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Now showing The California Desert
Paintings of Kathi Hilton
Bodega Bay Heritage
Gallery Monthly - October 2012 Celebrating California, American & Western Art,
Wednesdays through Sundays, 11:00 - 4:00 (& by appointment 707-875-2911)
1785 Coast Highway One, Bodega Bay, CA 94923
BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com / Art@BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com
Also showing,
new from Joshua Meador:
Joshua Meador's Los Altos Ranch
Kathi at the reception for her work at the Twentyine Palms Art Gallery in September
Kathi Hilton &
The California Desert
Kathi Hilton has impact. Gallery visitors praise her style. They stop, pause, inhale and involve themselves with her artistry.
They use adjectives like "luminescent, bright, soft, feminine and poetic." They marvel at how much is communicated with Kathi's delicate hues and soft colors. They analyze Kathi's backgrounds, often distant mountains against expansive skies gently transitioning from darker to lighter tones, comparing them with her impasto textured foregrounds of desert rocks and arid plants. And often, they add comments, softly saying in a near whisper, "I never knew the desert was so beautiful."
Kathi has an impressive artistic pedigree.
Her father was the famous desert painter, John W. Hilton, a master at rendering desert light and hues. He was truly a learned and renaissance man especially tuned in to the desert, its geology, its botany, its zoology, and its Indian cultures.
Kathi's father had a magnetic personality, attracting similarly minded and passionate people, many
Windows in Time, 18 x 24
Stardust, 18 x 24
Whispering Dawn, 24 x 18
of them accomplished in a wide variety of endeavors, all sturdy enough to endure the harshness of the desert, yet sensitive enough to exalt its majesty and beauty.
While growing up, Kathi's father's friends became her artistic uncles, among them Maynard Dixon, Jimmy Swinnerton and Clyde Forsythe and Marjorie Reed (also Kathi's baby sitter). John's friends also included non-artists. On several occasions, Howard Hughes flew out to visit John from Los Angeles to John's art gallery and gem shop in Coachella, landing his airplane on the highway out front. One time, he brought lobster for Kathi's birthday feast.
Glowing Moment,
20 x 7
Dunes in Spring Dress, 15 x 30
Kathi's painting style is closely attuned to her father's, but there are ways they differ.
Kathi's artistry is cradled in her kindly and personable nature. She paints almost exclusively with a palette knife, creating strikingly contrasting effects. Her smoothly painted backgrounds transition to textured foregrounds. Her soft color is achieved through the use of fossil wax, a mineral substance which reduces ultra violet rays nearly one-hundred percent. Kathi says this is one of the ways she achieves her soft luminosity.
Symphony in Sand, 36 x 48
Awakening Spring, 20 x 24
Beckoning Palms, 24 x 36
Like other families, Kathi's family had its share of difficulties. She doesn't like to dwell on it, but the divorce between John and her mother resulted in a four year long estrangement between her father and herself. Over time, the difficulties were eventually overcome. Forgiveness and reconciliation allowed Kathi to reestablish a closer relationship with her father in his later years, including John and Kathi sharing several joint exhibitions.
Enchanted Oasis, 16 x 20
Sands in Spring Dress, 24 x 30
First Kiss of Fall, Grand Teton National Park, 16 x 20
John built a new home and a new life in Twentynine Palms where his magnetic and gregarious personality served him well.
At an open-air art show in Palm Springs, John Hilton met General Eisenhower. During WWII, Ike had learned from Winston Churchill the value of painting as a solitary and contemplative way to balance the demands of office. After the war, Ike took up painting.
When Ike served as President, Ike's aides would later say, the most secret place in the White House was the President's closeted studio in the second floor residence.
At that open-air art show in Palm Springs, Ike touched a fresh work by John Hilton, and immediately apologized to Hilton for leaving a finger print in the still wet paint. John graciously accepted Ike's apology and retorted, "That's OK General, you just raised the price of that painting significantly."
Touched by His Grace, 24 x 30
Tranquil Moment, Grand Teton National Park, 12 x 16
Golden Promise, 15 x 30
From this encounter, yet another Hilton friendship was born. Thereafter, when Ike visited Palm Springs, he would often go missing for hours. Only the President's driver knew he was over at Hilton's house painting. In 1957, John Hilton was invited to Washington for Ike's second inaugural, and John presented the President with a painting which Ike placed in the Oval Office. (See previous newsletter article)
John Hilton also enjoyed a friendship with one of his Twentynine Palms neighbors, actor James Cagney.
