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NOT TO BE TAKEN FROM THE LIBRARY
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VOLUME SEVENTEEN
3
LlSi
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khF.^.vn-f. from WA Project
".P. 65-5-3632
SAN t'PiANcisco, calif;
WKOGRAPFIS TO Bli INCLODED IN THIS SERIES — BIOGRAPrlY AND V/ORKS
VOLUME I.
IKTRODUCTICN TO SERIES
NAHL FAl^ILY
VOLUME II.
'■rCUMK VITI.
DlXOi:, lAYiytSD
VAT! SIOUIT, FRAITl
VOLUME li.
vou: z XV,.
— -ll'CIHi, LEE
AIBRICKT, GSRTRiroE P.
iL^^RIGKT. OLIVER
KACICy, CCN3T«iCE
MAGIC/, E. SPEtTCER
VOLmS XVE.
KEITH, WIU.IAM
HILL, THOMAS
BIERSTADT, ALBERT
VOLmiE III.
::i, RAY
TTO, SRI4EST
iV!C COI.AS, FRjMTGIS
HANSEN, H. W.
HANSEN, ARiaN
TCLUliCE X.
BRUTOK SISTERS
FORBES, HELEN
HANUN, EDITH
CRAVATH, RlfTH B,
VOLUME UTEI .
ROSEIJTHAL, TOBY
TCJETTI, DOMinCO
WELCH, THADDEUS
ROBINSON, CHARLES D.
VOLUME IV.
DICKMAN, CHARLES
i\4ARTINEZ, XAVI2R
PETERS, CHARLES H.
WORES, THEODORE
VOLmj; XI.
HOWARD ?;i.aLY
VOLUl^ XVIII .
TA^rSRl^TISR, JULES
CAHLSEN, Er:iL
J-OJLLIN, AM3DEE
JORGENSEM, CHRIS
RIX, JULIAN
WILLIAtS, VIRGIL
VOLUIvffl V.
CADENYiSSO, GUISEPPE
POOIi;, KELSON
CUNEO, RIMAIDO
SPARKS, WILL
VOLUME XII,
BETHERS, R/iY
POMi'iER, JULIUS
GAW, V/ILLIAM
SHERID;J-, JOSEPH M.
VOLUME XIX.
v,t:throw, evelyti a.
richardson, kary c.
rape/^l, joseph
GR/ilW, CK^'vPLES •
BREUER, HENRY J.
ATKINS, ARTHUR
VCLUIv!E VI.
ABDY, .ROWENA M.
SARGEi'JTT, GSIffiVE-R.
FORTUIK, E. CI:ARLT0jI
VOLUME XIII.
UiBAUDT, LUCIEN
OLDFIELD, OTIS
BARTTES, rATHEYI
VOLtB/3: XX,
PUTNATif, ARTHUR
AITKEN, ROBERT I..
TILDEN, DOUGTJ^
CUI.'3iriNGS, E^iRL
VOLUtffi VII.
SAiroOl-lA, MATTEO
ILYIN FM^LY
DEL PIIIO, J.- MOYA
VDLmCS XIV. .
PART ONE
YC'JICG MODERNS
VaLU"KE XX.
MATHE;7S, ARTHUR
PIAZZONI, GOTTARDO
BRE^JER, ANNE
STACIvPOLE, RALPH
Ii50RA, JO
BUF/JIO, BEI>II/Ji'IINO
PART TWO
YOUNG MODERNS
Vol. XVII
MONOGRAPHS
JOHN GALEN HOWARD
ROBERT BOARDMAN HOWARD
CHARLES HOUGHTON HOWARD
JOHN LANQLEY HOWARD
ADALINE KENT
(mS. ROBERT 30ARDMN HOWARD)
JANE BERLANDINA
(MRS. HSiNlRY TE:;IPLE HOWARD)
Gene Halley, Editor
Abstract from California Art Research
W.P.A. Pro.lect 2874, O.P. 65-5-263^
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGES
THE HOWARD FAKIILY
FOREWORD 1
INTRODUCTION 11
JOHN GALEN HOWARD 1
Genealogy and Education 1
Architectural Career In the East 1
Marriage and Fajnily 2
Diverse Activities 3
University of California Competition 3
Founding of College of Architecture 4
The San Francisco Fire — 1906 Reconstruction 4
Doclsion to Remain in California 5
"Brune-llis'chi" 6
War an'd Pos t-War Work 7
"Phei dins ".-.'. 8
Death of the Architect 10
ROBERT BO'ARDIAAN HOWARD 13
Early Life 13
Individual Education 14
Woodstock 16
Post-War Period Overseas 17
California Again. 17
New York and Europe 20
The •Sassanian Monument 20
Return to San Francisco 21
Drum House Dome 2?
World Tour 23
San Francisco Exhibitions— 1929 25
Murals and Carvings 27
San Francisco Stock Exchange 27
Marriage 29
The Artist Today . '. 32
Representative Works 34
Exhibitions 36
Awards 37
Clubs 38
Bibliogri«)hy 39
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r
TABLE OF CONTENTS (oont.)
PAGES
CHARLES KOUaHTON HOWARD 40
Youth and Education 40
Fron Author to Artist 41
Pictorial Satire 42
Abstraction 43
"Surrealism and Emptiness" 45
The Artist • s Congress 49
At Home — London 50
Representative Works 51
Private Collections 51
Exhibitions 52
Bibliography 53
JOHN LA^JGLEY HOWARD 54
Education 54
Nev/ York and European Studies 55
Reactions to Art Training 56
Travel and Marriage 58
First Exhibitions 59
San Francisco Studio 61
Awakening to World Conditions 63
Varying Themes 66
Coit Tower Murals 69
Newspaper Controversies 72
Art Critics Challenge Viewpoint 76
Santa Fe 78
Exhibitions and a Prize 79
Critics Appraise and Applaud 80
The American Idiom and Scene 82
Home to Monterey ; 84
Conclusion 86
Representative Worlcs 87
Private Collections 88
Permanent Collections 88
Exhibitions 88
Awards 90
Clubs 90
Bibliography 91
L
TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.)
PAGES
ADALINE KENT (J,':RS. ROBERT 3. HOWARD) 93
The Kent Family 93
Education 94
Paris Period~1925-1929 95
San Francisco Exhibition 97
Marriage ancl Children 99
Sculptural Theory 101
Personal Atti-lbutes 103
Representative IJ^rks 105
Private Collections 106
Permanent Collections 106
Exhibitions 107
Awards 108
Clubs 108
Bibliography 109
JANE PERLANDINA (HR5. HENRY T. HOWARD) 110
Early Life in France 110
Fost-War Conditions 112
Art in Paris 113
America and New Yor'': 115
The Brunmer Exhibition 117
France and Marriage 118
San Francisco Exhibitions 119
Mural Decorations 121
¥■:■■•] York Coniaents 126
Colt Tower Decorations 127
Mural "Technique 131
European Sketching Trip 132
American Prestige 13o
Manner and I!^ethods 135
Organization and Pattern 137
International Reov.tation 139
The Modern Artist 140
Representative Works 143
Permanent Collections 144
Exhibitions 144
Awai'd s 146
Clubs 146
Bibliography 147
i^
FOREWORD
No monograph appears in this volume for Henry Temple
Howard, eldest son of John Galon Howard, or Janette, the only
daughter; they being those members of this talented family
whose activities lie outnide the field of fine art history
in Calif ornis. Both studied architecture under their father
at the University of Calif ornis. Henry is now a practicing
architect in San Francisco, and Janette 's active interest
in architecture ha3 been superseded by other avocations since
her marriage.
While Jane Borlandina and Adalino Kent are not
Howards by birth, the inclusion of their monographs is w,ar-
rantcd by their marriage into that fojnily. They arc, respec-
tively, the wives of Henry Temple and Rob--rt Boardraan Howard.
Adaline Kent is a C.\lifornian by birth — Jane Berla/idin?. by
marriage and personal choice.
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INTRODUCTION
John G-alen Howard, head of the talented Howards
set forth In those nonographs, cnjne to California as a recog-
nized, architect froa the E.-.st. In the early decades of the
twentieth century he entered upon a career that has been
marked by many trluPvhs. His was an Influence such as has
been exerted by fev? men on Western Anerican, and particularly
California, culture.
Sincerity and clear-sightedness v/ere the salient
traits of his character. He valued the characteristic of an
open r.ind above any other gift. The best obtainable \va,s al-
ways his aln. His buildings, hi.-; teachings and his nritings
are evidence of his efforts. Upon his family and his students
he impressed the theory that the essence of civilization is
constant growth and adjustnent. Always he stressed the para-
mount need of keeping creative work fluid in order tliat the
product become a unit of progress rather than a Ir.ndnark or
a mere re7>etition.
Of his five children, three of his sons becar.e
artists; the other son and daughter a-^chitects. All v/cre
given ample opportunity for natural, progressive education.
To them he imparted his own sincerity and progressiveness in
art; a taek in which he had the whole-hearted support of his
wife.
iii
The younger Howards, in their chosen careers, have
never pernltted the necessity for hard, consistent work to
deter them. The artist wives of the t\vo eldest Howard broth-
ers are both s^^lendidly equipped artistically and are contin-
ually adding luster to the name of Howard, as well as to their
own, by their attainments in the world of art.
a
THE HOUSE OF HOWARD
C7ENrAL0Gy"
twt Hfjiaraxd. rr.LL[cl.i'ob Jcnu liu pc^cd
J mU GALE H HOU.APD ^-.. ITl arj^' 'P;dbuir.t.^um B^adbiTXL^
B.I864 D,l93l . - -^ - ^
L4_IliB^i£. .Ei£aiL_Rt^_^ 3JiiI].6_,
HENRY TEnPLEm Janji Bi^ytiar-ri^na.
FWEKI EOABDMAKm. AdaQ.h^z¥ort
YJhn.Y^Qr^t G(Chn ^Cjinl,
CHARLE5 HOUGHTON
Sarnu(?.lL Louliwucc,
An pjb BAail'tuLA>
'^'
JAN p. TIE 7TL}^Qjgp>l l/NJQiiic^
JOHN GALEN HOWARD
GSNEALOaY AND EDUCATION
John Galon Hov.'ard, son of Dr. Lovi Ho\;ard and Lydla
Jane Hapgood, was born in Chclnaford, Masr.achusctts, May 8,
1864. His PilgrirTi ancestry dates bad: to the John Hov/ard who
ca-v.o as a boy in 1625 from England to Plymouth, was reared by
Captain Miles Str.ndish, and later settled in 3ridgev;ator, Mas-
sachusetts.
Of a family of four brothers, one a singer, and tv;o
physicians like their father, John Galen became an architect.
As a child he v/as pi-eoccupied with drawing plans of houses,
buildings, and bridges. He was not encouraged in these en-
deavors, but so strong was his deterninntion that he persis-
tently sketched plans throughout his school days. He was
graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1882, and at the
age of eighteen entered the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology for three years of architectural stuc.y,
ARCHITECTURAL C/uiESR IK THE EAST
In 1885 John Galen Howard entered the office of H.
H. Richardson in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he worked
until the sunner of 1888 for Shopley, Rutan and Coolidge,
Richardson's successors. He then spent r. year in California,
where he worked on plans for the old California Theatre on
Bush Street, San Francisco. He also made some adxiirable
sketches in vmtercolor and pen and ink. Then followed a trip
to Europe, after vrhich he enterec' the employ of McKin, Mead
and White In 1889, flrr-t In Boston and lator in Ko^/ York City.
Throub'h hi:3 friendship with Charles McKini, he cb-
taincd a loan f?ufficient to assure three yearn study at the
Ecolo des Beaux Arts in Paris, and by 1893, he had earned his
di-Qlonc in architecture, as v/ell as nodals in nathemo.ticsj
storeotony, archaeology and architootural design, and the
prizo avvardcd by the Inatitut do FrfTico for completing worl-: in
the second class in the shortest possible tine.
Returning to America he set up an independent prac-
tiC0 in New York City v/ith S. M. Cnuldv;ell. During the perioc
fron 1893 to 1901 his important v.'ork included the Hotel Ren-
aissance and others, theatre--^, ccunr^y homes rnd the Villa
Flonzaley in Lausanne, Switzerl nd. He also won a '/old medal
for his "Electric Tov;er" at thv^ Pan-American Ex-,)^3ition, Buf-
falo, New York.
I.1ARRIAC-S MP r.'U>/IILY
John Galen Howard and Mary Robertson Bradbury v:er3
carried in New York City August 1, 1893. Mrs. Howard v/as
born in Massachusetts of an old New England family. As a young
girl she nver-rode family objecti'^ns and went alone to Paris
to study art. Here she met the y^ung architectural student
rndat first they cordially disliked each other. V^hen they
met Ifi.ter in New York they fell in love.
From this time Mary Bradbury Howard turned all her
talents to fostering first her husband's and later her son's
talents. In 1894 the first son, Henry Temple, was loom; in
1896 the second son, Robert Boardraan; bnth in Nov/ York City.
Charles Houghton, the t::ird son was born early In 1899, after
the family had moved to Montclair, Nov/ Jersey. John Langley
waM born in 1902 in Montclair and the only daughter, Janotte,
was born in Berkeley, California, in 1906.
DIVERSE ACTIVITIES
Even during his college days, John Q-alen Howard
realized that he must express himself more fully than in his
architectural v;ork, and contributed s]:etches, short stories
;\nd verses to the college magazine.
Sensitive, scholarly and philosophical, his person-
al ta-^te inclined to noetry, and in 1867 he issued a volume
of verse entitled "Rose and Harp." Later he published various
articles on his architectural vie\;s; among then "The Final
Com.ientary, " "The Personal Equation," "An Art Critique,"
"French Gardens," and "A Letter to the American Architect."
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORKIA COl.'FSTITION
At the turn of the cent\iry v;hen the Phoebe Apperson
Hearst competition for a unified architectural plan fortho
University of California v;as announced, Howard cane west to
study the Berkeley can;..us. His \/ork was adjudged fourth, and
he returned to New York City to his practice. But in 1901,
when the work of the architect who had won the competition did
not progress satisfactorily, Mrs. Herrst telegraphed Howard
<
to come and supervise the constru'^tion of the Hearst Memorial
Mining Building. Before the year was out the plans of the
winner had been purchnnecT and the Regents of the University
requested Howard to stay and comToletc the plan.
FOUNDIK^T OF COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE
Previous to this tine the University of California
had had no Dopartnent of Architecture. This was now institu-
ed under the direction of John G-alen Howard.
In 1902, convinced that his future work would be
with the University, he moved with his frjnily to a house in
Berkeley. Ho received professional certification in California
and designed many public buildings and private homes in Berke-
ley and San Francl^sco. Important among his designs are the
Greek Theatre on the University of California campus, Califor-
nia Hall, the beginning units of the University of California
Li>rary, the Berkeley Public Library, the First National Bank
of Berkeley.
THE SAN F'R'VNCISCO FIRS— 1908 RECONSTRUCTION
In the crisis following the partial destruction of
San Francisco in 1906, John Galen Howard was appointed Advi-
sory Member of the Reconstruction Committee of San Francisco,
serving at a timd when men of vision, resource and ability
were desperately needed. For some tv:o years aftenvard, he
was associated with John D. Galloway, 'ff. C Hays and A. H.
Markwart being Junior j^artners.
By the end nf 1908 he had completed Boalt Hall at
the University of California; the Auditoriun, Chenistry ond
EntiineorinjT Buildint:"^ ff^r the University of Washington; and
many bank and business buildin^^s and handsone private hones.
He v/as Architect-in-ohief for the Alaska Yiokon Pacific Expo-
sition in Seattle in 1909.
During the years 1908 to 1920 he completed nore
University and business buildings, as well as public librar-
ies, the San Francisco Exposition Auditorium; several public
schools and nany private hones.
DECISION TO REMAIN IN CALIFORNIA
He v/as nov/ offered an ^opportunity to return to New
York, The San Francisco Chronicle of M-irch 16, 1912 states:
"Deciding to stay at the State Univer3ity
which he is continually beautifying by his won-
derful work, John Galen Hov;ard, Professor of
Architecture at the University, and supervising
architect at that institution, has declined an
Invitation to becone head of the Columbia Uni-
versity School of Architecture.
"The position he was offei-od at Columbia v;ould
give him the opportunity to fulfill private du-
•tles....and he v/ould have many liberties he
> "does not enjoy here.... All these features he
.spurned, principally because of his love for
.the State University. The develcoment of the
Phoebe A. Hearst architectural plan is believed
to be another Incentive to his remaining in
Berkeley. "
It is true that he loved the University of California
and his v/ork there. Berkeley had become his hone. His chil-
dren were growing up in an atmosphere ho felt to be advanta-
geous. Moreover, as an artist v/ith the gift of maJcing beauty
functional, hs belloved that It was hli5 duty to remain where
his students could have the opportunity of studying first
hand the buildings he had created according to his ov;n high-
est ideals.
