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Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Monthly October 2008 News, Articles, and Opinions from the world of California’s Heritage Art & Beyond |
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Celebrating Early California, Western, and American art 1580 Eastshore Road, PO Box 325 Bodega Bay, CA 94923, 707-875-2911 Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays, Noon until 5:00 PM (or prearranged appointment) email: Art@BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com | www.BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com |
![]() Linda Sorensen & Daniel Rohlfing |
New Gallery Exhibit beginning October 3, "Specialties of our Gallery " click to see the online preview |
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What is showing at our neighboring galleries?
Left - Paul Youngman of the Lee Youngman Gallery in Calistoga |
Museum Links: Current exhibits relating to Early California Art Right-Sacramento's Crocker Museum |
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Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Notes |
Carl Sammons 1886 - 1968 | ![]() |
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![]() 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, California, in |
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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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Youngstown, Ohio's Butler Museum Acquires Norman Rockwell's, "Lincoln the Railsplitter" | ![]() |
On hand at the special acquisition ceremony in Youngstown was Lincoln descendent, Ralph C. Lincoln. |
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Of this work Norman Rockwell wrote, “I hope this painting might inspire the youth of this land to appreciate this man who believed so much in the value of education.” |
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A large canvas, "Lincoln the Railsplitter" is a bit taller than Lincoln, measuring 85 1/2 inches x 44 inches. Rockwell did the work in 1965 as a commission for the Lincoln Bank of Spokane, Washington. The Butler Museum acquired the painting at Christies in New York in 2006. "Lincoln for the Defense" resides at the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and was created as an illustration for a Saturday Evening Post story in February, 1962. Back to the Top |
The National Gallery presents the Indian Paintings of George de Forest Brush September 14, 2008–January 4, 2009 |
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![]() Portrait of an Indian 1887 |
![]() An Aztec Sculptor 1887 |
![]() An Aztec Potter 1887 8 1/8" x 15 3/8" Vintage Print, Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Collection, Contact Gallery |
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Long prized by collectors but seldom seen by the public, this exhibit of the works of George de Forest Brush has been inspired by the rediscovery of de Forest Brush's 1887 painting of "An Aztec Sculptor." |
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The exhibit of 21 paintings includes sculptures of Arapahoe and Shoshone men from 1882. George de Forest Brush acquired his painting skills in Paris and put them to use in the American West. He called himself an "ethnographer," using his art to address contemporary issues. His concern was that in his day's rush to industrialization and modernism, the world was losing its appreciation of art born of craft and tradition. Young George's talent was noticed by a portrait artist while he as a child. He studied at the Academy of Design in New York and the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1882, he traveled to Wyoming and lived on the Wind River Reservation for several months and then traveled to Montana were he spent a year living among the Crow Nation. After he returned to New York, he taught at the Art Student's League where he composed some of his Indian paintings that quickly brought him to the attention of collectors. Throughout the 1880's, he focused on his Indian paintings, traveling to Florida and Canada hoping to paint Indians in their own environment. But his 1880's work with Indians endures. They were popular with collectors of his day, providing a curse and a blessing. The curse was that they were spread widely among collectors and were never seen as a body of work. The blessing: many survive to this day. The National Gallery's exhibit will be the largest collection of these works. Should you be unable to travel to Washington and yet would like to see a similarly delightful and sensitive look at an amazing artist and "ethnographer," may we suggest a visit to the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah. The curator of George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings, is Nancy K. Anderson, curator of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art. She was also the curator and principal catalogue author for Thomas Moran (1997) and Frederic Remington: The Color of Night (2003). Visit The National Gallery Website Back to the Top |
Vincent Van Gogh at MoMA NY | ![]() Eugene Boch (The Poet), 1888 Vincent van Gogh |
In collaboration with the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in New York presents an examination of Van Gogh's view of the night, exhibiting nocturnal interiors and landscapes along with longstanding Van Gogh themes of peasant life, sowers, wheatfields, and expanding civilization encroaching on the rural world. |
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The exhibit at MoMA runs through January 5, 2009. Afterward, it will be on exhibit at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam February 13 - June 7, 2009. The exhibit divides Van Gogh's night scenes into four groups. "Early Landscapes" features Van Gogh's earliest landscapes at dusk, painted between 1883 and 1884. "Peasant Life" shows the peasants of Nuenen in the Southern Dutch province of Brabant, featuring The Potato Eaters in 1885. "Sowers and Wheatfields" shows Van Gogh's interest in the sowing of wheat, including The Wheat Sower from 1888. The last section, "Poetry of the Night" is split into two sections, "The Town" featuring works such as The Night Cafe 1888, and "The Country," centering on Van Gogh's painting, The Starry Night. |
The Rape of Europa DVD - Documentary Film of the Nazi Art Heist of WWII |
See the trailer |
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As you look closer, the theft and destruction of Europe’s art treasures is but an extension of the murderous domination perpetuated by the Nazis. Their destroying and pillaging of Europe's art treasures was the same murderous act done to Europe's innocents, this time perpetrated on the artistic expressions of the vibrancy of culture itself.