Joshua Dawn, 20 x 16
Whispering Dawn, miniature pair, each 5 x 5
Like so many of John Hilton's friends, Cagney had a passion for the desert and truly loved the privacy and quiet he could find outside Hollywood. He enjoyed John Hilton's olympic-sized, sand-bottomed, thermally-heated, mineral-water pool, and would spend hours painting with Hilton in John's home studio. Kathi, who independently enjoyed a friendship with James Cagney's daughter and knew Jimmy in Los Angeles, grew even closer with him when she discovered the actor's close friendship with her father.
Flowering White Yuccas, 20 x 24
Enchanted Desert, 24 x 36
Dawns Dream, 18 x 24
After Kathi had achieved some fame in her own right, she went to Jimmy for some advice. She told him that although many people enjoyed her paintings, they were always comparing them to those of her father. Kathi often retells the tale of the best advice she ever received. Jimmy responded to her saying, "Don't you worry about that Katy, you just paint what's in your heart."
Dawn in the Palms, 11 x 14
Kathi took that advice and never again worried about how her work compared with her father's. She says with a twinkle in her eye, that she paints as Jimmy advised her, with her heart. Her show in September at the Twentynine Palms Art Gallery was quite a celebration. Kathi was interviewed by the local press and met with people she had known back in her Twentynine Palms days.
We are most pleased to host Kathi Hilton & The California Desert in Bodega Bay. For those who have spent any time at all in the magical land surrounding Palm Springs, the Salton Sea, Death Valley, or Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park, you will particularly enjoy this show. So make to visit in October and experience Kathi's interpretation of the enchanted majesty of the California Desert. She'd be thrilled to learn you've chosen to add one of her works to your collection.
Kathi is best known for her paintings, but she has also worked with bronze.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
presents "Shipwreck!
Winslow Homer and The Life Line"
A conversation between Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker while standing before Winslow Homer's "The Life Line" painted in 1884, with additional photos of the Tenth Street Studio Building where Winslow Homer had his New York Studio, and of Winslow Homer's "Northeaster" painted in 1895.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has created an exhibition seeking to achieve a deeper understanding of Winslow Homer’s thoughts as he created his masterpiece The Life Line (1884).
The historic record is filled with ample examples of maritime disasters and heroic feats and sacrifice. In The Life Line, Winslow Homer attempts to address an age old theme, the drama of people facing life-threatening and fearful situations. When wind and wave well up and create anxious and dire circumstances, how do humans respond? How do desperate circumstances help people find the strength to spring into action, willing to take the necessary risks to attempt heroic rescue?
The exhibition opens with "Shipwreck," marine catastrophes from the first great age of sailing ships ranging from the 17th through the mid 19th centuries. Next, museum patrons will experience, "They're Saved! They're Saved!," where the romance of rescue is explored, often featuring burly heros and damsels in distress.
Homer's The Life Line draws heavily from this traditional lore of shipwrecks. Disasters of this sort were a common occurrence when travel and commerce relied on sailing ships and the intrepid sailors who manned them.
Examples of Homer's work both before and after The Life Line show how Winslow was intrigued by the struggle for survival within the context of maritime disasters. The dimensions of the maritime drama are many, including the story of the struggle, the joy of successful rescue, and all too often, the stoicism exhibited in the face of tragedy and loss.
The William S. Paley Collection, from
NY's Museum of Modern Art,
A Taste for Modernism, now at the de Young
William S. Paley spent his life pointing others to informative and interesting ideas. He built CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting Company. His influential demand for excellence raised the quality of news and entertainment. Paley always sought to inform, influence and at times inspire Americans' understanding of themselves and their place in the world. Outside the office, Paley continued his informative, influential and inspiring ways through his energetic promotion and association with the arts.
William S. Paley, founder of CBS
1990 documentary, introduction and conclusions by correspondent Dan Rather
on the occasion of Mr. Paley's passing
The William S. Paley Collection: A Taste for Modernism presents paintings, sculptures and drawings from the late 19th century through 1970. Most of the works are from French Post-Impressionism and Modernism with works by Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, Andre Derain, Georges Rouault, Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard. Here is a sampling of what is currently at the de Young.
Francis Bacon 1909 - 1992, Study for Three heads
Paul Cezanne, Milk Can with Apples, 1879-80
Paul Gauguin, Seed of the Areoi, 1892
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Madame Lili Grenier, 1888
Paul Degas, Two Dancers, Pastel and Charcoal, 1905
Henri Matisse, Odalisque With a Tambourine, 1925-26
(an odalisk is a term for a bedroom maid, derived from a Turkish term for the lowest ranking servant of a harem.)
Pablo Picasso, Boy Leading a Horse,
Henri Matisse, Woman with a Veil, 1927
Georges Rouault, The Clown, 1907
Paley was the son of a Jewish immigrant family from the Ukraine. His father was a successful entrepreneur, establishing a highly profitable cigar business. As a young man, Paley was groomed to take over the family business. He received a good education, attending a military academy in Illinois and then a earning a business degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1927, the very early days of radio, Paley's family secured controlling interest in a string of 16 radio stations. The initial goal was to use the airwaves to promote their "La Palina" cigars. Cigar sales soon doubled, and within a decade, the string of 16 radio stations became a network of 114 affiliates.