"BRUN2LLS3CHI"
He continued to build, teach and v;rite in Califor-
nia. Many of his architectural articles and addresses, and a
nunber of poems, were published. John Hov/ell, the publisher,
brought out Howard's first long poem, "Brunelleschi, " in 1913.
This is a story in verso of the great architect who built the
cathedral done of Santa Maria del Fiorc in Florence. Howard
uses his protagonint as a neans to express his own credo. In
the poen, Brunellesc?ii says:
"There; hath art
Touched the high term of beauty. 'Tis of God,
Solely of God. He thro' ny tangled brain
Conceived and did; nor thro' my brain alone
But thro' the countless minds whose heritage
Mine hath but garnered, and their teeming house
Set now at last in order."
Such'was his belief in c reative work, and such v/as
tl;e lesson he strove continually to impart to his students and
his own children. Patience, humility, gi\atitude and the Joy
of v;ork. He did not believe all men could become artists, but
he know that even true genius could not flower without labor.
Brunelleschi also says:
"For my mind was fixed fast
On the solution of the hardy task
Arnolfo set. Its hardness made its charm
More subtle and more potent."
John Galon Hovmrd uaed this prccopt; to avert dis-
couragement funong his students and his sons, insisting that
the harder the problem, the more glorious the solution. He
expresses his belief in the value of syni^athy and guidance
when he makes Brunelloschi say:
"Supple — and sweet,
I hope, a little — those two kept my heart
By their large understanding and rich power
Of swift sure sympathy that glimpsed an end
No sooner shadowed by ray first essay.
They trailed my nind-'.Vcays hy their insight keen.
Their live encouragement established rock
Under frail fancy's outv/rrks, till defense
Took shape aggressive of fixed purposes...."
Such a man was perforce respected and admired by
students and friends alike, and it is not strange that his sons
should have become, each in his own v;ay, high priests of the
arts.
WAR AI'CD POST-WAR '.YORK
During the World War John Galon Howard saw service
for tv.'o years as a captain with the Red Cross overseas. His
tv/o sons were also in action; Henry '-"^ a Lieutenant in the
Field Artillery, Robert with the Motorcycle Dispr.tch Corps.
Returning to the United States, the father once
more turned to teaching and writing. His oldest ;'.cn, Henry,
had elected to follow r.l-; f..oher's career in architecture.
Howard knew hie children h-.d been given the most
that was possible in education. They had had every advantage
offered by schools, colleges and universities and had been en-
couraged to travel, with open minds and eyes, viewing intel-
llgently painting, sculpture and historic buildings throu^'hout
the v;orld.
John Galen Koward had ac oor.pl ifshcd that rare thin>i:
a life lived fully and according to most unselfish ideals. Ir.
the ninds of hir. student;-? he had inculcated his ovm idealism
together with his surpassing technicr-,1 knov/le.ilge. The example
he set for his sons had in it nothing of ethical or artistic
narrowness. He had shown them that whatever field they chose
for their life's work would be acceptable to hin providing
they chose it honestly and pursued it to the best of their
ability.
On November 21, 1928, the San Francisco Chronicle
carried the following note:
"John G-alen Hovmrd, director of the School of
Architecture at the University of California
yesterday submitted his resignation to the
Board of Regents of the UnlvcrTity. It v;r.s
accepted with expressions of regret and v/ith
encomia for his services to the institution
and the State. Professor Kov/ard has been con-
nected with the University for tv7enty-five
years. . . .
"Howard's fame has not been confined to Cali-
fornia. His work has attracted attention
throughout the world, and his reputation has
been interntitional. He v;as one of the prelimi-
nary advisory board that drew up the plans for
the Panama-Pacific Exioositlon, and was on the
consulting board that designed the Civic Center
of San Frmicisco."
But he was not yet done with his scholastic career.
He returned as Dean of the' Graduate Division of the School of
Architecture, and was connected with the University until his
death.
"PHEIDIAS"
In 1929, the lessening of his academic duties per-
mitted more leisure and he produced his most anbitious liter-
ary v/ork, a novel-length i)OQr\ entitled "Pheidias." Again
John Galen Hovmrd put into worda his ideals in art and life.
Nadia Lavrova, in the San Francisco Exr^jnlner, June 2, 1929,
says in part:
"The appeal of the poen lies in just this; It-
Is not merelj' an aesthotical conception, it con-
tains a v;orld of emotion, the fascinating v/orld
of a groat man's bac]cgrcund in a great epoch.
'Pheidias' is a biography in the best sense of
the word. It gives the artist's life in chrono-
logical order. . . . (end) also expresses Pheidian
thoughts on the nature of art; reveals the art-
ist's approach to his problems and captures some
of that artist's exaltation when his thoughts
become embodied. . . .
"Wh,o is more qualified thf.n Hov/ard to interpret
an artist's emotions? K;iown as a great builder
himself, Howard has taught for many years.... He
has also devoted himself to writing, being co-
author of 'European Cc.rdens' and author of
'3runellcschi. '
"Remember that Pheidia:3 says:
'And yet it is a narrow view of life
That would restrict the artist to one art.*"
The American Magazine of Art, Vol. XX, for 1929,
also mention? . the poem:
"John Galen Howard of California, one of our
leading American architects, entering the field
of literature, has written the life of Pheidias,
friend of Pericles, sculptor of the Parthenon,
one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of the
sculptors of all time....
"Again€5\fl. again the artist-author speaks through
the character of Pheidias of matters x^ortaining
to art, its purpose, its study, its handicaps,
10
its place in llfo; and thus the spirit cf the
great artist is revivified, the artists of all
ages :nnde of one blood. Through the whole
story runs the note of the universal...."
Had Howard not visualized so completely a logical
and inspired theory of art, he could never have embodied it
in words, nor passed it on to his children in the daily course
of family life. Howard says in "Phoidias":
"I even go so far as to believe
No artist realizes freest pov;cr
If his foundation be not broadened out —
Potentially, in sympathy of view
And understanding, if not practised skill —
To underlie the fullest range of art."
He had within himself that important o sciential of
greatness, ability to implant in other minds at least a por-
tion of his vision. That his sons benefited by their father's
belief and example is evident. He did not demand that their
development be patterned on his o'.7n, and of this he spepJcs
with certainty in "Piieidi.-is":
"Do not conclude
That cither his or my way is the best
Abstractly; every artist finds his ovm. "
He knew that* if the germ of inherent artiscry lay in
his sons, it was his duty and pleasure to foster it.
DEATH OF THE ARCrllTSCT
John Galen Howard's death of heart disease, on
July 18, 1931, came ns a distinct sh^ck to the public. The
San Francisco Examiner for the following day reads in part"
"News of the death fell heavily unon the Univer-
sity of California campus. There for more than
a quarter of a century he had wrought, building
and teaching.
11
.... "Hov/rird' s genius had niade tho cpxipus a har-
inonius architectural monur.ent. . . .Nor was archi-
tectur3 (hl3) nnly art. He worked with words
as v/oll ar. v/ith steel and stone.... he started
hundreds of Callf'^rnia students tov/ard fome in
his art."
In August 1951, the following article appeared in
"The Editor's Note Bock" section of Art and Architecture:
"Occasionally — and it is an occasion — you meet
a man who Impresses you as being, in the old
phrase, 'one of Nature's gentlenen. ' John
Galen Howard, F.A.I. A., was such a mm, but ij^
was more. Ho was a gentleman, a scholar, an
artist, a ^oet, a friend, and a counsellor.
He was an idealist and a dreamer, but his
dreams did not cloud his vision, nor his ideals
confuse his judgment. To question his honor
and integrity v/as unthinkable; to doubt his in-
telligence or his courage would have been im-
possible. He was just and he was kind....
"....and how far the influence of his character
extended, one can but guess; in his wide circle
of clients, students, associates, with leaders
in his profession and lerders in public affairs,
with craftsmen in every art, with thinkers and
doers. ..."
In Pencil Points for September 1932, is this news
itam in appreciation of his career:
JOHN C-AL5N HOWARD MSI'JORIAL FELLOWSHIP
"....The fund of the Fellowship was raised by
the Alumni 'f the school of architecture of the
University of California, and the interest on
the money is used ^y the holder of the fellow-
ship for foreign travel. The fellowship v.'as
established as a memorial to John Grl en Howard
who died in 1931. Professor Howard more than
any Individual has been re;;ponslble for the
origin and development, during the past twenty
years, of the school of architecture of the
University of California."
12
Thuf. , through hlj influonco, and the dovotlon v/hich he In-
si^ired, a tradition has been ^.^Gtabllshod.
Hie life and wcrka havo been noted briefly because
fron subsequent nonotjrai'ihs on his sonc it v/ill be evident
that these three young California artists owe much to their
gifted father. He not only shared with them the wealth of his
oxioerienoe and wisdon but unquestionably provided then a phy-
sical, ethical and artistic background far above the ordinary.
Hence his inclusion in a sei-'ies of monographs devoted other-
wise solely to artists.
ROBERT B 0 A R D M A N K 0 V.' A R D
18P6...'
Biofrrephy and V'orks
"I'.mRAL DECORATION"
i
LIVINC7 ROOM OF ROGER KENT— KENTFIELD CALIFORNIA
13
\
ROBERT BOARDHAi: HOWARD
EARLY LIFE
Robert Boarcinan Howard, second son of John G-alen and
L'ary Bradbury Hov/ard, has utilized the greatest variety of ar-
tistic media for self-exioresslon of any of their talented
children, ^'^evertheleips, his recognized ability and integrated
art phllosoDhy olaco him f.-^r above the aesthetic jack-of-all-
trades, and he has excelled in wood-carving, metal work. In-
terior and architectural decoration, murals in oil and fresco,
easel painting, screens and v.'all-hangingn, bas-reliefs, maps
and ornamental modeling.
His vari-ed art career is not motivated by a search
for any single form of expression, but rather an attempt to
select the best material for the specific impulse he desires
to Interpret. Thus he masters each vehicle and finds him-
self at home in many because he knov/s the use of color, line
and form within the limits of each problem.
Robert^ Boardman Howard was born in New York City on
September 20, 1896, and his first five years were spent in
Montclair, New Jersey. His childhood and adolescence were
a'^ent In the academic atmosphere of Berkeley, where his father
was Dean of Architecture at the Ijniversity of California.
Despite such scholarly surroundings, young Robert
rebelled against routine studies and his distaste fbr the edu-
cational machine crystallized shortly after he entered the
Berkeley High School. Even in his childhood he had been self-
14
possessed and reticent and his ai't tendencies were his chief
Interest. After family coni-ei-enceo, the boy asked permission
from the High School to substitute certain art courses at the
California School of Aits nnd Crafts for credits in his high
school classes. This heing; refu5:ed, the boy was withdrawn
from high school and tho elder Howard worked out n unlaue
system of education for Ms son, designed to Individualize
his aesthetic and scliola'-tlc instruction find provide him with
a well-rounded cultural background.
IMDI'^irUAL EDUCATION
Under the private tutelage of D^. Arthur Uphain
Poo:", (now art adviser to the Iran (Persian) Oovernment, and
international fl;=:ure in art and muscun circle?:), Robert was to
ta''.e uo certain specific tasks but re'^ia'^n unconflned as to
schedule. The first and only assignment resulting from this
arrangement was the writing of a thesis on the Renaissance,
with the sugf;'estion that Benvenuto Cellini's autobiography
would prove a good introduction to the rich character and
fecundity of that extraordinary neriod in art.
The boy was approximately two years at this task,
discovering in the orocess an amazing wealth of facts and
coranlexlty of material. His growing interest led him to
delve into earlier art periods as weTl, and in the end stimu-
lated him to trace down a great number of extraneous items In
search of the reason for their Influence on modern art.
15
During; thi'? period he soent as many evenings as
possible at Dr. Pope's hoTie, and on these evenings, Dr. Pope
v.'as in tho habit of having as his guest a nrofessor from
the University, or a mnn of standing in sone branch of educa-
tion or the arts. Thus Robert's knov/ledge and interest were
shaped and quickened by the erudition underlying these in-
formal conversations, each one of which Dr. Pooe unobtrusive-
ly held to such subjects as those on which his guest could
speak both with authority and warmth. Anci without realizing
it, Robert acquired a wider range of soecific and general In-
formation than he would have done had he been subjected to
the average public school currlculun.
He also threw himself with enthusiasm into his art
school classes under Perham Nahl, Spencer Macky, Xavier
Martinez and Worth Ryder at the California School of Arts
and Crafts in Berkeley, and a scholarship from that institu-
tion assured his family that his choice of an art career was
serious. In 1915, v:hen he felt that he needed the stimulus
of new fields, he left Berkeley for New York on a motorcycle,
accompanied by his younger brother, Charles, who returned to
Berkeley almost immediately. Robeit studied at the Art Stu-
dents' League classes In Woodstock, the artists' colony about
a hundred miles up the Hudson, which is* to New York City what
Carmel-by-the-Sca is to San Franc i'oco.
16
WOODSTOCK
In Wood'?tock ycung Robert Howard, age twenty, set-
tled to work in his own studio and entered upon the informal
life of an art colony, where serious v^ork, siranle amuser.ents
and long discussions of art ideals arc the routine. He par-
ticipated in the first Maverick, a community pageant and fancy
dress ball vhich is still held annually. He recalls the first
ball as a splendidly mpd, imrjromptu affair, colorful in cos-
tumes and ideas. He also remembers the Sunday afternoon con-
certs, when residents and guests of the summer colony m.ingled
with the writers, artists and musicians in an enthusiastic
spirit of cooDeration.
His artistic development was steady during this
phase and he worked hard and happily, leaving in the fall for
Mow York City and the Art Students' League where he studied
under F. Luis Mora and Kenneth Hayes Miller. Both instructors
were men v;ho deferred to the eternal values in art, cognizant
of modern and ultra-modern trends, but not over- rating their
importance.
After a year in the east, Robert returned to
Berkeley in 1917, and with his father and older brother Henry,
Joined the army, and was sent to France. There he served as a
despatch rider in the Ar-.crican Field Service, where his early
Interest in motorcycles come to good use.
17
POST-WAR PCRIOD OVERSEAS
Despite the interruption of his art training by war-
time duties, he keot his interest alive sketching and photo-
eiTaphlng. After the Armistice he apolied at once for adr.isslon
to the Army Art Training Cajnp at Pellevue. This was one of
the numerous activities instituted to occupy American soldiers
in France during the period required to unravel the red-taoe
attendant upon the deraobilizating of over a million soldiers
and transporting thcra hack across an ocean.
Robert, ho'vcver, was demobilized in France after a
short course at Bellevue. So at twenty-three he began his art
studios anew in Paris at the Academic de la Grande Chaumiere
and the Academie Colorossi. At times he and his brothers went
on bicycle trios through France, Belgium, Italy, Holland and
Soain studying the arts of those countries.
After two years in Europe, his intensive work was
re.varded by havim:; his canvas "Le Chemin de I'Enfer," a 4'x. 6J,
Dainting, accepted by the Salon des Artistes Francais, later
exhibited at the Forty-fifth Annual of the San Francisco Art
Association in 1921. "Pont Neuf — Early Morning" and "The Rot-
ters" were also shown at a sum.mer exhibit of the San Francisco
Ai-t Association.
G/J.IFORNIA AGAIN
In 1922 Robert Howai-^ returned to San Francisco and
his Berkeley homi.', then settled in Garmcl-by-the-Sea, on the
picturesque Monterey peninsula. Here he tainted industriously
18
and began to work in the provocative field of v/ood-carving.
His landscar)o c^.nvases indicated an increased artistic scope,
a new energy generated by the wide, rolling expanses and
vivid coloring of California, af? a contrast to the circum-
scribed scones of the French locale v;hich had hitherto com-
prised so much of his indeoendent outdoor study.
Already a nombor of the Art Students' League, Robert
Howard now joined the San Francifcco Art Association and the
California Society of Mural Pninters, the latter group being
concrete nroo'f of the heightened interest in murf^l decoration
as a civ^c achievonont in California. Promoted by his intur-
est in wall-soaces oroperly embellis)' ed, Jic vorked for a time
7/ith the San Fi'ancisco firm of J. H. Keofe, where he designed
and executed murals, bas-relief and architectural ornanicnts.
In 1923 iic held hir, first onc-rr.an show of oalnt-
ings and sculpture in the Print Rooms, San Francisco, and al-
so held .--n exhibit at the Galerie Beaux Arts in Maiden Lane,
Sap. Francisco. Later in the year he -"on the First Medal for
sculptui'e at the San Francisco Art Association exhibition
with a life-sized redv/ood figure he had carved in Carmel.
In the summer, 1924, Robert Ho'"ard, his former art
teacher, Worth Hyucr, and Chiura Obata, ■"'he Jaoanese San Fran-
cisco artist, snent three months cnmolng and sketching in the
High Sierra country. The interchange of Oriental and Occi-
dental art ideals over the firesi<.ie must have been very stimu-
lating. The San Francisco Chronicle of June 22, 1924 reports:
19
"Robert Hov.'arci and Worth Ryder sre v/blling away
the sumnor In the High Sierras, busy with nalnt-
inp; and sketching. Howard took along tools and
ex'^ects to cmrve sciilntural nieces from the na-
tive stone and v/ood up there."