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The Rape of Europa is an epic journey through seven countries, into the violent whirlwind of fanaticism, greed, and warfare that threatened to wipe out the artistic heritage of Europe. For twelve long years, the Nazis looted and destroyed art on a scale unprecedented in history. But heroic young art historians and curators from America and across Europe fought back with a miraculous campaign to rescue and return the millions of lost, hidden and stolen treasures. Hitler is shown not only wanting to wipe out an entire people, but their art and heritage as well. Art treasures of the Jewish, Slovac, Polish, and Russian traditions were destroyed. Meanwhile, art treasures of Germanic, French and Italian art were stolen for a large museum envisioned by Hitler, but many of the pieces pillaged found their way into the homes of Nazi officers. Herman Goering “acquired” many of these works. The film also shows the inadvertent losses European art suffered under the force of liberating allied bombers, and the extreme efforts of art loving citizens who helped hide art from the Nazis and recover stolen art from them. It tells the story of art heroes; museum employees who removed and relocated 400,000 art pieces from the Louvre; and the story of the “Monument Men” from the U.S. military who had the job of restoring looted art. This film addresses the mission, the heroic tale of the attempt to preserve beauty in the midst of ugliness. By viewing the polarities of human possibility, the ability to create art and the ability to make war, perhaps we can all better understand for ourselves why the love of art and artistic expression is key to helping us avoid the darker side of human possibilities. |
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![]() Nazi soldiers displaying looted art |
![]() Hitler and Goering acquiring some of the spoils of war |
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Impressionists at Portland, Maine's Portland Museum of Art | |
![]() John Singer Sargent A Stream Over Rocks, 1909 |
Here's a nod to our clients and friends on the East Coast. In Portland Maine, The Portland Museum of Art exhibits impressionist masterpieces from the Brooklyn Museum Collection. The exhibit includes works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Eugène-Louis Boudin, John Singer Sargent, George Inness, Childe Hassam, Camille Pissaro, Gustave Courbet, and their peers. The exhibit features forty works and explores the development of modern sensibilities found in the plein-air traditions of France and the United States. Several paintings by Claude Monet will be shown, along with explanations of the master's regimen. After he selected a subject, he would position himself and observe his subject for hours over several days and in some cases for months, noting the changing light and atmospheric effects, and then would render a series of paintings of the same subject in different lighting and atmospheric conditions. Read more |
![]() Above: Pierre-Auguste Renoir Vineyards at Cagnes, 1908 Right John Singer Sargent Dolce Far Niente. 1907 |
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American painters followed in the footsteps of their French archetypes, and many studied in Paris. When these artists returned to American shores, they sought to paint American themes expressing their rich progressive aesthetics, producing vibrant and innovative canvases. The Brooklyn Musuem strives to show the connection between French roots of Impressionism and American impressionist painters. To this end, it has recently added Hassam's Poppies on the Isles of Shoals 1890 and Cailebotes' The Railroad Bridge at Argenteuil 1885. Both are included in this exhibition. The Portland Museum of Art is the largest art museum in Maine. It possesses 17,000 objects housed in three historic buildings showcasing America's art and architecture. Visit their website. | Back to the Top |
The Art of War: American Posters from World War I and World War II Pasadena's Norton Simon War Poster Exhibit |
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![]() James Montgomery Flagg Poster, 30 x 40 |
Norton Simon Exhibit features 33 government commissioned posters from World Wars I & II from some of the nations most prominent early 20th century artists. |
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Just in time for election season, Pasadena's Norton Simon Museum offers an opportunity to explore the ongoing dialogue between the political mood and visual art. These posters were created in the golden age of American illustration by artists who were classically trained and had honed their skills in the world of magazine illustration and advertising. Many of these vibrant pieces of visual propaganda have rarely been on view, and some haven't been seen since they were used for their wartime purposes. A clear difference can be seen in the evolution in the graphic arts in the years between the wars. By the 1940's, influences of photography, cinema, and design had all made their impact. Included in the exhibit are works by Norman Rockwell, Howard Chandler Christy, and J. C. Leyendecker. |
"United We Win" 1943 |
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Learn more by visiting the Norton Simon Museum website. Back to the Top |
Courtesy of the USPS, you may send a "Bierstadt" |
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Now you may mail Bierstadt, the stamp. The original Valley of the Yosemite measures 11 7/8 inches by 19 1/4 inches, and resides in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. |
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In one of the most intense years of the Civil War, some attention was paid to the West. Nevada became the 36th state and Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Land Grant, protecting 39,000 acres and the neighboring Mariposa Big Tree Grove. And on scene to give people a sense of the grandeur of this land was Albert Bierstadt. He loved nature, adventure, and America and found all three in |
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the American West. Bierstadt mixed reality and artistry to capture the spirit of the nation growing into its own destiny. |
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What is showing at our neighboring galleries? |
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IN BODEGA BAY Local Color Gallery & Framing |