Henri Matisse, Seated Woman with a Vase, 1941
Andre Derain, Bridge over the Riou, 1906
From his early days in radio, Paley learned that good inexpensive programing provided to station owners could sell advertising, bringing in huge profits for a network. Paley also observed the potential of electronic media for informing people. In the dark days before World War II, Paley built his Columbia Broadcasting System into an informative and powerful force, expanding its CBS news division as well as the entertainment wing.
During the war, Paley was commissioned a Colonel the psychological warfare branch of the Office of War Information under Gen. Eisenhower.
Edward R. Murrow, Person to Person, 1953-1958
Ed Murrow documentary, Harvest of Shame, 1960
Reporting on John Glenn's Launching in 1962
Cronkite announcing President Kennedy had died 1963
Cronkite Covers the
First Moon Landing 1969
While based in London, he became close friends with the CBS News Chief, Edward R. Murrow. Soon after the war, Paley returned to New York to head CBS. He built Columbia Records which introduced through its CBS Laboratories the 33 1/3 rpm long playing record to compete with RCA's 45 rpm disk. And then came the age of television. Paley's long experience in radio had prepped him
well. He applied his decades of experience in this new medium.
Today, Paley is credited with being the genius who laid down the bedrock of what broadcasting could offer. One of his major accomplishments was demanding the independence of the news and entertainment divisions.
From the best of Edward R. Murrow through the coverage of the early days of the space program and onto the establishment of 60 minutes, quality and independence in the news division was one of Paley's greatest accomplishments.
Jack Benny,
Radio and TV Pioneer
Gracie Allen & George Burns, Radio transitions to TV
Sitcom, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnez, Vivian Vance & William Crawley
Western, Gunsmoke with James Arness & Dennis Weaver
Variety, Ed Sullivan presents Elvis, the Beatles and more
In entertainment, Paley had his hand in creating a long list of icons of American pop culture. In the radio days, old polished vaudeville performers transitioned their honed comedic timing and stage presence to radio. Jack Benny and the comedic team of Burns and Allen brought their magic to the airwaves. Later, many radio stars transitioned to television where Paley placed his demand for quality and innovation.
GALLERY HOURS are 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. We are also available for scheduled appointments, especially for those who wish to view the gallery on Mondays or Tuesdays. Please call Dan at the gallery and schedule a visit, or call him on his cell, phone, 510-414-9821
Gallery visitors often ask Dan if he is an artist. So far, the answer has been no, but now he's published. His Bodega Bay Bobcat
was printed in the October 1st issue of The Press Democrat. No, he won't quit his day job. The bobcat was seen strolling the third hole of Bodega Harbour's golf course, looking for a lost ball no doubt.
Johaness Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring will be in San Francisco before you know it,
along with Dutch paintings from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague.
Herbst Exhibition Galleries, The de Young Museum, Jan 26 - Jun 2, 2013
The exhibition features 35 paintings representing 17th-century painting in the Dutch Republic. Among the works traveling to the United States are the Mauritshius' celebrated masterpiece Girl with the Pearl Earring (c. 1665) by Johannes Vermeer and the enchanting The Goldfinch (1654) by Carel Fabritius. The painting Vase of Flowers by the gifted Rachel Ruysch, one of the few female painters of the Dutch Golden Age, is being restored especially for the American tour.
What's showing in Bodega Bay?
Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery 1785 Coast Highway One, Bodega Bay, CA 94923, 707-875-2911| Map & Location Celebrating Early California, Western and American Art
- original paintings by famous artists of the past Now showing ... Kathi Hilton & the California Desert plus Bodega Bay resident artists
Jean Warren (watercolors), Diane Perry (photography), and Linda Sorensen (oil paintings)
The Ren Brown Collection
"Established in 1989 and specializes in contemporary art from both sides of the Pacific. Paul Jacoulet - special woodblock exhibit http://www.renbrown.com | Back to the Top
Local Color Artist Gallery Now showing .... Transitions: Artists Wanda McManus, Jim Butcher & Adam Bradley Local Color Gallery proudly present the work of over 25 Sonoma County artists,
painters, sculptors, printmakers photographers and & creators of hand crafted jewelry Gallery Hours, daily 10 AM to 5 PM 1580 Eastshore Dr., Bodega Bay 707-875-2744 | http://www.localcolorgallery.com | Back to the Top
What's showing nearby?