The results of the trip v/ere numerous carvings and a
series of watercolors done with verve and brevity. The dom-
inant note of the carvings was grotesquerle coupled with a
modern economy of design.
The San Francisco Chronicle connented on his work,
November 2, 1924:
"Robert Boardnan Howard. . .brought back some in-
teresting and very fantastic wood-carvings and
a number of v/atercolors v/hich are exorossed in
evcry-day, free modern wg^y. These may be seen
on request at the Galerie Beaux Arts. "
He now prn.lnted the stage curtains for the Berkeley
Playhouse, two interesting curtains 16' x 24* still in use.
He also did the sets for three productions in a modern mood.
His canvas, "Mount Tamalpai s, ** won the Anne Bremer ^50 award at
the Gplifomia School of Fine Arts exhibition by young Callf-
fornla artists that same year.
During 1925 he concentrated on the anolied arts to
the dlsaopolntment of the critics v/ho had been lauding his
modern bent and his rare hrmdling of color in painting. The
artist and modeler turned his talents to the ornamental plas-
ter and stone carvings of arabesques for the beautiful nev;
Temple Emanu-El, erected from the design of Bakewell and
Brown, architects. Robert Howard's work won him the Dis-
tinguished Honor Award of the Southern California Chapter of
20
the American Institute of Architects. Raoroductlons of his
designs anpeared in n-itlonnl raa^^azinef and foreign publica-
tions. About this time ho. designed the interior decoration
for the Guerneville Theatre, on the Russian River in Calif-
ornia and also the fine sculptural nanel for the facade of
the First Congregational Church of Oakl'^nd, California, for
which his father and associates were architects.
!IEW YORK AND EU.^OFE
This tyoe of "'ork doterDin<.;d Robert Hovard to mrske
a more detailed study of Romanesque sculpture in France and
Italy. In pursuit of this plan he v;ent to New York and act-
ed a? head modeler in the wel]-knov.'n firms of Rica and Zari
and R. T. Donaldson, until he hod earned funds for a four
.T.ouths' stay in Europe.
THE SA5SANIAN MONUI.iqiJT
His interest and grasp of the underlying technique
of Romanesque sculpture was furthered by a commission from
his friend, Dr. Arthur Upham Pope, to model the bas-reliefs
and other replica exhibits at the Persian art exhibit of
tt.e Sesaul-Centennlal • Exposition, held the following year in
Philadelphia. Dr. Pope, a recognized authority on the his-
tory of art and adviser to the Shah, now recoiimended that
Robert Howard be appdlnted official sculptor to the Persian
(now Iran) Government. Howard's task was to reproduce for
the United States a bas-relief known ns the Sassanian Monu-
21
merit, of which he did a section 14 by 20 feet, the Persepolls
Capitol, measuring 6 by 12 feet, and two large urns of dis-
tinctive Persian shaoc and ornament.
The two bas-rellof s, carved In semi-wet plaster were
exact reollcas. The Sassanlan Monument dates from the 3rd
century A.D. and deolcts a valued tradition Jii Persian history
little known to the western world. Over heroic-size horses
and soldiers aopears the scene of the Roman Emperor Valerian
imploring mercy from the Persian Emperor Shapour I.
R}-:TURI'J to SAN FPANCISCO
Robert Howard's next conmission ■' was far different
from these re'Dllcas of a great historic b^s-relicf on a stone
mountain in Persia; it was a series of decorative map panels
for two San Francisco bay ferry boats, the "Peralta" and the
"Yorba Buena. " He decorated both the upoor and lo"'cr deck In-
toi'lors with Bay Region and V/estf rn- mai^s. The fei-ry boats
v/ere Ic'^unched in 1926 with much acclaim, from local art :r"^ir>s.
The next year and a ^alf young Howard worked in his
customary raultlolicity of media and took time from his fine
arts to construct the marionettes for a Christmas Nativity
Play given by the San Francisco Puppet Players. He now joined
the Modern Gallery, a co-operative association of younger art-
ists which attracted the support of local art lovers.
Decorative irt commissions continued to come his way
through Dr. Pope. Among them were a map of the constellations
foi- the dome of the John Drum oenthousc on the Fairmont Hotel
22
In San Francisco and a "tolle neinte" nural for the writing
room of the Ah"'nhnce Hotel in Yoscmlte Valley. The wall
hanging successfully car)tured the decorative motifs of the
National Park as shown In the oxccTot from the brochure on
Ahwahnee Hotel by Dorothy Ellis:
"The tolle '^elnte by Robert Po-^rclman Howard Is
a....oalntod mural In the form of the old 15th
century mllle fleur taocstry, except that the
artist has chosen to ^-'ork from the Valley It-
self and delicately set forth In clustering in-
formal design the familiar flo'^ering plants of
the meadows and slopes, half concealing among
the leaves and blossoms characteristic birds
and animals of the Yosemite — a charming decora-
tion and a dellfehtful regional nature study in
one. The predoninating colors in the tolle
pelnte are doeo blues .".nd greens with contrast-
ing red, as they were in the 15th century tap-
estries 'vhich were Mr, Ho'vard'o inspiration."
Other designs taken froTi California Ainer-Indian mo-
tifs were used to decorate this hotel; many of them executed
by Henry Temple Howard, architect and eldest son of the
family.
DRUI& HOUSE DOME
The other oomnlssion took several months of inten-
sive study, for the Drum House constellations set a new
oroblerj for Robert Howard. The dome in the John Drum resi-
dence was twenty feet in diameter and was to show groups of
stars in their proper astronomical relation, the purely deco-
rative element being Introduced by the mythological personi-
fications symbolizing the various star groups.
23
Robert Howard's feeling for authenticity led him to
resume his study of mathematlca, to construct a half dome In
his studio and to place his constellation r-atterns oroperly,
both artistically and astronomically, before he did his final
v;ork. Another commission follov;ed to do an immense map com-
prising the entire decoration of the four walls of a room in
the same home. The scroll over the fireplace read, "A New
and Accurate Map of the World."
While this vorlc v;as going on he also participated
in the 49th Annual Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Associ-
ation. Among his landscapes were: "Gastroville, " "Mountain
Structure," "Kearsarge Lakes Basin," "Sixty Lakes Basin" and
"Inyo Range from Kearsarge Pa?s"; all Imioosing California
scenes treated with fine recognition for grandeur in form
and in color.
WORLD TOUR
After the vr^ried activities of 1927, Robert Howard
embarked on a world tour with his motion picture cairera. He
felt he needed * to see more than EuroTjenn and Mediterranean
art and should 'include the styles developed in the many coun-
tries of the Orient. Ancient sculpture -^nd oainting, especi-
ally that of India and Egypt, Ball and the South Se:^s,had
long fascinated him.
He left California early In 1928 and wrote a series
of letters home between February and June that v;ere later
published In the Argus, a San Francisco Art magazine now de-
24
funct, under the title "In Lands of He^irt's Desire." These
letters show the nrtl^t'? unsentimental Dercerttlon and accu-
rate eye. In Cairo the vitality of modern Egypt and the
solemn dignity of ancient art brought forth the remark, "It
made me mad to 'vork a(-:aln. " While In Egypt he made a trip
far up the Nile to rarely seen excavations and sketched and
noted the marvelous colors of the ancient bas-reliefs.
Because of his endless notes and photography he
did little finished v/ork during his trip. Meanwhile in San
Francisco, some of his earlier travel studies were being
shown at the Galerie Beaux Arts, in conjunction with vork
by his two brothers. Jehanne Pletry Salinger wrote in the
San Francisco Examiner of March 25, 1928:
"Robert R. Howard, now in Caii'o, Egyot, is rep-
resented in the show by several v^ood-carvlngs
and a collection of watercolor dra'''in.i^s. The
dra'vlngs, althou^ch sheer studies after certain
Romanesque details of European cathedrals, are
the most interesting contribution of the art-
I'^t."
His letters from Asia Elinor and the Holy Land ma-^e
another series of letters published in the Argus in December
1926. Ho gives vivid descriptions of Jerusalem, Syria, Bag-
dad pnd the country around Gnlilee, of which he says "where
Sainlj« have trod and. Crusaders lie."
Early in May of 1928 he reached India, a land
which critics regard as having had a definite influence on
Howard's later work. Evidence for the truth of this evalua-
tion is found in the fact th?^t his earlier letters are al-
25
most entirely confined to his Irnnre^cj ens of the various coun-
tries and their neoDlc^, and to his own personal adventures.
The letters from India take on an entirely different and most
professional character. He speaks glov^infly and at length of
the ahundant and many-faceted art of that heterogeneous land.
After a five-day bicycle trip alone in extremely hot weather to
AJunta where he "soent tvvo glorious days wallowing in Buddhist
art," he adds the revealing comment: "...here is also that
perfect harmony "between painting and sculpture I came to India
to see.... I came away Intoxicated with carving."
Howard's mood of eager appreciation continued at
high pitch dui'ing h^s entire Indian stay, for in a letter from
Colombo, the car)ital of Ceylon, in June, he says:
"The last ten days have been very rich, for I
took a train from Bombay ... among hundreds of
Hindoo temples there, I sav; the seven finest
and came away drugged with sculpture. ... the
amazing artistic skill which went into the
buildings Makes one dizzy to think of.... with
elation in my heart, I took the express for
the south and Ceylon. "
After Ceylon, he visited Ball; the films he took
there being among the first motion pictu.res of Pallnese dancers
to reach this country. Then he piped homeward full of new en-
ergy and with a mightily increased store of information on
ancient cultures.'
SAN FRA.NCISCO EXHIBITIONS — 19?9
Robert Howard's actual work during his tour were a
few watercolors and a wealth of sketches from c^-rvlngs in the
26
Near and Far E^st. "Citadel In Cairo," a v/atorcolor, was
exhibited at the Galerie Beaux Arts in October 1928. In the
spring of 1929, shortly after h.is return, two other water-
colors, "Jungle S'vamo" and "Nile Pains," were shown at the
51st San Francisco Art Association Annual. He also entered a
sculpture, "Sapho. " Balinese and Malayan figures he carved
after his return were shown in 1930.
Immediately on his return to his studio, Howard set
himself to elaborate his E^'^st Indian sketches and on February
2, 1929, Junius Cravens wrote in the Argonaut:
"In the outer gal?. ery of the Beaux Arts is a
collection comprising a few drawings by Robert
Boardman Howard. Most of the work shown was
adapted from notes and sketches made while he
was making a trip around the world to study
ancient sculpture, painting and architecture.
"Most of the drawings are in black and white
and were made from the frescoes and carvings
at the ancient temples of the Orient, such as
the Dllwarra -temples at Mt. Abu, or the temple
caves at AJunta — both in India.
"Ko"'ard's drawings do not pretend to be liter-
al copies -of the subjects, as were many of the
drawlngrfe. of Frieda Hausworth Das of Calcutta,
recently seen at the same gallery, but are,
I'ather, adaritations which the artist has de-
veloped from them In his own way. Most of the
wood-carvings are also adaotations, rather
than literal interoretations of Hindu art.
The. v?attrcolors are sketches or iranresslons
of landscapes and urban scenes of Egypt, Jeru-
salem and the Or*ient.
"In ai;i. cases, regardlosr, of medium, one is
imoressed by the artist'^ dolif^ht in his sub-
ject. Besides having a keen artistic aoprecl-
atlon for the moods and Tcthods of the an-
cients,, he comes close to fetllng the seml-
rellglous motives that inspired their works.
He at least recognizes and resnccts them.
27
Hownrd v;orks In various media, with great felic-
ity and charm. "
The San Francisco Chronicle of February ?, 1929,
comments on the same exhibit:
"Robert Boardman Howard shows dravrlngs v;hlch are
suave and formal as the rood- carvings of the an-
cient temples from which they are transcribed."
WRALS AMD CARVI'JC^S
Private commissions for v/all decorations now came to
Robert Ho'vard from all over California. Distinctive among
his original designs were those for the home of Eldridge T.
Spencer, architect, and his wife, Jeanctte Dyer Spencer,
stained glass designer and interior decorator. The four walls
of the dining room were given to four types of architecture;
oriental, classic Greek, modern continental and Egj'T5tian, with
corresponding figures in aporopriate milieu. During 1929 he
alno executed wall decorations in the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Bernard Ford, in Burlingame, and a carved-stone fireplace for
Mr. and Mr<?. Henry F. S'A'ift, Piedmont, California. He doiflign-
ed another cnrved and oalnted-stone firenlfce in 1930 for the
large dining room at Camp Curry, in Yosemitc National Park.
This was a motif of birds and animals indigenous to Yemenite,
using Indian shades of red and blue in formal pattern.
SAN FRANCISCO STOCK EXCHANGE
The San Franc Ihco Stock Exchange work done late in
1929 showed the influence of his rorld tour studies. Timothy
Pflueger, the architect of the buildin^;, commissioned him to
28
do a Dortlon of the ornamenta] -.vork, on v.-hich the San Fran-
cisco Chronicle coninents, January 12, 1930:
"Robert Boardrnan Howard , "'ho did the decorative
sculpture for the Interior of the Stock Ex-
change is one of the younger artists. ,. .He Is
an earnest student and one who has inter-
spersed his commissions with oeriods of study
in Eurooe and the Orient. .. .The low relief
figures most talked about are above the east
and west walls of the trading floor of the
Stock Exchange. Here one sees successful decora-
tions that are effective in thoir high placement
as variations in the 'vall surface. Tlie large
geometrical figures, cast in acoustical olaster,
add greatly to the room. It is true that laymen
say, ^They are so modern you can*t make them out, '
but that difficulty rises mainly from the at-
tempt to translate the figures into hiaman beings
instead of acceoting them as mechanical symbols
of man- substitutes of gas and electricity.
"The finest decoration by Ho-arl is the carved
walnut door of the G-overnlnf;- Board room on the
ninth floor. On the panel Howard has used geo-
metrical figures, somev;hat similar to the trad-
ing room relief to convey the idea of the ele-
ments of building that make up the modern struc-
ture. Figures of the man with the pick and shov-
el, the brick layer, the cer.ent mixer, and the
steel contractor are worked into the design that
culminates without interruotion in the- sky-
scraper and circling aimlanes that form the
grill work of the ventilator above the door.
The only regret one has is the obvious break
made by the door in the black baseboard that
circles the room. One feels as though the door
had been droooed or that the base had been for-
gotten,
"Throughout the building there is a splendid
usage of simole surface and geometric forms.
The gold leaf ceilings and trimmings reflected
in the dark marble walls make a show of wealth
more effective than the over decoration of more
elaborate periods. Every.vhere the ideal of el-
emental form is evident. The rer?ult is solendid
and ,]ust a bit 'grand,' but there is still a
question that intrudes Itself — how close Is the
relationship between the building's intcrnreta-
tion of the ^ontemoorary spirit and the natural
spirit of the people who Inhabit the structure?"
29
Junius Cravens also remarks In the Argonaut of
January 18, 1930:
"Above each of the s3x windows of the Stock Ex-
change balcony Is an effective nanel In low re-
lief by Robert Boardman Howard. Each group of
three nanels forr.s a series. The subject of
that on the west wall Is gasoline as a source
of oower on land and in the air, while on the
east wall is electricity as employed for trans-
Dortation and for communication. The entrance
door of the Board of Governors' room Is exoert-
ly carved by Howard. The sub.iect, which sym-
bolizes future orosnerity, represents a group
of laborers.
"Its story, starting at the bottom of the panel
with the excavation, progresses through various
stages of building to' the finished product, the
skyscraper and the smoke-yielding chimney — an
airplane at^ the peak of the design completes
the tale. '-^he ceiling beams, which were also
designed by Howard, are decorated with a gilded
low relief. "
Other work by Howard in the same building equally
well done but not so soectacular, are the brass balustrade of
the steos descending in front of the Dlogo Rivera mural and
the four amusing mural pajiels depicting enting in four parts
of the world, at the four corners cf the Lunch Club Dining
Room. The carvod cellin,":; rafttrs of the Governing Board room
are also Robert Hov;ard's.
MARRIAGE
Among the other artists working on- the- decorations
of the Stock Exchange Building was Adaline Kent, the sculotor,
whom Howard had known slightly for several years. As a re-
sult of their association during this work, they fell in
love and were married on August 5, 1950, spending a short
30
honeymoon In Mexico and returning to San Francisco studios and
a home In Kentfleld, M-^.rln County.
During 1931 and 1932 Howard was corar.issloned to
decorate the Interior of the auditorium of the Paramount
Theatre In Oakland, California. He feels that the celling and
proscenium are rer^resentative of his best v/ork. The low-re-
lief wall decorations were a comoror.lse '«.'lth the architect's
design and are not, the artist feels, comparable to his origi-
nal olan.