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IN BODEGA BAY The Ren Brown Collection located an hour north of San Francisco in Bodega Bay. The gallery was established in 1989 and specializes in contemporary art from both sides of the Pacific. On Hwy 1 just a short stroll from the other two galleries. Current Show: HAYASHI Takahiko Form and Texture Paintings on glass & fabric and Etchings on paper September 11 - October 12, 2008 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: "Bohemian Reverie" 18th Annual Exhibition Paintings by Artists of the Bohemian Club 1870's to 1920's Through October Beginning in November: Favorite contemporary artists of CQ Galleries (To the right, self portrait of famed Bohemian Club artist Xavier Martinez) http://www.christopherqueengallery.com/earlycal.html Back to the Top |
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IN DUNCANS MILLS Quercia Gallery featuring the paintings and framing of Ron Quercia Beginning in December, Fruit Bowl, Still Life Paintings, Bowls & Platters PO Box 246, Duncans Mills, CA 95430 (along the Russian River) and just steps away from Christopher Queen Galleries Hours: 11am-5pm, Thur - Mon (707) 865-0243 http://www.quercia-gallery.com 707-865-0243 Back to the Top |
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IN CALISTOGA the Lee Youngman Gallery |
![]() Paul Youngman "Mustard" |
NEW IN TOMALES Tomales Fine Arts |
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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 Gallery Show: ARTrails Preview Exhibition September 30 - October 26 Opening Reception: Sunday October 5, 3-6 pm Preview artworks of over 30 Artists participating in the 2008 ARTrails Open Studios Tour - 2 weekends; Oct. 11-2 & 18-19 http://www.gratongallery.com/ Back to the Top |
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IN VALLEY FORD West County Design offers fine wood tables, polished concrete vanities, counter tops and furniture, glass, ceramic, wood, metal, custom and limited edition art and furniture for home & office. Currently Showing: Charles Beck, Paintings, Images of Sonoma County and Sylvia Gonzalez Giclees Fruits and Vegetables 14390 Highway One • Valley Ford, CA 94972 • 707.876.1963 (Across from the Valley Ford Hotel and Rocker Oysterfeller's Restaurant) http://www.westcountydesign.com | Back to the Top |
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IN SANTA ROSA Arts Council of Sonoma 404 Mendocino Ave, Ste C, Santa Rosa, CA 95401 707-542-3412 The ARTrails preview exhibit : Examples of works from the 'juried-in' artists will be on display until October 24th. ARTrails Open Studios will run on two weekends, October 11/12 and 18/19. A concurrent preview exhibit is at the Graton Gallery. http://www.sonomaarts.com / Back to the Top |
Links to current museum exhibits relevant to Early California Art and beyond |
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Oakland Oakland Museum of California Permanent gallery of historic art (undergoing renovation until 2009) The Art and History of Early California Dec '07 - ongoing |
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San Francisco de Young Museum de Young Museum: American Painting Collection |
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San Francisco California Historical Society Fine Arts Collection ... |
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San Francisco Legion of Honor Permanent Collection |
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Monterey Monterey Museum of Art Early California Collection |
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Moraga Hearst Art Gallery Saint Mary's College of California The Second Golden Age of Dutch Art 19th Century Paintings from the Beckhuis Collection |
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Sacramento Crocker Art Museum Permanent Exhibit: Early California Art |
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Santa Rosa Sonoma County Museum California Paintings Collection Thomas Hill, William Keith, Hugo Anton Fisher, Sydney Tilden Daken, Lizbeth Hoen and Lorenzo Latimer through Jan 11, 1009 |
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Sacramento Capitol Museum 150 years of urban portraits capturing the growth of California’s towns |
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Ukiah Grace Hudson Museum Grace Hudson permanent collection http://www.gracehudsonmuseum.org |
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San Diego San Diego Museum of Art Georgia O’Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle May 24–September 28, 2008 |
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Irvine |
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Pasadena Norton Simon Museum The Art of War: American Posters from World War I and World War II Through January 26, 2009 |
Palm Springs Palm Springs Art Museum Space Silence Spirit / Maynard Dixon's West: The Hays Collection Oct 18 - March 01, 2009 |
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Oceanside Oceanside Museum of Art Damngorgeous: Millard Sheets and his California Legacy September 14 – January 4, 2009 |
Santa Monica California Heritage Museum "Milford Zornes, Remembering an American Artist, 1908 - 2008" (A Memorial Exhibition) Aug 28 until Jan 25, 2009 |
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Seattle, WA Seattle Art Museum Edward Hopper's Women November 13, 2008–March 1, 2009 |
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Portland, OR Portland Art Museum Permanent Collection |
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Houston, TX The Museum of Fine Arts Houston In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet Through October 19, 2008 |
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Washington D.C. The National Gallery the Indian Paintings of George de Forest Brush September 14, 2008–January 4, 2009 |
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Fort Worth, TX |
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Washington D.C. The Rewick Gallery Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities September 26 -January 4, 2009 |
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Portland, ME Portland Musuem of Art Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism September 25 - January 4, 2009 works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, EugËne-Louis Boudin, John Singer Sargent, George Inness, Childe Hassam, Camille Pissaro, Gustave Courbet, and their peers |
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New York, NY Museum of Modern Art Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night Through January 5, 2009 View the online exhibition |
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