists' Responses to Homelessness from the New Deal to the Present February 19- August 15, 2009 |
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San Francisco Legion of Honor Permanent Collection, plus Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique Feb 7 - May 31 |
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| San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum "Jews on Vinyl" And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Our Vinyl February 6 - June 9, 2009 |
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Moraga |
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| Coming to SF's Presidio the Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio report of the latest from the SF Chron, March 1, 2009 |
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Also Coming to SF's Presidio The Walt Disney Family Museum "Opening this autumn" |
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| Sonoma Sonoma Valley Museum of Art 551 Broadway, Sonoma CA 95476 (707) 939-7862 Sordid and Sacred: The Beggars in Rembrandt's Etchings APRIL 18 - JUNE 7, 2009 |
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Santa Rosa Sonoma County Museum Ansel Adams: Masterworks April 17 through June 13, 2009 . |
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| Monterey Monterey Museum of Art Important works of Monterey from the Permanent Collection |
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Ukiah |
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| Sacramento Crocker Art Museum Permanent Exhibit, plus Animals in the Drawing Room: Portraits by Mari Kloeppel February 6 – May 31, 2009 |
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Sacramento Capitol Museum Permanent Exhibits |
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| San Jose San Jose Museum of Art Women’s Work: Contemporary Women Printmakers from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation through Aug 16, 2009 |
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Irvine The Irvine Museum The Good Life California Watercolors, 1930-1950 through May 16 |
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| San Diego San Diego Museum of Art Collections in Context: New Acquisitions and Long-held Strengths at SDMA |
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Palm Springs Palm Springs Art Museum Desert Painting from the permanent collection 02.11.09 - 05.09.09 ANNENBERG WING |
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| Pasadena Norton Simon Museum Matisse’s Amours: Illustrations of Pierre de Ronsard’s Love Poems February 13–June 8, 2009 |
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Newport Beach Orange County Musuem of Art Illumination: The Paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin, and Florence Miller Pierce May 3-September 6, 2009 |
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Seattle, WA |
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Portland, OR Portland Art Museum Permanent Collection |
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| Dallas, TX Dallas Museum of Art Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs October 3, 2008–May 17, 2009 Exhibit Coming to SF's de Young Museum, Summer, '09 |
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Chicago, IL Art Institute of Chicago Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Collection Returns to New Galleries - Ongoing Galleries 201, 230, and 240–249 |
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| Washington D.C. The Renwick Gallery 1934: A New Deal for Artists Now through January 3, 2010 |
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Washington D.C. The National Gallery |
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| Atlanta, GA High Museum of Art Vermeer's The Astronomer "Evolution and Exploration of the MASTERPIECE," through September 6, 2009 |
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Roanoke, VA The Taubman Museum 19th & 20th Century Paintings John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Robert Henri, Childe Hassam & others. Permanent Exhibit |
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