In the summer of 1932 Robert Howard exhibited his
sculpture, drawing and paintings at the California Palace of
the Legion of Honor and at the Galerle Beaux Arts. Several
"Three-Brothers" shows, of Robert Boardraan, John Langley and
Charles Houghton Howard, are mentioned r.ore fully In the mono-
graph of the two youn^i'er artists. The sense of no competi-
tion, but every man doing his best is an amiable quality found
in their shows. Robert's 'vork, however, by' reason of Its range
and variety, has reached more oatrons.
A commission for a nural in the dining room of the
Roger Kent home in Kentfield, California, illustrated in this
monograph, was given him in 1933 and i^, representative of his
finest decorative osintlng. The portfolio' of stuc'ies of every
specimen of fauna, flora and piscatorial life, which he made
in preparation for tht mural, is immensely interesting for
the meticulous line and accurate coloring employed in every
sketch. Not a fisherman, himself, he depended on the word
31
of local anglers who enthusiastically described their catches
and criticized h5 s work as he painted the various tyoes of
fish to be found In the neighboring streams. Although the
finished design has the delicacy of a Japanese wood block en-
larged to mural prooortlons, It also sparkles with color and
vivacity of pattern.
1935 and 1936 found Robert Ho'vard still painting
and carving in the round and in bas-relief. Commenting on
the 55th Annual of the San Francisco Art Association, in the
spring of 1935, the San Francisco Chronicle of February 17,
remarked:
"It is much to be regretted that prizes In
sculpture could not be found for Robert Ho-
war.d. . . .
"Howard's abstractions of a bird and a fish
are almost Platonistic — forms reduced to their
essential distinguishing elements. "
Both Robert Ho'vard and his wife, the sculptor Adallne
Kent, feel that his best recent v/ork is on the great fire-
place in the ski lodge at Badger Pass in Yosemlte, made dur-
ing 1936.- The ski house was designed by Eldridge T. Spencer
and Jeannette Dyer Spencer. Ho-vard's fireplace panelr; are
enorr::)US. They contain twenty-one sections illustrating fig-
ures in different ski techniques. They are done in cast Iron
with a remarkable patina obtained after many failures and
much experimentation. The panels radiate heat and are so well
adapted to the room that one hardly senses their huge propor-
tions. On one v;all hangs a carved and vividly painted wood-
32
panel of Skier Zdarskl, who Invented the Stem Turn in Vienna
about 1892. A variation of this panel by Hov/ard, was hung in
the 57th Annual of the San Francisco Art Association. The San
Francisco Chronicle for April 4, 1937 mentioned "the inevit-
able surrealsira" in speakinc of Robert Howard's "astonishing
'Mexican's Hut and Friends.'" Robert and John Langley Howard
both served on the Jury of this advanced show.
THE ARTIST TODAY
Robert Boardman Howard is today the father of two
daughters, Ellen Kent, born in 19?1, and Galen Kent, born in
1933. The family lives in an attractive house on the bay
slooes of Russian .Hill, San Francisco. Their two studios in
the old warehouse district at Jaokson and Montgomery Streets
are within a block of each other. Often, when they are both
working, it is their relaxation to picnic at noon on Telegraph
Hill a few steep blocks above.
Robert Hovard and his v/lfe are absorbed in their art
and their inter.change of art ideas, and have many friends a-
mon^i' the oldei* and younger artists of the San Francisco bay
region. But desoite their numerous social activities, they
have about them an aura of concentration — a detachment which
gives one the impression that some oart of their minds remain
alv;ays in the studio.
Whether one enjoys Howard's -'ork or not (and there
are few tastes which are not caotured at one point or another
in the extraordinaiy scope of his abilities) , critics hpve ad-
33
mltted that he Is a superb artlst-craftsmin 'vorthy of compari-
son in type with the nrjnes of the Renaissance: a meticulous
worker, infinitely painstaking, n.itient, and v.-lth a breadth of
vision backed by a visual knowledge and natural under 'Standing
of all the great art of the nast.
Robert and Adaline Howard left San Francisco in May,
1937, for France, ",'hore he plans to give further study to
Romanesque sculpture and modern art trends.
34
OILS:
ROBERT 30ARDMAN HOWARD
REPRESENTATIVE
WORKS
Coast, North nf Ridings, 1922
Dragon Mountain
Foothills, 1922
Mexican's Hut and Friends
Mountain Across the Pay
Mount Tanalpais (Anne Brener Avard, $50, 1924)
Phoebe's Plaid Jacket
Q,uarry in the Hill
WATERCOLORS:
Citadelle in Cairo, The, 1927
Jungle Swamp, 1928
Nile Palms, 1928
WOOD-CARVINOS:
Balinese Figure, I'^oO
Life-size Redv/ood Figure, 1923
Malayan Figure, 1950
MURALS, DECORATIVE SCULPTURES, STONE RELIEFS, ETC. :
Two 16' X 24' stage curtains for the Berkeley
(California) Playhouse, 1924
Modeled architect'iT-al ornament, Temole Emanu-El,
San Franci^-'.co, California, l'c25
Interior decorations, Guernoville (California)
Theatre, 1925
Sculotural oanel, facade, First Congregational
Church, Oa'^lond, California, 1925
"Decorative nao panels for the interiors of the
unper and lower decics of the "Peralta" and
"Yerba Buena, " two ferry-boats of the Key
Route, San Francisco, 1926
35
Appointed official sculptor by Persian Govern-
ment to do their work for the philadelohia Ses-
qui-Centennial Exposition: "Sassanlan Monument,"
"Persepolls Capitol," and two Persian urns, 1926,
Tolle Pelnte .(wall decoration in the Gothic, writ-, ^^„
ing-room or the Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemlte Valley, 1937-
Designed and executed a map of the constellations
for the dome of the elaborate John Drum residence
of the roof of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco,
1927.
Constructed the marionettes for a Christmas Nativity
Play given by the San Francisco Puppet Players, 1927.
Cast Iron relief panels for the fireplace of the
Ski Lodge, Badger Pass, Yosemlte.
Mural decorations for the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Bernard Ford in Burlin^ane, California, 1929.
Decorative sculpture, Post Chester Theatre, New
York.
Designed and executed the carved and painted stone
fireplace in the dining room of Camp Curry, Yosemlte
National Park, 1930.
Mural decorations, depicting four kinds of archi-
tecture— oriental, classic Greek, modern continen-
tal and Egyptian — for the dining room of the home
of Mr. and ilrs. Eldridgc T. Spencer, Chestnut Street,
San Francisco.
Murals, stone relief, brass staircase balustrade,
San Francisco Stock Exchange, 1930.
Interior Decorations, walls and celling of the au-
ditorium of the Paramount Theatre in Oakland,
California, 1931.
Mural for the dining room of the home of Roger Kent
in Kentfield, California, 1933. (See Illustration)
Mural Frieze, Mills College, Oakland, California, 1934.
Bar Poster, Lagunltas Club, Ross, California, 1934.
36
miscellai:eous:
Castrovllle, 1927
Circus Horse (gesso on gypsuni) , 1933
Inyo Range fron Keirsarge Pass, 1927
Kearsarge Laices Basin, 1927
Le Chemln de I'Enfer
Mountain Structure, 1927
Pont Neuf — Early Morning, 1920
Rotters, The
Saoho (sculpture), 1923
Torso (sculpture), 1930
EXHIBITIONS;
San Francisco, California
San Francisco Art Association, Third Jury-
Free Exhibition, May 1921
Pont Neuf — Early Morning
Rotters, The
45th Annual Exhibition, October 1921
Le Chemln de I'Enfer
46th Annual Exhibition, November 1922
Coast, North of Ridings
Foothills
47th Annual Exhibition, 1923
Life-size Redwood Figure (First Medal
for sculpture)
49th Annual Exhibition, 1927
. Castrovllle
Kearsarf^e Lakes Basin
Inyo Range from Kearsarge Pass
• • Mountain Structure
Sixty Lances Basin
Jungle Swamp (vatorcolor) , Aoril 1923
Nile Palms "
Sapho ( sculpture'^ , May 1930
Torso
56th Annual Exhibition, 1934
. Circus Horse (tainted gesso on gypsum)
, • Mountain Across the Bay (oil)
Phoebe's Plaid Jacket "
Quarry in 'the Fill "
, Flying Bird (wood-carv'.ng) , February 1935
Mexican's Huts and Friends (oil), April 1937
Galerle Beaux Arts
(First One-man Show), 1923
Paintinf,s and sculptures
Watercoiors and wood-carvings November, 1924
37
AWARDS;
Watercolors, oils and wood-carvinfe;s, March 1925
Wood-carvings, drawings and watercolors,
March 1928
Cltadelle in Cairo (watercolor) , October, 1928
Drawings (mostly In black and white and
made from frescoes and carvings at the
ancient temples of the Orient;, v. tcrcoloi'n,
and wood-carvings, February 1929
Wood-carvings, September 1930
Exhibited, June 1932
East West Gallery
Cltadelle In Cairo (watercolor) , October 1928
Drawln[;s, February 1929
Modern Gallery
Represented, September 1927
Sorrento, Novem er 1927
Tolle Pelnte, November 1927
California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Sculptures and dravings, Auj^st 1032
Rcore wonted, Janunry 1953
Society of Progressive Artists' Show
Represented by a graceful female torso
carved from wood, January 1933
San Francisco Museum of Art
Studies of birds and fish (egg tempera), July 1936
B url 1 ngamc , Cal i f o rn i a
Students' Shor
ExhlViited, June 1931
Paris, France
Salon des Artistes Francois
Le Chemin de I'Enfer (4' x 6' oil), 1921
San Francisco Art Association, 1923
First Medal for a life-size redwood carving.
California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1924
Anne Bremer A"'ard, S50, for "Mount Tnraalnals" (oil)
Southt.rn California Chaoter of the American
Inatltutc of Architects, 1925
Distinguish Honor Award for his architectural
ornament, Temple Eraanu-El, San Francisco.
CLUBS:
36
Member:
Art Students' League, New York City
Ccallfornia Society of Mural Painters,
San Francisco
I.!odern Gallery, San Francisco
San Francisco Art Association
39
D3
ROBERT EOARDMAN HOWARD
BIBLIOGRAPHY
San Francisco Examiner
September 11, 1927, td. lO-E— November 27, 1927,. p. lOE
March 25, 1928, o. 8K— October 28, 1928, p. lOE
November 4, 1928, o. 9E— January 27, 1929
February c, 1929, p. lOE— February 24, 1929, p. lOE
San Francisco Clironlcle
June 22, 1934 — Novenber 2, 1924, p. D3
Inarch 15, 1925, p. D3— December 25, 1927, p. D7
Februarv 5, 1929, n. D5— February 24, 1929, p. D5
Setpember 25, 1929, p. D5— January 12, 1930, o. D5
September 29, 1950, o. D5— January 30, 1931, p. 14
January 20, 1935, u. D3— February 17, 1935, p.
July 19, 1936
Berkeley (California) Gazette
June 2, 1932 — December 30, 1932
Oakland (California) Tribune
January 1, 1933— January 29, 1933
Argus, San Francisco
February 1928, p. 10— April 1928, p. 5
November 1923 o. 2— December 1928, p. 9
March 19, 1929, o. 10
Argonaut, San Francisco
February 2, 1929— January 18, 1930
Sunset Magazinn, San Francisco
December 1956
Arts and Architecture
December 1931, p. 33
Ahwahnee, published by Johnck & Seeger, Son
Francisco, 1934
CHARLES HOUGHTON H 0 V; A R D
1809
Blof^raph;^ ,?nd '"orks
"ABSTRACT"
PROPERTY OF THE ARTIST
40
CHARLfeS HOUGHTON HOWARD
YOUTH AND EDUCATION
The only Howard to retrace the steps of the family
eastward from California with a view to permanent settlement
elsewhere was the third son of John Galen and Mary Bradbury
Howard, Charles Houghton Howard, v;ho was born in Hontclalr,
New Jersey, January 3rd, 1899.
Charles attended public school in Berkeley and was
graduated from Br^rkeley High School in the summer of 1917.
Enrolling in the University of California almost at the same
time America entered the world war, ho immediately joined
the S. A. T. C. and served with it until th.^ Armistice, going
to France to be with his father r..nd brother, Robert, for a
short period preceding demobilization.
He re-enterod the Univcrr>ity in 1919 and took up
his studies in the college of Letters and Science, convinced
that he wanted to v/rite, and soocialized in journalism. He
spent most of his spare time acting in various campus' the-
atrical ventures.
In the summer vacation of 1920, he went again to
Paris. During his third year in the University of Califor-
nia, he was chosen for the principal part in the Junior
farce, an honor carrying much cpnpus distinction and re-
quiring considerable talent.
The following summer, he and a friend sailed on a
freighter bound for New York via the Panama Canal. They had
41
signed on as common seamen because, as Charles later confided
to his mother, neither boy felt he v/ould relish the task of
keeping look-out from the crow's nest, one task of an able-bod-
led seaman.
In the summer of 1922, the year following his re-
turn to Berkeley, he completed his requirements for gradua-
tion. Feeling that he was not yet equipped to write he went
east to take up graduate work at Harvard and Columbia Univer-
sity in 1923.
Then ho returned to Paris, determined to put to
the tost the education he had received in writing. Paris
was, at that time, filled with American expatriates all Al-
lowing different schools of exporimentation in the various
arts, and into that atm.osphere Charles flung himself; eager
to learn, convinced that he had something to contribute.
FROM AUTHOR TO ARTIST
Among the many people he met was Grant Wood, that
Middle-western painter who created the stark pseudo-pririi-
tive style of painting now known as "Am.erican Gothic." Howard
accompanied him on a summer-long tour of Italy, during which
time Wood preached the superiority of paint nver words as a
medium of self-ex;-)ression. Parhaps influenced by Grant
Wood, Howard returned to New York City in 1924, deter-
mined to abandon writing and to follov; a career of painting.
42
He had no formal training In art but tv;o of his
brothers were ai-tlsts and he had toured Surone's galleries.
He simply began to draw and paint and throe years later
Jehanne Bletry Salinger ccrair.ents In the San Francisco Exam-
iner of November 27, 1927:
"John, Robert B. and Charles H. Howard, paint-
ers, sons of John G. Howard, well known archi-
tect of San Francisco and Bcrkoluy, are hold-
ing a Joint exhibition of their '.■ork....at the
Playhouse Theatre In Berkeley. Charles H, How-
ard,* who resides in Now York, hnr. never before
exhibited on the Pacific Coast.
"A rare 3xpcrience .and an interesting one is
that of viewing the rrork of the three brothers
in the sarie room at the sane tine. One is as
brilliantly talented as the other, but each
has his strong personality. Only one trait
they have in common, .. .The three of then have
broken away from conventions and academic tra-
ditions. Yet each one of them is self-master-
ing and knows what he is doing. .. .This is es-
pecially clear in the picture of Charles.,..
"A- 'Still-Life' and 'American Beauty' by
Charles have qualities of design and composi-
tion which arc beautifully decorative. The
colors are simple and neatly contrasting. Old
rose, pale yellow, delicate lilac form a fine
ensemble,
"These three brothers have in their work some
(jf .the most ■ desirable features of American Art
in the making. "
Charles had won his spurs. If noting else, ho had
achi .^ved a sense of balance and was using it effectively,
PICTORIAL SATIRE
In the spring of the following year another Hov/ard
brothers show was announced for the G-alorie Beaux Arts in
43
San Francisco which v;as oomnentcd on by the So.n Francisco
Chronicle about the ralddle of March, 1928:
"The work of Charles Houghton Hov/ard would be
fx joy to the type of layman who loves to point
out the grotcsquenes'3 and absurdities of mod-
ern art. It must be remembered, however, tho.t
he is doing a definite thing in his v/ork. He
is portraying modern America and doing so in
a satirical vein. He is a sort of Mencken of
line and form.
"'Miss America' is a drawing of a girl doing a
handstiDrlng against a background, formally treat-
ed, of an American flag and mechanical devices
suggestive of steam fittings, electrical fix-
tures and other angular objects. Through a.ll
his drawings runs a pattern of these nechnnics
of civilizcition. Quite aside from, the litera-
ry turn to his work, ho is an artist in the
handling of his material."
In the San Francisco Examiner of March 25th, of
the same year, Jehanne Bietry Salinger says of the show:
"....Charles is the only (Hov;ard) who seems
to have found a dgf inite m.oans of expressionand
whose work presents unity in its main charac-
teristics. Matured in his conceptions, ho is
a satirist. .. .One of his subjects is the
'Week End, ' a v;atorcolor showing tv;o men and
a woman under a parasol sitting around a ta-
ble. One of the men is playing the guitar,
the other emphatically holds a fan. There is
nothing missing in this v.eek-end party. The
table holds cigars, cigarettes, a bottle of
wine, choice delicatessen. As for the lady,
she is attired in nothing more than a light
bj-ue -step-in. She turns her back to the table
and wears a bored look on her pretty face."