in Sonoma, Napa & Marin Counties
IN DUNCANS MILLS Christopher Queen Galleries 3 miles east of Hwy 1 on Hwy 116 on the Russian River
Yesterday and Today New works by gallery artists and showing the influence of Early California paintings
through December http://www.christopherqueengallery.com |707-865-1318| Back to the Top
IN DUNCANS MILLS Quercia Gallery "Fleeting Spaces" pastel paintings by Jan Thomas & Oils by Cynthia Jackson-Hein through October 29 Hours: 11am-5pm, Thur - Mon (707) 865-0243 http://www.quercia-gallery.com |Back to the Top
IN Santa Rosa The Annex Galleries specializing in 19th, 20th, and 21st century
American and European fine prints The Annex Galleries is a member of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA). http://www.AnnexGalleries.com| Back to the Top
IN CALISTOGA the Lee Youngman Gallery
Featuring the work of contemporary painter Paul Youngman,
and the works of famed painter, Ralph Love (1907-1992) http://www.leeyoungmangalleries.com | Back to the Top
Left ... Lee Youngman, Right ... Paul Yougman
Paul Youngman
IN TOMALES Tomales Fine Art Host artist Janette LeGrue Featuring local and national, award-winning artists:
Anne Blair Brown, Christin Coy, Timothy Horn, Debra Huse, Jeanette Le Grue,
John Poon, Randall Sexton, Brian Mark Taylor, and Antoinette Walker. jeanette@legrue.com / www.LeGrue.com Open most weekends 12-5pm, and by appointment (707) 878-2525.http://www.TomalesFineArt.com| Back to the Top
IN FORESTVILLE The Quicksilver Mine Co. 6671 Front St. (Hwy. 116) Downtown Forestville PHONE: 707.887.0799 Lyrical Complexities, the sculpture of Charles Fahlen, through Nov 11, 2012 http://www.quicksilvermineco.com Back to the Top
IN GRATON Graton Gallery http://www.gratongallery.com Art Trails Preview Show, through Oct 21
Graton Gallery | (707) 829-8912 | artshow@gratongallery.com 9048 Graton Road, Graton CA 95444 | Open Wednesday ~ Saturday 10:30 to 6, Sunday 10:30 to 4
IN VALLEY FORD West County Design West County Design provides an unexpected center of artistic sophistication in the charming town of Valley Ford in West Sonoma County. The business serves as a showroom for Bohemian Stoneworks, Current Carpets and Craig Collins Furniture. The gallery also showcases local artisans and quality furnishings for home and business. (Across from the Valley Ford Hotel and its famed Rocker Oysterfeller's Restaurant) http://www.westcountydesign.com |Back to the Top
Right ... Silouette of Cypress, Kai Samuel-Davis
IN PETALUMAVintage 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 101 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma, CA 94952, ph: 707.769.3097 http://vintagebankantiques.com | Back to the Top
San Francisco de Young Museum The William S. Paley Collection:
A Taste for Modernism
Sept 15 - Dec 30
San Francisco California Historical Society A Wild Flight of the Imagination
Story of the Golden Gate Bridge through Oct 14
San Francisco Legion of Honor
Man Ray and Lee Miller: Partners in Surrealism, through Oct 14
Royal Treasures from the Louvre
Louis XIV to Marie-Antoinette
Nov 17 - Mar 17
San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum California Dreaming
Jewish Life in the Bay Area from
the Gold Rush to the Present through Oct 16
Moraga
Hearst Art Gallery Art of the Cross, through Dec 16 Nyame Brown: John Henry’s
Adventures in a Post-Black World, through Dec 9 Missions of Will Sparks, through Dec 9
Bolinas
Bolinas Museum featuring their permanent collection,
including Ludmilla and Thadeus Welch,
Arthur William Best, Jack Wisby, Russell Chatham,
Alfred Farnsworth.
(thumbnail right ... a portion of
Elizabeth Holland McDaniel's Bolinas Embarcadero.
The green roof building on Wharf Street
is the Bolinas Museum)
Captured: Specimens in Contemporary Art
through Nov 18
San Jose San Jose Museum of Art approximately 2,000 20th & 21st century artworks including paintings, sculptur, new media, photography, drawings, prints, and artist books.
Los Angeles Los Angeles Museum of Art Art of the Americas, Level 3:
Artworks of paintings and sculptures from the colonial period to World War II— a survey of of art and culture
& "Levitated Mass"
Pasadena The Huntington Library
American Art Collection Paintings by John Singer Sargent,
Edward Hopper, Robert Henri, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, William Keith, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Hart Benton and many more.
Cedar Rapids, IA The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
Grant Wood: In Focus
is an ongoing permanent collection exhibition. Marvin Cone: An America Master
Sep 29 - Jan 30, 2013
Dawn in the Palms, 11 x 14
Paul Gauguin, Seed of the Areoi, 1892