ABSTRACTION
During the next four yenrs his theories of art
underwent a somewhat drastic change, and, from pictorial
44
satire full of literary content, they shifted to the oppo-
site extreme; serious, symbolic abstraction which had, to the
layman's eye, no content at all.
In Juno 1932, he exhibited a nujnbor of these ab-
stractions In tempera and pen and Ink at the Art Center in
San Francisco upon which the locr^l art critics gazed v/lthout
comment.
The follov/ins year Nev; York claimed him, v/ith res-
ervation, for its own, and on January 7, 1933, the Art News
announced:
"Julian Levy is cxhlbltinc at the moment ab-
stract canvases by Charles Howard, a young A-
merican- artist v;ho appears to have very defi-
nite convictions regarding thif? ty^^o of paint-
ing; Ho has happily lit upon symbols that
help .hip' through most of his abstract ionlng —
for he would be hard put to make the grade
without the little blue pennants that he paints
fit strategic points inhis compo.TltlonR. He fur-
ther enlivens his scenes v;ith flocks of darting
minnows that give an easy grace to his designs,
but when he tries his hand at Plcasso-likc fig-
ures, the results are not so happy. For the
mojt part his canvases are sufficiently charac-
terized to warrant sorious consideration, and
for ny?. own part, I am alv/ays tremondously im-
pressed by any artist v/ho ha'^ sufficient cour-
age 'to /ittack the problems of abstract paint-
ing,' ho natter how staggering the results may
be. \ As Louis Bouche so aptly renarks in his
forev;ord to the catalog: 'A rare thing to find
in any country, in Anorlca particularly, is
painting engendered by invontivoness out of
esprit. ' . . . .Mr. Howard i;nov;s how to paint ojid
his work has a decided clarity of intention
and a pictorial Intensity that invariably sus-
tains it."
The Art Digest of January 15, 1933, oven more wary,
called to witness the pronouncements of other New York papers
rather than taking a definite stand, vide:
45
SURREALISM AMD EI^PTINESS
"Although M.irgarot Brcunlng of the Por;t finds
Charles Howard, who Is making hi a debut at the
Julian Levy Galleries, a 'brilliant craftsman,'
she alfjo finds that 'in much of his v;ork this
finished craftsmanship is about fill the paint-
ings have to reconnend then; they contain lit-
tle that is new nr provocative. In fact, the
artist aeenc to have nastored an artistic idi-
om but to have little to say v/ith it.'
"The Times mentions this same emptiness; 'Howard
is another of the surrealists, and while he
paints with assurance and finish, the now fa-
miliar theme comes to us v/ith few accents of
freshness. It would probably bo a mistake to
call this work a more restatement of ideas
hitherto presented with mcmnrable audacity and
grace of utterance by artists whose na.mes are
most prominently wedded to the movement, Howard
has a certain ^joint of view, and he paints v/ith
imagination, but his canvases are inclined to
leave one cold, in a son!5e not implicit in the
bleakness of typical Surrealistic subject mat-
ter. . . •
"Well, this is Charles Hov/ard'y first one-man
shov/ and the future may hold in store for us
many surprises."
3y summer, the West \;as emboldened to recognize,
tentatively, but with a measure of pride, its gifted son, and
the San Franclsoo Examiner rf July 2, 1933, mentions that:
"...'.He has had several exhibitions of his
work: a Joint show with tv/o r,f his brothers at
the Beaux Arts (rallery in San Francisco, at
the Whitney Studio Club Gallery, at the Valen-
tine Gallery in Nov; York, and this spring a
one-man show at the Levy Gallery, Nev/ Yorl:.
"He has decorated several rooms in New York,
among them the apartment of Hobart Erv;in, 'f
Jonea and Erwin, and the dining room of the
nev/ Cosmopolitan Club.
"At' prasent, he is decorating a great Indoor
swimming pool on an estate in New York."
4b
On the same day, the San Fronclaco Chronicle head-
lined its article with, "Charles Howard Has Queer Exhibit,"
and went on to say:
"'Curiouser and curioij.ser, ' said Alice.
"She might have been speaking of the exhibi-
tion of Charles H. Howard, at the Art Center.
"Howard, third son of the architect John Galen
Howard, now a resident of Nc-v; York, is an ab-
stractionist. The material cf hie patterns is
not too abstract for the observer to be able
to discover in it such odd elements as dismem-
bered human bodies — or clothes dummies- -decay-
ed fish, old-fashioned v/omen's shoes, etc.
"His pen and ink drav/incs in their queer
shapes raaJce some moody suggestion of decora-
tion. His tempera ■naintings are not substan-
tial "
The pronouncement of the art critic, Joseph Do.nysh,
in the Argonaut of June 30, 19:-'3, who had taken up the cud-
gel for Howard, was:
"...'.Charles Howard has shov;n as the point of
departure for the clean-cut, sensitive draw-
ings and his decadenrly luminous v/atercolors
the subject matter of the surrealists — that
subjectively real w^rild which has as valid ex-
istence for the painter as for the poet, and
as legitimate a claim to plastic interpreta-
tiori as to literary. Thus, Howard's ladies /
are cut in half; ' his children calmly swallow /
salamanders; black putre faction ignites into
P^ssi'on-hued luminescence; rich Baudelairian
symbolism verges on stealthily be coning macabre.
His is that world, straifjOly fascinating, often
fearsome, which the tc'^ :ii£;hly civilized art lot
fin^s when he turns in upon his own conscious-
ness. Charles Howard ha;;'- looked into his own
dark and founrl its tenants.
"....Howard's line is Botticellian In its
delicacy and in the subtle insinuation of form
— his color relations fini. their strangest
47
effects In unexpected harmonies of thin, trans-
parent washes or In the rich, cloying colors of
decay.
"Howard has done most of his artistic experi-
menting in the medium of words, but finds a
more direct, personal expresnion in drav/ing and
painting; his drawings, therefore, are fresh
and unstudied, his wateroolors direct and
forceful. ..."
H. L. Dungan comments in the Oakland Tribune of
November 4, 1934:
"The exhibition of the works of the Progressive
California Painters and Sculptors is now on at the
Joseph Danysh Galleries, San Francisco. Charles
H. Howard (shows) two paintings, each entitled
' Surrealism. '
"They represent, I am told, the actions of the
subconsious mind, but I suspect that the sur-
realist paints with his full mind what he hopes
v/ill represent his subsconscious mind, whatever
that is. Howard's paintings consist of rect-
angles, curves, linos, flogs, colors.... in no
particular arrangenient
Certainly Charles was convinced that he knew what
he was doing. He had been living abroad since 1955, but his
paintings were attracting incre,-:>.sing attention on the east-
ern and western coasts of America. That the critics should
treat his work lightly did not bother him, but ho was eager
to set his public right as to the motives 'vhlch were driv-
ing him forward in the world of art. The Into Junius Cravens
aided him in this respect In tho following article which ap-
peared in the San Francisco Nevrs of May 4, 1935:
"Charles Howard, who lives in London, is repre-
sented (at the current show at Paul Elder's) by
three well rendered abstractions in oils. The
48
last time that such of his work waf? shown here
It was hailed as being surrealism — classifica-
tion, however, against vhich he has since gent-
ly protested in a friendly letter to no.
"'As I understand it,' he writes in part, 'sur-
realism is essentially an intellectual formula.
Illustrative, objective; appeals to the mind.
It is not conceived with the intrinsic quali-
ties of the medium, nor v/ith the aesthetics.
It ignores the sensibilities of its audience.
....It may be an art, but it is net the art of
painting.
"'Surrealism is merely the presentation of il-
lustrative notes or disparate objects in a
precalculated combination. Such combination
regardless of how 'subjective' it is, succeeds
only in stimulating a sensation of mixed mem-
ories, urges, hungers, nostalgias, etc., in the
minds of its audience. It is purely intellec-
tual Surrealism, if anything, is strange
but not mysterious.
"'In my own paintings, the objects (which arc
too abstract to be regarded literally as ob-
jects), as such, become secondary, as I paint,
and serve only as a point of departure. The
painting itself becomes of primary importance.
" • That the natural problems of pure paint-
ing— unity, adjustment, poise, subtlety, style,
grace, variety, quality, etc. ,— should be tome
increasingly engrossing, as against objective
delineation of subject, seems to me to exclude
my work from surrealism. Moreover, I suspect
the Surrealists, such as Dali, Ernst, and ^^iro,
would scorn me as still being a painter.'
Of a show held in the fall of that year, the Argo-
naut of September 20th remarks:
"The work of the two Ho\;ard brothers (Robert
and Charles) must be mentioned for its pre-
cise beauty, its true graphic quality and po-
etic imagination. ..."
49
THE ARTISTS' CONGRESS
In 19o6 Charles Howard returned to America for a
brief visit, unending some tine both on the east and west
coasts. He was particularly interested in the activities of
the Artists' Congress then convening in New York city, being
of the firm opinion that the tendencies of art, no less than
the economic and social trends, v/ore Indicative of the time
having come for readjustment of the artist's place in soci-
ety.
During this visit, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin
recorded the exhibit of one of his decorative schemes in its
issue of March 28, 1936 as follov/s:
.•^Decorative Arts Exhibition, San Francisco Mu- >
geum of Art.
"One complete G-allory is devoted to room ar-
rangement.
"A bed room, duplicating one in a home being
erected now (which was designed by Charles
Howard) has wide ribbons of glass, (which) all
but let the room fall into space. The bed and
dressing table are of glass."
In 1937, ho was represented in the 57th Annual Ex-
hibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San
Francisco Museum of Art along with other members of the How-
ard fcxmily and, in spite of his protest, named a surrealist by
the San Francisco Chronicle of April 4, 1937, in the follow-
ing words:
"....The inevitable surrealism talctis its toll,
as in Charles Hov;ard' s abstractions...."
50
Thl3 article had reference to an oil entitled "Re»-
public?," a rather cold conception, low in key, appearing to
be massed water-eroded rocks on a seashore, v/lth nasts bear-
ing blue pennants blown by a neat two-dlrectlonal wind, v/lth
one mast trailing tangled twine which Is not blown about at
all.
One framed oil hangs in his brother Robert Howard's
studio on Jackson Street in San Francisco, and another in
his mother's home in Berkeley. Neither is titled, nor are
the single oil, the several tempera, v;atercolors, and pen
and ink drawings v;hlch can be viewed at the Gourvoisier Gal-
lery at 133 G-eary Street in San Francisco.
AT H0M5— LOI^'DON
He still makes his home in London, where he is
deeply interested in the nev; English Artists' Congress, An
active member of the movement which is going forv;ard In Eng-
land today, he hopes to see the permanent establichnent of
that long-sought goal, a National Academy based on sound ar-
tistic principle, without the taint of prejudice arising
from the unintelligent application of classical rules, or
v/orks unduly Influenced by the economic status of the indi-
vidual artist.
Charles Howard is a modern ".vho calls himself an ab-
stractionist, and upon the art critics dependswhat he ^VjqIT
be called by the public in the future.
51
CHARLES HOUGHTON HOWARD
REPRESENTATIVE
WORKS
OILS:
Display
Grotto
Republic?
Wreck
WATERCOLOR:
Week End
MURAL:
Bexhill, England
INTERIOR DECORATIONS:
Cosmopolitan Club Dining Roon, New York City
Englewood Indoor Swimming Pool on a New York Estate
Glass Bedroom and Furniture
Hobart Erv/in Penthouse apartment, New York City
MISCELLANEOUS:
American Beauty
Miss America
Still-Life
Surrealism No. 1
Surrealism No. 2
One oil, several tempera, watorcolors, pen and ink
drawings on view at Courvoicler Gallery, San
Francisco, California.
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:
Robert Howard Studio, Jackson Street, San Francisco
Abstraction (oil)
Mrs. Howard, Berkeley, California
Abstraction (oil)
52
EXHIBITIONS
San Francisco, California
Beaux Arts Galorle» 1928
Ivllss America
Week End
Art Center, 1932
Abstractions
Art Center, 1933
Drtiwings
Joseph Danysh Galleries, 1934
Progressive California Painters and Sculptor:
Surrealism No. 1-2
Paul Elder Gallery, 1935
Abstractions
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1936
Decorative Arts E>±iibitlon
Miniature Model of Glass Bedroom and
Furnishings
San Francisco Art Association, 1936
Display
Grotto
Wreck
San Francisco Art Association, 1937
Republic
Berkeley, California
Playhouse Theatre, 1927
Still-Life
American Beauty
Hollyv;ood, California
The Stanley Rose Gallery
New York, N. Y.
Whitney Studio Club Gallery
Valentine Studio Club Gallery
Julian Levy Gollery, 1933
One-man shov;
London, England
Bloomfleld Gallery
53
CHARLES HOUGHTON HOWA.RD
BIBLIOGRAPHY
San Francisco Exanlnor, November 27, 1927, p. ElO
March 25, 1928, p. K8— July 2, 1933, p. E6
San Francisco Chronicle, March 25, 1928
July 2, 1933, p. D3— April 4, 1937, p. D5
San Francisco News, June 24, 1932, p. 7
May 4, 1935, p. 7
San Francisco Call-Bulletin, March ?^3, 1936, p. 7
Oakland Tribune, November 4, 1954
Argus, San Francisco
April 1928, p. 5
Art News
January 7, 1933, p. 9
Art Digest
January 15, 1933, p. 15
Argonaut, San Francisco, June 50, 1933
September 20, 1935
JOHN L A N G L E Y K 0 W A f. D
1902
Blo/^-raphy and V/orks
"PENITENTE3" NEW ?.:EXICO
PRCPERTY OF THE ARTIST
54
JOHN LANGLEY HOWARD
John Langley Howard, fourth son of John Galen
Howard, was born February 5, 1902, In Montclalr, New Jersey,
shortly before the family noved to Berkeley.
EDUCATION
He entered Berkeley Public School at the age of
six. Apparently v;lth no artistic Inclinations, he drew for
himself a comic strip at the age of eight, which he still
remembers because of the excessively bad draiving. His real
interest lay in making things, and tools and machinery ab-
sorbed most of his time.
During 'nost of t}ie var period he lived in Carmel,
California, with his mother and sister, and attended Monterey
High School for two years. He also attended University High
School in Oakland, where he was graduated at the age of
eighteen. His only drav.dngs at this time were of stiff, elon-
gated automobiles, no better or no worse than the drawings
of most boys of that are.
Entering the University of California in 1920 to
major in engineering, he spent so much time rowing with the
Freshman crfew thf<t his studies suffered considerably. His
courser, in engineering grew Increasingly difficult, and in
the midst of his sophomore year, he failed to pass his ex-
aminations. Being too sensitive to stay in Berkeley for the
semester required before ho could make up his work and re-
enter the University he decided to spend the time elsewhere.
55
On his notorcycle, with little money, he traveled
first to Reno, Nevada, and thence made his vay about the
country, working in lumber and road camps. Several months
later, he found himself in Texas, homesick for Berkeley and
school again. He sold his motorcycle and started north by
train, living on crackerr, and chocolate en route. By the
time he arrived home, penniless, dirty, and disheveled, he
had acknov.'ledged to himself the wisdom of returning to col-
lege.
On his reinstatement, he had s^^lfted his major from
engineering to English, but the nev/ knowledge he was acquir-
ing meant little to him and afforded no sense of direction,
no purpose in life after collof.e. ^nd searcliing in his mind
for a nossible career, he foiind the answer. He v/ould be an
artist. He could wear the clothes he liked, go where he
pleased, and do what he chose.
NEW YORK AND EUROPEAN STUDIES
His family was inclined to be sympathetic. After
one term at the Berkeley School of Arts and Crafts in 1922,
he left for New York where he spent the winter studying with
the Art Students* League.
As soon as he had saved enough money, he went to
France where for six nonths he sketched and began to formu-
late his personal theory of art.
Naturally shy, he had difficulty in talking with
people and experienced periods of discouragement with art.
;3f\«#»<i.-
56
Returning to New York he spent another winter In the Art
Students' ^eague und(;r the Inr-tructlon of Boardman Robinson,
John Sloan, and ^enneth Hayes Miller, John Sloan Irritated
Howard by v-hat he considered his emotional, uneven enthusi-
asm and unanalytical approach. Miller, however, confirmed
the attitude already strong in the serious mind of the young
artist, ^'''either modern nor conservative, Miller taught the
bare rudiments of printing and composition, and stressed the
cultivation of the ultra-sensitive, intuitive approach.
Howard fell into step with alacrity.
He felt i:hat an artist must find a satisfactory
way of life so that his life and v/ork became each the bal-
anced complement of the other. Tq this belief he clung, re-
sisting all pressure from without, to surrender to the aca-
der.lc, cut-and-drled routine of art training, submitting
himself to little other than self-discipline.
Meanwhile his father, feeling that his son van
unsettled and being genuinely anxious to help him, arrived
In New York to see "'hat could be done.
REACTIONS TO ART TRAINING
John &ilen Howard realized the unwisdom of taking
a dictatorial attitude since his son ^vas still living on an
allowance, but he felt that the boy '^'as not making the best
use of his t ime.
57
In the end he proposed p. hypothetical case: He
wanted to offer a well-paid position to a talented younr: man,
but first it '.''as necesar.ry that the young man accept the
training to be acquired in an established art school v/hich
would lay the academic foundation for future ^'ork. That vras
all. And '"hen John Lanp:ley Hov'ard indicated that he did not
mind having his allo'-ance cut off, provided he '"as per:nitted
to po his c'n '^'ay, the older Ho'"ard departed, disappoiritcd,
but still hoocful that his son mi^'ht yet change his mind.
At this point, John Lr.n,7ley began to rorry. '^e had
saved enough money to carry him for a 'vjiile, but vrlmt of the
future? Thinhing a Job on a ship might help temporarily, he
haunted the docks .•ind noted the sprarled, listle^.s attitudes
of vagrants draped on park bcnc^.es. A growing doubt that he
could ship out assv'iiled him.
He concluded thcit perhapii it might be wise to try
the course his f ath- r had nreoented, feeling that even thoij^
an academic course vere of no practical aid to him, at least
it could me".n ro '^rarse than wasted time. Writing a letter of
application to the Pennsylvania Academy, he left Ner York for
Woodstock.
Here h.e received instruction from. Cecil Chichester,
of the Art Students' League, '"-ose theory of successful paint-
ing consisted of a mt'iod of control. ling color values '"hich,
If mastered, could not fail. This struck Ho^'^rd as being dis-
appointingly shallow, pnd he v;p.s further discouraged to find
58
that the entry requirements for the Pennsylvania Academy were
very difficult to meet.
This period v;as lightened by his interest in a young
Vassar graduate, Adelaide Day. This daughter of an old and
exclusive Ne'^ York family delighted him by denuding the group
around them of their pretences and superf icialities. In her
he found a candid, perceptive person vhom he honestly c-^nd
sincerely liked,
TRAVEL AND IvJARRIAGE
But in the main, he felt dissatisfied and unproduc-
tive. Finances being lovf, he decided to forget art for a time
and earn a living a.t sono casual job. At the invitation of a
friend he '.vent to the Hawaiian Islands in the late fall of
1924 and stayed for about t"'o months, working as overseer of
a gang of Filipino laborers. This tropical interlude vas
pleasant, but it supplied •''O ansvcr to his problem of choos-
ing a career.
Returning to S.-^n Francisco shortly before Christmas,
he Joined his brother Henry, in his studio on Telegraph Hill,
He vas delighted to fj.nd that Adelai(.1e Day had also come vest.
They met again and promptly fell in love.
They vere married in January 1P25, and lived 'with-
out financial worries for a tin.e on tlie checks which arrived
as wedding presents, ^ut when they returned to New York they
soon found that their combined efforts f.-^iled to produce an
adequate lining. Fortunately, however, after about nine
69
months of strufrple, they unexpectedly received enough money
from the Day family to end their immediate difficulties.
Deciding to substitute a rural for a metropolitan
existence, they returned to California and settled on a ranch
in Calistoga, Lake County, where they were virtually cut off
from the world. Here thoy remained for about a year and a
half, Howard painting landscapes of great sensitivity and del-
icacy but without any real strength,
FIRST EXHIBITIONS
In the spring of 1927 he gave his first one-man shovi
at the I'^iodern Gallery in San Francisco which received favor-
able publicity.
In the spring of 1928 he participated with his
brothers, Charles and Robert, in a show at the Galerie Beaux
Arts in San Francisco, In the San Francisco Examiner for
March 25, 1928, Jehanne Bietry Salinger says:
"....Of John Langley toward I said a year ago:
'He is a superlative artist. There is some-
thing Nordic in his dreamy ways. There is
also something of the Russian spirit in sev-
eral of his drawings. ' This impression only
grows on closer acquaintance. Some of his
landscapes showing pine trees on a hillside,
losing their tops in the v.-hite of the fogs,
or lov/ winu-blo^m cedars on round hills are
rich with emotion and a complexity that seems
to be made of the feelings of many races of
people. A eolf-portrait, an oil unfinished and
somewhat loose in treatment, is a key to the
understanding of the personality back of this
work. It is not an achieved final expression.
It is, all in all, taking, beautiful, conscien-
tious, the sincere expression of a splendid and
original artist in the making."
60
Of the sane show, In the Argus of April 1928,
Jehanne Bletry SalinptT also sayr.:
"Of . . (the Howard brothers), John Lanfi:ley is
the poet, the mystic and the most complex de-
spite his naive ap'^roach. . . . the most sensitive',
too. While his technique is decidedly firm,
his colors are sometimes thin, and nlthough
there is a sameness of theme throuphoutt , . .
there predominates in his v/ork a certain qual-
ity, an element of sentiment that escapes def-
inition but is the unmistakable trait by which
one recognizes deeper art. "
In the Examdner for I.Iay 20th, i-evlewing a show at
the East-West Gallery, Jehanne Bietry Salinger speaks of his
"steady, profound, Inspiring, and solid artistic evolution"
and suf5^p:ests that his name mif^ht well be added to the list
for the Annual International E:ihibitions of the Carnegie In-
stitute of Pittsburg, saying:
"....The 'Self-Portrait* is not only the best
painting that has been done by John Howard, but
is also the outstanding work of the group..,.
"The young painter has come with this self-por-
trait to a real structural quality that does
not eliminate a fine sensibility and spiritual
Idealization, The surface appeal of this work
Is not wholly dependent on the colors that are
kept in tones of v/arn brov/n, hazy blue and vel-
vety gray, or on the superb skill he displays.
It is made of the sum total of all the elements
below the surface: sincere inspiration, a most
vitally emotional teinj.'oramcnt that has a beau-
tiful power of expression, "
And Junius Cravens, in the Argonaut of I.Iay 19, 1P28, adds:
"....Mr. Ho-verd seems to be able to m.aintain a
high avera,%-e of C'litributin.'j^ one important
piece of work to each exiiibltlon in which he is
represented. Few artists of rrr^atev maturity
can claim as much. "
61
Meanwhile the John Howards, living'- in Idyllic de-
tachment In CallGtoga, were suddenly attacked by a virulent
boredom. Sensibly deciding that they needed new int'jrests,
they agreed thft it "'as time to abandon their Isolation and
take up life among people.
SAN FRANCISCO STUDIO
In February 1928, they r.ovod into a small flat on
San Francisco's Russian Hill, John Langley took a studio in
one of the old warehouses on Jackson Street with Jacques
Schnier, sculptor and wood-carver. The sor.e^^'hat uncertain
state of Adelaide Ho'"ard's health dictated a quiet mode of
living, but they mingled with contemporary artists, including
Matthe'-' Barnes, attended concerts, and generally enjoyed their
return to urban life.
Young Ko"'ard now attempted portraiture seriously
for the first time, ^e completed a portrait of his mother,
almost in the academic manner, the color soft and restrained,
the drawing conventional, but the painting obviously seeking
to express something which the artist's technique had not yet
encompassed. Of a study of his v-ife, done about a year ear-
lier, Junius Cravens said in the Argonaut for ii'^rch 24, 1928:
",... (Howard ) hao, so far, developed very lit-
tle imagination, or creative thought. His work
has, to an extent, a solid foundation, but the
foundation Is still as apparent as the structure
it supports, .. ,By far the finest thing he has
done is a painting of a t?roman rerdlng. In this
canvas he begins to fulfil the promise of
strength that his work seems to hold. This is
62
a solid piece of paint ing, excellent in color
and veil thought ouf In every particular. One
of his vood-carvings, a woman's head, Is his
most Inspired and untramneled gesture. Here
la a wonderful piece of characterization and
one v.'hlch the artist is not likelv to surpass
for sone time to come. The indications are
that John Howard's development v-m be very
slovr but very sure. "
On August 9, 1928, the Horards' first child, Samuel
^avrrence, was born in San Fr-ancisco. The small family novr
bought a house in V)nterey and settled dovn. In thisatmos —
phere, John ^r.ngley v;orhed persistently and exhibited at the
Galcrie Beaux Arts in Sm Francir<co frequently. Confining
himself to somev^hat conventional and stylized portrayals of
family life, his work neverthele-s continued to attract atten-
tion. In the Arg'^naut for February 2, 1929, Junius Cravens
writes:
"....a painting in oils not hitherto exhibited
....The subject is mother and babe. ^t is not
only the best painting 'vhich ve have seen from
the brush of this pronislng young artist but a
masterful v-ork to have beon done by any painter
at any time,
"John Ho'-'ard Is not prolific. ... so it T"ill prob-
ably be many a. day before "^e nay even hope to
hear of Ills holding a one-man shov. But such
fev; things as he has done are for all time and
V7111 be as fresh as they are today. The time
v;lll doubtless come "'hen San Francisco '"ill bo
proud to say it fostered John Langley Howard. "
And in the San Francisco Examiner for January 27, 1929:
"One more artj st who is reacting very strongly
and as successfully against the tendency of
carelessness ;.nd overhaste in "hlch the modern
movement has dc'';enerated is John L. Hov/ard. . . .
63
"....A co-Tiposltlon 'Mother nnd Child'..., is not
the haphazard result of a half hour soance v.'ith
a model. For tv.'O 'nonths and a half the artist
has kept his canvas on his easel. ... 'pollshinf^
and ropoliBhinfr, ' . . . .
"And nov v'ithin the confined lir.its of a nar-
row frane livo and breathe tvc human beings in
a world not of passing interest, an exaggeration
so often committed by over-enotlonal artists....
"Not a single painter of this part of the' coun-
try whose ^'ork has b^en sr>en in this city, cah
claim a paintinr.; r.ore complete, mere satisfying,
or as aesthetically finished. And this beau-
tiful vrork is by a tall, shy youth '.ino lives a —
vay from the crov/d, . . . v*io knon's enough not to
speak of himself or his art, and \='ho v,'orks alone
in the severe atmosphere of a studio entirely
devoid of boherian artifice,"
Money was scarce and the Hov/ards entertained f e^
frionda. This had the effect of li-^iting Ho^^'ard's scope. He
lost liinself in a series of sentimental pencil nnd pastel
studies of children. The immediate popularity of these pic-
tur-es did not in the least deceive the artist. A fe^ experi-
ments in small '-'ood-ca.rvings produced some amusing grotesque
heads and figures but brought no solution as to the next step
in his career.
After the birth of tlieir second child, Anne Bradbury,
on June 1©, 1930, his interest in family subjects '-'aned. He
now st^^od upon a ne".' throsh'>ld without knowledge of v/hat "'as
before him.
awaksI'Ii:;g to world conditions
In 1931, the Ho'-'ards av/oke to the fact that they had
a family v.'hoso future r-as one of their chief concerns. As a
64
young couple with a lil.^hly developed sense of responsibility,
they decided that their first ciuty lay in finding out vhat was
happening in the world around them.
The contemporary scone bep:an to offer John Langley a
new v'^ubject for his brush. But the observin-r?; eye v;hich his ar-
tistic training had developed told him that something was a-
miss, and that if he chose this subject, he must first famil-
iarize himself with the conditions underlying it. Accordingly
he and his wife began to make new friends in Carmel and Mon-
terey, among them Lincoln Steffens, Albert Rhys Williams, and
Oi-rick Johns — all deeply Interested in the picture of social
and economic change. Active participants in the newly formed
John Reed Club in Lbnterey, they mingled freely with the in-
tellectual group, honing to clarify their ideas ag to Ameri-
ca' f; outlook and their own olace in the social order.
As a result of these stimulating contacts, Howard
experienced a renewed surge of artistic energy and suddenly
acquired a nev; technique. His landscapes now bore the stamp
of an active civilization; gas stations, docks, warehouses —
the superimposed forms of industrial development and the de-
lineation of conditions resulting therefrom.
Speaking of him as "one of the finest artists Cali-
fornia has produced, " Henrietta Shore describes his show at
the Denny-Watrous Gallery in the Carmelite of April 30, 1P31:
"....John Langley Howard is a young man and his
work contains vouth. H^ is a student. ... should
65
he cease being a student, he will at that mo-
ment cease helnp an artist. His final word has
not been spoken — In that respect he differs from
many so-called artists whose final word was spo-
ken shortly after taking up the tools of their
profession.
"I find i«ir. Kc'ard to be interested in painting.
Interested in attaining- complete mastery of his
materials in order to fully express his interest
in life. ^e is not in a groove but is experi-
menting and carer ly alert for fresh discoveries.
Ke is modern in that he is progrersive, yet his
work proves that he does not discard the tradi-
tions fron which all fine art has fn'own.
"There is no spirit, of bravado to be found in
this exhibition. ^-^r. Howard has not turned
loose a 'John Lpnglcy Howard paint factory. '
Rather v/e have the v/ork of a quiet, contempla-
tive man, studying with ever increasing knowl-
edge how beat to express the life around him.
This serious study is enlivened by a sense of
humor. 'But, ' you say, 'is humor essential in
painting?' I know of no fine painting. devoid
of humor. Humor is reoesrarily as much a part
of painting as it is of speech — or of walking
through lif e. "
In the San Franciscan for April IP.'Sl, Aline Kistler
also speaks with the same sense of anticipation:
"Even as it is difficult today to be certain of
our' "evaluation of the vor'.c of a main such as
Keith, who has been dead fifteen year^ so it be-
comes much more hazardous to value the vrork of a
nan whose painting is still in the first flush
of maturity. John Hov/ard is comparatively lit-
tle known in San Francisco but already there is
an expectation of greatness in the air.,..
"....There is -a definite presentiment abroad
that John Uingley. Ko-rard is one of the really
significant artist's nn->n?f the younger group....
The differencr- that his medium makes in his work
(in this exhibition) is surprising; The oils
are high-key, almost harsh in tone, the land-
scapes are subtly handled though very direct,
and the drawings anci dry-brush paintings arc nt)b-
ulcus in texture thougii structurally definite.
66
"Throughout his vork it Is apparent he regards
easel painting and all drnving and painting of
small area as an adventure in vhich the artist
need acknowledge no such restraints as would be
felt in the treatment of a wall or large perma-
nent space. This work of his in highly person-
alized, ■'■t is intimate at times, xt deals with
what is closest in his consideration — and he has
made few reservations in treatment, daring sen-
timent, literalism or any other of the usual cul
de sacs feared by most modern artists. ^e is
not theorizing.' He is painting. Painting what
he feels and sees."
VARYING THEI.SS
A small oil done ,nbout this time was indicative of
both John and Adelaide Howards' mental turmoil. A simple
study of a man and a woman, it conveyed to the r.ost casual on-
looker that these two people had just awakened tc something
displeasing .and even a little frightening. Of it Junius
Cravens said in the Argonaut of January 22, 1932, v/hen it was
shown at the Galei'le Beaux Arts:
"A potential builder of a milestone is,... John
Langley Hov/ard. . . . who snows a canvas 'T'to Heads'
which probably measures not more than one foot
square, but in which we feel creative powers
that seen to v.s to be unr.istakably great and al-
most overwhelmingly dynamic. There is an expres-
sion "' of complete honesty, of indefatigable
searching after truth in 'Two Heads, ' more par-
ticularly in the head of the wom.an — which vre
have not hitherto recognized In any other contem-
porary work of art. We suspect that Howard is
too great a painter to receive Just recognition
in his own tire, and the dangers of popular ap-
proval are such that vre can even hope for his
sake he may not, since ve should like to think
that at least one California painter may eventu-
ally contribute something of permanent value to
the history of Amorican art. "
67
Despite any mentnl confusion he may have experienced
at the time, he continued to Dalnt landscapes vlth vigor and
understanding. Of "IJonterey Mountains," done vividly In ,Q:reens
and ycllov/s, Junius Cravens wrote In the Argonaut of "-"ctober
2, 193i:
" In it (Howard) rises above the geography
of his subject, a fact v/hlch but too few of his
confreres accomplish as a rule, and he paints
In the realm of the universal. "
A new departure for Howard was a hot, bright canvas
titled "Wood Gathering," combiping landscape with arresting
human and mechanical shapes. 3y painting nature v/lth people,
he retained his earlier delicacy and added to it a new strength
in his use of the violent colors of reality,
A spring show in San Francisco brought forth from the
artist, o^ohn Er.nett Gerrity, the following connent In the C( 11-
3ulletin, i^prll 11, 10;^:
"....There is in Howard's v;ork little or no
recalling, of methods or idiom developed by
schools, but a direct purpose' of portrayalof '
feelings, which is Howard's ovm, and no • swerv-
ing to any special appeal v;hlch would Ije in-
compatible with his temperriment. . . . "
This development began suddenly to attenuate and
Increasingly disappointed with the quality of his painting,
Ho-'-ard finally out his brushes aside altogether. He and his
wife threw themselves into tlio JoV,n Reed Club activities
with gre.-ter vigor than before, v.'orklng feverishly '"Ith the
advanced group in Camel 'md lifonterey. They felt that they
68
must settle In their minds the extent of their social respon-
sibility and the form that their assumption of it should
take.
Meanwhile, John Hov/ard continued to battle against
his apparent inability to paint, ^e vanted to present an ac-
curate picture of the contemporary scene as vfell as the
motivating spirit of the times and found himself falling be-
tween tv'o tools. On one hand was good painting — on the
other the representation of subjectti so ludicrou sly unbal-
anced and unnatural as to take on the quality of caricature.
Thus in 1932, with the best intentions, he found himself
producing little more than embittered cartoons.
At. this period he met Jor.-iph Freeman, then lectur-
ing in Carmel, and moved by a sudaen impulse; laid hie entire
problem before him. Freeman accompanied him to his Gtudio,
looked at his v^ork, and said, in effect, that he rer.lized
Hov/ard's need to be of service, but that there v/ere already
plenty of good cartoonists. He stressed the fact th-.t no
matter v/hat the prevailing conditions might bt^ there v/ao al-
ways need for serious art, and the greater turbulence of the
tines, the greater the need for serious artists. He advised
Hov/ard not to worry about subject natter, to paint whatever
interested him v;ith the assurance that his nev/ly awakened
s'^cial consciousness would be expressed, even in his land-
scapes.
69
Such advice v.'as satisfying Intellectually but did
not Immediately start Kov/ard painting again. He began to
study people — as they vorked and played — and discovered that
he really knew them very little as a functl-^nlnr part of so-
ciety. He started sketching on the scene and found it dif-
ficult but persevered because of the wealth of material he
found. Labor unrest was spreading, strikes were everywhere,
and there were murmurs of vigilante novements. This roused
hln to feeling that he nunt beco,.ie an active participant,
but again he paused in uncertainty.
Then he and his wife found that their son was sub-
ject to asthma and that I»Iontorey's climate was not particu-
larly good for him. They moved nnrth to the San Francisco
peninsula and lived in ^^^enlo Park and Palo Alto during 1934
and 1935.
CO IT TOWER irORA-LS •
Howard had been appointed one of the . number of
PWAP* painters to contribute murals to the newly e;rected
Colt ^^enorlal Tower on Telegraph Hill, Srn Francisco. When
after two months his design was approved, he began actual
painting in i'iarch and completed the wall space allotted him
in June 1934.
Now came a revival of his artistic power. He liked
mural painting and working with artists as a group, and felt
♦Public Works of Art ^ro lect, a branch of the Federal CJqv-
ernment's Civic Works of Art (CWA) organization.
70
that he had at last found h.i. s niche, Ke Joined the Califor-
nia Society of Mural Paintern and the Writers' and Artists'
Union. Mingllnf; aj^aln with artists he bepan to feel, that
his art had really become a livin.Q: thing and that he was
contributing sonethinp: of value to society and to art, 'In
his ovm phraseology he was a part of the world, saying some-
thing to his fellow beings instead of remaining alone in his
studio talking to himself. ^*e found he was done with intro-
spection and his mind had become an obedient instrument for
the objective consideration and expres"ion of the world
about him.
But with the completion of the Colt Tower decora-
tions such dissension arose among the members of the Art Com-
mission as to block indefinitely the opening of the Tower to
the public.
An article by Evelyn Sreley from the Literary Di-
gest of August 25, 1934, reads in part:
"Three artists had balked their approval — Clif-
ford Wight, John Langley Howard, Bernard Zakhelm,
Wight, in a decoration above a triple window,
had painted a hanner and sickle, Communist em-
blem, as one of the symbols in a panel depict-
ing also American 'rugged individualism,' and
the 'New Deal,' as his conception of the picture
the artists v/ere asked to paint of the contem-
porary American scene and California in partic-
ular.
"The commission paused to note that one of
Howard's miners, in a fresco of California min-
ing is reading a Western Worker, Communist
weekly, and they were repelled ^y the angry
faces of .Tome gold-panners glai'lng at some
tourists ^\ho had stopoeo their car to rr.ze upon
the quaint scene. They gasped at the disturbing
71
asf-emblriH-e of nctna?. hep.clllneo In the periodi-
cal room of ZciL'-.oin' 3 library fresco. They
were not sura thsy ae.,/-t^3d with hln division of
literature on the shelves — In one group sets of
Kipling, a Henrjf ate. ; in another V/nia Gather;
Sinclair l.e-.vis, Ernest Hcndnciway; in a third,
Karl iiarx. Grace •>.".»':pkln, l^rskine Caldwell, and
other writers concerned with the proletorist.
"They ex]"'res6ed their reaction to the three art-
iste, but decided, on second thouK-ht, to drop
any action aecainst Howard and Zakhelm. Wight,
however, is still required by Edward Bruce, of
the National PV/AP to whitewash or chisel off
the hanner and sickle emblen, on the grounds
of 'jeopardizing further grants of Federal
Fu ds. '
"After the Art Commission spoke, the Artists'
and Writers* Union came on the scene to picket
the tower and to protest to Bruce against any
change in the frescoes. 'We are committed, '
they wrote Bruce, 'to a program of complete
liberty for all creative artists, to the de-
fense of thplr riphts to depict life and all
manifestations of society, whether Capitalism,
Communism, or what not, as they see fit, and
according to their own scale of values. '
"Whereupon the Art Commission locked the tower
securely and tried to dismiss the local tempest
as a 'Rivera publicity stunt.' They' hoped to
manage a peaceful opening this fall, whether
the hammer and sickle remains or is replaced
by a blank' white spnce. The union, declares its
membership, and Wight himself, will never let
the murol be touched. Friends of Wight say he
may drop the argument. I^ny think that for the
sake of future projects he should do so.
"When the deadlock is over, the public will see
an accomplishment generally considered one of
the greatest produced by the PWAP. ■'•t has
proved, to the amazement of both rrtlnts and
public, that several dozen artists can v/ork to-
'gether effectively and harmoniously. ..."
72
.. Ng.VS? ^J> SR CONTOOVSRSIES
This vas, however. perhaps the most sane and un-
prejudiced bit of reporting ^''hich dealt "dth the Coit To\"er
fight. The tower remained closed and those ^'^ho managed to
surmount the ba'Tiern vere not alvays in conplete possession
of the facts. Such falsifications as the photographic super-
imposition of the hammer and sickle emblem over the Zakhelm
nural (San Francisco Examiner, July 5, 1934 — reprint in sub-
sequent issue of the San Francisco Call Bulletin) Instead of
in its actual location as a single lunette above a door, add-
ed to the confusion of public opinion and rumors vere rife.
Junius Cravens vrote a long article for the San
Francisco i^e^'s of Juno 7, 1934, reporting on hearsay that:
"....runor ^Tot about to the effect that at least
three of the 25 or 30 artists employed by the
PWAP for the hopeless task of trying to beautify
the Inside of the Coit Tower had seen red, that
la to say — let me whisper it, lest I be overheard
— the naughty boys had indulged in a little Com-
munistic propaganda and at the expense of the U.
S. Government, The three culorits who were
Cfiught red-handed, as it were, are Clifford
Wight, who was formerly one of Rivera's assis-
tants, Bernard Zakhelm and John Langley Howard.
"Since visitors were barred and the doors double
barred at the tower, I have not verified these
rumors. .. .but the story goes. .. .Wight — was com-
missioned to decoratp some Icng, narrow panels
above three of the windows. Symbolical orna-
ments seemed to be best suited to the purpose.
The subject of all tower decorations is our
contemporary American life. As social and
political problems are of some importance here
at the moment, Wight turned to them.
"....Over the central window he stretclied a
bridge, at the center of which Is a circle con-
taining the Blue Eagle of the NRA. Over the
73
rlf^ht hand window he stretched a segnent of a
chain; in the clr?lr in this case, appears the
legend 'In God W»= Tru^t '--symbolizing the Amer-
ican dollar, or, I presume, Capitalisn, Over
the left hand rindoiv he placed a section ' of
woven cj'.dle "nd a circle framing a hammer, a
sickle and the legend 'Upited Worker<=! of the
World, ' in sn'^rt, Communism.. It v/ould seem
that he considered those three issues to be im-
portant in the -^^merican of today c
"In Howard's mural, I am told, appears a group
of en employed men ^hich it seems might be mis-
taken for strikers. One of them is said to
carry a nevspapcr which bears the title 'The
Western Worker' and headlines, 'All out ifey 1
against hunp;er, war and fascism. '
"....The artists are said to claim that their
prellm.inary sketches were approved by the
regional committee of the PWAP before the ac-
tual paintings were begun ano that therefore
works should not be changed. ..."
And Columnist Arthur Cay] or, of the San Francisco
News, hinted even more Jocularly in that drily' s issue of
July 4, 1934 that if tl:e truth "-ere known, it ^'ould reveal
an astonishingly Tv/eedledum-and-Tv-eedledee basis for battle,
saying:
"Those old grudge fig?iters, Kid Kapital and Kayo
Communis-Ti, mvay be responsible for the current
unhappiness of local artists over tlie Coit Tower
situation. The issues nay be sweetly fundamen-
tal. But there are also enough other angles to
supoly a cubist's portrait of a ton of rectan-
gles descending a coal cliute.
"Our scouts report that by no means all the
changes demanded have been due to the fact thnt
somebody was mad at ^arl I^iarx or Andy "^ellon.
There were simpler causes, such as the Chronicle
being mad at the Examiner or the Examiner being
aad at the Chronicle, or the fruit people being
mad at the vegetable people, or Chrysler being
mad at General i<Iotors.
74
"It Beems that the nrtints went about to make
pictures lllustrr^ting" life hereabouts — largely-
recognizable things &uch as hills and cable
cars and fruit and f.-^sb and hotels and wharves.
"Tliey might be In the midst of soclrl u-iheavel,
but you '^ould spot them as O'Leary's hack stand
or Ginsberg's store. Kence, they had a certain
advertising value.
"....One of t?ie artl.^ts put acme pineapples on
a fruit stand and it brought a kick from folks
who Insisted that Cnllfornla's own watermelons
and oranges were just as pretty and should get
a break over the Imported stuff.
"It turned out to be surprisingly Important
v;hat name was on one of the various newsnapers
appearing in the masterpieces. Th.e Western
Worker was the only Communist number. John
Langley Howard put it in his picture.' Dr.
Walter Hell suggested that he take it out, but
he hasn't thus far."
For a period of months, San Francisco rocked with
editorial opinion, reportorlal speculation, controverrlal
and conflicting advice, serious and Jocose, and mounting con-
fusion and resentment.
John Langley Ko'"prd did not know from day to day
whether or not is mural v'as to be preserved or destroyed,
partially or entirely. It depicted the California scene, oil
development, mining and hydro-electric po'-'er, but the diffi-
culty lay in his introduction of figures (hence social com-
ment) into the foreground. In the very shadow of one of the
highest developments of civilization (bhe producti'^n of elec-
tricity and controlled wat- r power) two families, obviously
victims of unemployment^ are panning gold, as well as living,
in the most completely primitive fashion. Their annoyance
74
"It seems that the nrtints went about to make
pictures illustrating- life hereabouts — largely
recognizable things such as hills and cable
cars and fruit and fish and hotels and !"fharve8.
"They mi,c;ht be in the midst of social u-iheavel,
but you 'iould spot them as O'Leary's hack stand
or Ginsberg's store. Kence, tliey had a certain
advert isinp: value.
"....One of t?ie artists put some pineapples on
a fruit stand and it brought a kick from folks
who Insisted, that California's own watermelons
and oranges were Just as pretty and should get
a break over the imported stuff.
"It turned out to be surprisingly important
v;hat name was on one of the various newsoapers
appearing in the masterpieces. Th.e Western
Worker v;as the only Communist number. John
Langley Howard put it in his picture. Dr.
Walter Heil suggested that he take it out, but
he hasn't thus far."
For a period of months, San Francisco rocked with
editorial opinion, reportorial speculation, controversial
and conflicting advice, serio'us and Jocose, and mounting con-
fusion and resentment.
John Langley Ko^-'prd did not know from day to day
whether or not is mural ^"ns to be preserved or destroyed,
partially or entirely. It depicted the California scene, oil
development, mining and hydro-electric po'^er, but the diffi-
culty lay in his introduction of figures (hence social com-
ment) into the foreground. In the very shadow of -^ne of the
highest developments of civilization fche production of elec-
tricity and controlled wat- r power) two families, obviously
victims of unemployment, are panning gold, as vrell as living,
in the most completely primitive fashion. Their annoyance
75
at the rich tourists if, evident. Ai^aln, the mar.sed group of
miners trudging determinedly for'^ard have about then a men-
acing air althoUf:;h, despite dropped tools and a copy of The
Western Worker rith the lieaaiires "All Out ^ioy i Ag-alnst
Hunger, War and Fascism, " there is no specific indication
that they are strikers, as vorlous newspapers suggested.
Junius Cravens' evaluation of this particular work
in the San Francisco Nevs for October 20, 1934, is interest-
ing:
"....A little eavendropplng among thp average
run of visitors to the to^er vlll reveal that
many people do not like most of the frescoes in
the first floor corridors. The 'pictures' there
are neither sentimental nor beautiful in the
popular sense. Although they are literal illus-
trations, they are also composites, and that is
confusing to many.
"Thoae fev panels Tvhich strive to^^ard sorethlng
objective, notably the one by John Ho'"ard, seem
to be even less oopular because they are tinged
with irony. To Mr. and i^rs. Common Citizen SLtch
things are merely ugly. Yet such "'orks probably
pretend to b^ above all else, 'proletarian art. '
So there is also irony in the way that they are
being accepted. Proletarian art can scarcely
exist where there is no proletarian culture. "
Circumstances did not permit Ho'-^nrd to remain In
San Francisco during the long battle, nor even vote with his
fellow artists '"hen they finally capitulated and perriltted
the eradication of Wight's symbols. And it "'as not until
his visit to the TovnBr, subsequent to its public opening,
that he discovered that, without his permission or knowledge,
the title of the paper (The Western Worker) held by -^ne
77
readjustment of their art critfrla. Cravens voiced this in
his review of the v/inter shotv at the Art Cent^-rj San Francisco
News, Novembpr 24^ 1934:
"John Howardj '^liose Work Has Been Compared To
That Of Van 6-ogh, Paints Things As ^e Wishes
They Were Not"
"Now and then a painter appears who disregards
both conservative conventions and stylish-isms
and strikes out on his own. Such a painter
seldom, wins recognition during his lifetime,
largely because he does not graze vlth the
herd, so to speak. He is driven afield by In-
ner forces. What he says is not universally
understood during his o^rn time because he has
to create for himself a new language. Such a
painter for Instance was Van G-ogh. Another
such painter is John Howard, who is exhibiting
at the Art Center.
"Howard, like Van G-ogh is impelled by a deep
consuming humanism, But Van Gogh's humanism
eventually led him toward his own ealvrition as
a painter, while Howard's is in danger of mis-
leading him into trying to reform the cockeyed
world.
"To the extent that a painter develops a mis-
sion in life, he divides his energies and weak-
ens himself as a creative artist. The painting
ceases to be the thing. ±t becomes a means to
an end instead of being in itself the end.
"Where Van G-ogh came to seek ' through art the
inner meaning of life as it is, Howard is still
concerned with life's material aspects and
paints things as he wishes they were not. And
therein lies the difference between soul and
body. The torture whish Is being suffered by
Howard's beings is purely physical. Moreover,
they glory in being downtrodden just as hypo-
chondriacs enjoy poor health. One cannot feel
very sorry for them because happiness would
make them extremely unhapoy.
"But when Howard refrains from dipolng his
brush in tears, subjective powers at ^nce be-
come manifest in his vrork. I doubt if a more
78
potent landscape than is his largest one, for
example, has been painted since Van Gogh left
Aries.
"So dynamic is this canvas that the observer
must return to it again and again in order to
adjust hiiTLJ-t-lf to lis corapolllng values. Be-
neath as cLnistsr a storm sky as has probably
ever been pain'ced, lies a stretch of Califor-
nia hills which are so charged ivith nature's
forces that they seem about to burst open like
rain-drenched pomegranates.
"Much of Howard's art is both baffling and dis-
quieting, ^ne either likes it or loathes it.
But one can neither remain indifferent to it
nor fall to recognize its forcefulness and
originality.
"But Hov'ard seems to me to be standing at the
crossroads. Eventually he is going to have to
choose bet'veen the palette and the soap box. "
Adverse criticism is bettor than no criticism, at
all, and the surge of artistic revivification now so strong
v'ithin Howard restored his confidence and redoubled his ca-
pacity for work, m.inimizing and discouraging effect such
words might earlier have had upon him.
SANTA FE
But again the Howards discovered that their small
son's asthma required a change of climate. The desert has
always held many desirable qualities from the paint er^s point
of view, so they chose the Southi"est. -'-n February 1935, the
family departed for Santa Fe, the desert plateau in New Mex-
ico famous for its art colony.
They decided to live quietly, taking no part in
social or political activities, although their sympathies
79
vrith the labor ir.ovement remained as strong as ever, John
Freeman's rords had borne rr'uit. John Ijanpley "ow recognized
that hiR renponsibi.lity lay in developing hip o'-'n innnte
po^-'er an r. oainte^'-.
Living in. one of the pleasant adobe houses on the
Camino del Monte Sol in ^anta Fe, he spent his time concen-
trating on those things his restless impatience had lost him
during the days of his formal art training. Day after day
he drove to the Plaza (the main square of the to^n) and sat,
sketching from life about him, doing no mo:^:' on any s'<:etch
than time permitted as a result of the rapid shifting of his
unconscious models. ^Vh.en painting in his studio he used
water colors a greater part of the time, not realizing then
that both subject matter and development warranted the use
of the sturdier, surer medium of oils.
EXHIBITIONS AND A PRIZE
Continuing to exhibit in San Francisco, he '-'on such
diverse comment as H. L, Dungan's, Oakland Tribune, L'lay 5,
1935:
"John Hownrd sho^j^s two Americf;n scenes, both
drai'^ings, a self-portrait and another portrait.
The dra"7ings (made several years earlier) are
well done, conservative, simple, dignified ex-
pressions of fact, one sho^'ing a village and
the other a steam shovel and men at work. The
portraits are more or less rough and ready,
Ho'^ard doesn't spare himself."
and Jehanne Bietry Salinger's, San Francisco News Letter,
August 31, 1^35:
80
"'Portrait of a Urn' by John Langley Hov/ard Is
not the sort of v/ork -"'o have expected from this
artist who for many ye.M'r; vfi s by far tlie :nost
promising young paini;er in this vjcinity. His
drawing is r.tiff^ his c^loro as cruel an steoL"
The Spn i^i-ancisco Argonaut, January 31, 1936, an-
nounced:
"John Howard has painted a proletarian picture
of 'Embarcadero and Clay Street.'"
The Call Bulletin, January 25, 1936, had already
recorded:
"Currents in American art are reflected in the
important Fifty.. sixth Annual Exhibit of the
San Frrncisco Art Association opened at the Mu-
seum of Art. .. .Awards included the Anne Brem.er
prize ($300) for 'Embarcadero and Clay Street'
by John Langley Hovrard. "
CRITICS APPRAISE AND APPLAUD
Junius Cravens, in a renewed burst of enthusiasm,
wrote in the San Francisco ^"feiys, February 1, 1936:
"....John Langley Hor-ard is holding a one-man
exhibition of his work at the Art Center, 730
Montgomery Street,... a retrospective group of
seven oils in one gallery and twice that num-
ber '^f new works in a variety of m.edia in
another. ., .also. ... drawing in a portfolio.
The shov/ing is especially timely as the art-
ist was (last week) awarded the Anne Brem.er
Memorial Prize of if300 for his 'Embarcadero
and Clay Stre-'t. '
".....In the history of every artist of out-
standing ability it is usually found that his
art has gone through several phases of devel-
opment, ... Such pei'iods are marked by experi-
mentation either amiong differing lines of
thought or with varying technique, or both,
"John Howard held his first one-man show ih
1927. As he is essentially an Individualist,
81
his creatlvt^ pcrers vrere evident though he had
scarcely as yet -found hlr.self ' In his first
phase.
"....He has never produced prolifically, if T-'hat
he has ex'iibit&d may be 'jaker as a gaufre, but
scarcely a year has passed since 1927 during
v/hlch he has not shc'rn at least one outstanding
canvas. Ffw young painters nay Justly clain as
much.
"It has b-^-cn consistently apparent fron the
first that complete honesty and sincerity are
qualities irJr^erent in Ho"'ard's art. He can no
nore avoid expressing the truth as he sees it
than he can heiu being an artist. To him the
two things are synonymous.
"Howard's first period probably reached its
peak a.bout five years ago. Such of his pj^int-
ings as that of 'Mother and Child'. ... and ' Tvo
Heads' .... are not likely to be soon forgotten.
"His painting then vras characterized by that
calmness which usually presages unreleased
forces, and by a thoroughness which nay result
fron the clear thinking of unharrowed thought.
But stepping out of that period into the next
with his left foot, so to speak, Ho-^ard appar-
ently stunbled into a trail which led him
through a turbulent storm of morbidity. He savr
before hin the ugl;/' vistas of a risproportioned
i-orld.
"The sordidness and consuming despair of mass'
unennloynent then overspread his canvases,
clouding but not obliter.-.ting his genius. For
the time his art seemed to be endangered, ho'^_
ever, by being relegated into a place of com-
paratively secondary importance. Subject mat-
ter for its own sakfi seemed to become the end,
rather than the means to an end.
"The nev/ work which Howard has sent to the Art
Center fr-^m Santa Fe may foretell the da^^'n of
his third period. The storm nay have passed,
but not without leaving its nark.
"Depressing morbidity has given place to c^'^ni-
cal humor hov'ever. His tongue in his cheek.
82
the artist has looked ^n life In Santa Fe vath
a satirical and s^metines wry smile.
"His satire may lack the light sophisticated
touch of a Daumier or a Doysan but it pene-
trates certain incongruities and v^.uperf iciali-
ties which charo.cterize some aspects of our
contemporary material life as a i"hole.
"'One Portrait, ' of a hopelessly homely woman,
puts artificial aids to beauty in their place
forevermore. You ' do not see her crimson
painted fingernails, but you Just know she has
* en.
"His humor does not all run to satire and
caricature, however. In one decorative land-
scape called 'Progress in Santa Fe' for in-
stance, he flashes the American scene at us
v/ith a frank, boyish grin.
"'Decorative Composition,' by the way, is an-
other new development in Howard's work.
"The collection as a whole being in a decidedly
lighter vein than we have been vront to expect
of Howard, it requires of us a readjustnent
v/hich is equally as violent as his own. But
v/e can enjoy his new work, nevertheless, and
accept it for v/hat it is — another stepping
stone for him. "
THE AIvIERICAN IDIOM AND SCENE
At this time Howard contributed two paintings to
the "Prospectors Shov^" at the California ^alace of the Le-
gion of Honor, later removed to the YWCA on the University
of CalifondJa'' campus, v^hich included door prizes and chance
drawings and a lecture on contemporary art by Professor S.
C, Pepper. This unique show was to raise funds for the
Theatre Union, an organizati n for the production of plays
of social content in the Bny region.
83
The Christian Science. Monitor comnented, ^%rch
24, 1936:
"The fifty-Bixth annual exhibition of the San
Francisco Art Association contained much good
work, Sccentric experimentation, so popular a
few seasons ago, seems to be on the wane. This
does not indicate a return to old-fashioned
theories and inannerisns. An American idion is
obviously in process of crystallization,
'Mention here of the -^^nne Bremer Avrard)
Howard's technique, while excellent, is subor-
dinate to feeling. He has good tonality and a
crisp manner, -^he scene he painted--a corner
of the San Francisco waterfront — is on 'the
surface prosaic. But with a poet's vision he
saw lovely color in ordinary atreet signs and
in the overcast sky, and made others feel the
romance beyond the drabness.
"Following the a^'ard, the San Francisco Museum
Is exhibiting a roomful of John Ho^-'ard' s v-ater-
colors. '^heir subjects are fleeting Impres-
sions of the Anerican scene, isolated by the
artist. The sociological content is marked.
Sometimes it stoops to propaganda. Fortunate-
ly, It is not the content that makes these
aquarelles interesting, but the treatment. The
artist uses fresh, lovely color and enhances
Its vividness by leaving large areas of v'hite
paper, 'spaces of silence.'"
The Art News of New York had already said, Febru-
ary 22, 1936:
"His winning canvas, entitled 'Embarc^.dero and
Clay Street' depicts a group of stevedores on
their way to work at the San Francisco docks.
The dreary neighborhood with its tawdry hotels,
cheap cafes, billboard-advertising and loafers,
make an admirable background for these burly
v/orkers. "
Glenn Wessels, local artist and critic, had also
expressed himself with some conviction in the San Francisco
Argonaut, February 7, 1936:
84
"Possibly the nost Irpportant exhibition out-
side the Annual l3».,:,r.t the Art Center. There
John Langley Hovrard, . . o exliibits a group of his
older works together \7ith a series of new works.
"The collection demonstrates the calm, plodding
beginnings of nhe ai'tist, where technical mat-
ters absorbed him entirely, his violent awaken-
ing to the disagreeable happenings in the v;orld
around him and his ].ater restraint. In his
latest work propagandizing is less in evidence;
and the ironic touches are more effective than
the earlier proletar'ian yells.
"Above all, Howard has been straightforward and
careful. Even in i-is mistakes one finds com-
plete sincerity and a singleness of purpose.
If he has adopted this or that mannerism, it
has not been to 'do as the Romans.' He is es-
sentially an independent who tries all tools
to find those vrhich best suit him. If he
paints the 'American Scene, ' it is because it
interests him, not because it is the fad. If
he paints pictures v/hich contain social critic
clsm, it is because that is how he is thinking
and feeling and because painting is his natu-
ral expression of thought and em.otion.
"His first one-man show was held in 1927 and
he has developed slowly, ... the youngest of the
brothers whose father was John Galen Howard
....it is no small feat that he has retained
his originality and personal vievrpoint, sur-
rounded by a family so decidedly, yet so var-
iously gifted artistically. "
HOME TO MONTEREY
In the summer of 1936 the family retired to Cali-
fornia, Howard bringing with him portfolios of sketches,
water colors, and a few oils.
Regretting his preoccupation with water color in
Santa Fe, Hoivard began a series of oils of the Monterey
fishermen upon v/hich he is still concentrating. His strict
85
self-discipline has brou:Tht ^o his latest pictures a nev
sympathy which underlies the realism that earlier troubled
his public.
Chosen a juror for the Fifty-seventh Annual Ex-
hibit of the Son Francisco Art Association, I'ferch 1937,
Howard showed t^o cr-.nvases, "Santa Fe, " of which the San
Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 1937 «iaid:
"John Hov:^ard's 'Santa Fe' is gorgeously angry,
beautifully composed commentary, full of vran-
derful caricature and portraiture, ..."
It shores the parade of the Gallup strikers
framed with figures of the apathetic to'A'nsfolk, a v/eal thy /peo-
ple, fat and frightened, and two rather jolly policemen sur-
veying the scene \vith unalarmed interest.
The other canvas (here reproduced), portrays the
"Penitentes, " a religious ,group cast out by the Catholic
church hundreds of years ago for their refusal to relinquish
flagellantism and too realistic ceremonies enacting the Sta-
tions of the Cross. Existing only in Ne^'^ Mexico, they have
survived despite the efforts madeto stamp out their barbaric
ritual and continue to live, sullen and secretive, in their
orn villages, a race to themselves. Howard's painting de-
picts the height of their pre-Easter ceremony: the "cristos, "
torn and bleeding from the cactus whips of the flagellant
devotees, upon the em.inence where they will be bound to the
enormous vrooden crosses they have painfully dragged uo the
hill. "^'hey are surrounded by kneeling group of faithful
86
v;orshlppers and interestod. sif;ht- seers. ^n the distance
stretch the yellow hills, dcT:':ed with scrub cedar, under a
hot desert sky.
■ uy^ujojo^
If, as Howard believes, he has found his "v;ay of
life" at the a^?e of thirty-five, he is fortunate;, for It will
give to his future painting a surety of touch and a quality
of understanding that will stand him in good stead in his
delineations of the changing world. Disillusionment and ra-
tionalization have helped him to master his mind and his
emotions, ^"^o less sensitive now than during the bei-'ildered
period of his search for truth as a very young man, he has
discovered that senoltivlty, wisely utilized, can be one of
the most important factors in significant portrayal.
He attributes m.uch to his wife. Their rautXBl
growth and development meant that at no time was he victim of
the black despair so apt to descend upon the artist through
loneliness or lack of personal understanding and sympathy.
Together they have faced whatever problems have arisen.
These they have conquered with intellectual honesty and no
small courage,
Howard has been painting a scant fifteen years and
has already made a very definite contribution. It is logical
to expect that with the mental and spiritual integration he
has achieved, his future contributions x'^dll be both valuable
and important to the phase of art which characterize our
times.
rf
87
OILS:
JOHN LANGLFY HOWARD
RErRS3:ii\"TATIVE
■VORKS
Self Portrait, 1927
Mother and Child, 1928
Artist's Mother, 1928
Still-Life, 1928
Family Dwelling, 1928
Mountain Road, 1930
Family, The
Father and Son, 1931
Monterey Mountains, 1031
Wood Gathering, 1931
Two Heads, 1931
Portrait of Man, 1932
California Lands caoe, 1934
One Portrait, 1934'
Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1935
Santa Fe, 1936
Penitcntes, 1936
San Francisco, 1936
WATERCOLORS;
Landscape of Housetops, 1927
Progress in Santa Fe, 1935
Meeting in the Park, 1935
Decoration Day Parade, 1955
WOOD CARVINGS:
Head of Woman (raanzanita), 1929
Small Grotesques
Hypo chDnAizje-fec
DRAWINGS :
Docks and Piers
88
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS;
Mrs. John Blotry Salir.ger, San Francisco, California
Self Portrait (oil). 1927
Mother and Child (oil), 1928
Mrs. John G-nlen Howard, San Francisco, Calif crnia
Monterey Mountains (oil), 1931
Woodgathering (oil), 1931
Small grotesque v/ood carvings, 1929
Mrs. Warren Gregory, San Francisco, California
Meeting In the Park (v/atercolor) , 1935
Decoration Day Parade (watercolor) , 1935
PERi'/^ANSNT COLLECTIONS:
Colt Tower, San Francisco, California
Mural , 1934
EXHIBITIONS:
San Francisco, California
Modern Art Gallery
Charcoal Landscape, Dooember 1926
Docks and Piers (draning)
Nude (oil)
San Francl3C0 (oil)
Fog (oil), Aoril 1927
Hillside (oil)
Inaglnary Landscape (oil)
Imaginary Landscape (oil)
Landscapes #1 to #12 (oil)
Landscape (oil)
Mountains "
Nude "
Portrait "
Study "
Study "
Study "
Two Men in a Boat (oil)
Wave, The (oil)
Landscape (v/atercolor)
6 Sculptures
East-Wost Gallery
Self Portrait (oil), May 1928
Collection of Paintings and Drawings
Self Portrait (oil), January 1937
89
Gal erie Beaux Arts
Self Portrait (cjl), March 1928
Collection -.if '^^•.i'.iir.^s and Tirawings
Mother and Child (oil), January 1929
Collection of paintintrs and Drawings
Collection of Paintings and Drav;ings, Sentember
1929
Collection '"^f Paintings and Drawings, February 1930
Collection of Paintings and V/atercolors,
June 1930
Wood Carvings, September 1930
Collection of Paintings and Drawings, December 1930
Monterey Mountains (oil), April 1931
Collection of Watercolors and Paintings
Collection of Paintings and Drawings, July 1951
Two Heads (oil), January 1932
Collection of Paintings
Collection of Paintings, July 1932
Three Paintings, September 1932
Monterey Mountains (oil), February 1937
California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Monterey Mountains (oil), December 1931
Paintings and Drawings, June 1935
Collection of Paintings and Drawings, March 1936
Art Center
Collection of Paintings and Drawings, September
1929
California Landscape (oil), August 1934
Collection of Drav/ings
Collection of Watercolors, Drawings and Paintings,
December 1934
Bohemian Club Show
Portrait of Man (oil), March 1935
Collection of Drawings and Paintings
Paul Elder's Modern Gallery
Oil Paintings and Drawings, May 1935
San Francisco Museum of Art
California Hills (oil), June 1935
Embarcadero and Clay Street (oil), January 1936
Santa Fe (oil), April 1937
Berkeley, California
Playhouse Theatre
Paintings and Drawings, November 1927
Haviland Hall, University of California
Collection of Paintings and Drawings, July 1931
90
AWARDS :
Carmol, California
Denny-V/atrous C-allcry
Collecticn of rv\intlngs and Drawings, April 1930
Paintings, Vv'a'cercclcrs and Drawings, May 1931
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City A:'t Institute
Embarcadei-o and Clay Street (oil), Fall of 1936
San Francisco Art Association Annual, San Francisco
Museum of Art, February 22, 1936
Anne Brer;;er Memorial Prize, |300, for
"Embarcadero and Clay Street" (oil)
CLUBS;
Member:
Club Beaux Arts
San Francisco Art Association
Society of Mural Painters
Writers' and Artists' Union
91
JOHN LANCJLSY HOWARD
BIBLIJCRAPHY
San Frnncisco Chi^oniclG, December 12, 1926, p. SF
March 27; 1927, p. 7D--Febru.-ry 3, 1929, p. 5D
September 16, 1929, 5D--SoptGraber 29, 1930, d. 5D
April 4, 1937, p. 5D
San Francisco Examiner, March 25, 1929, p. K8
May 13, 1928, p. lOg— May 20, 1923, p. lOS
January 27, 1929, p. lOE—SeTot ember 22, 1929, p. 9E
September 27, 1929, p. lOE— Aioril 5, 1931, r,. HE
May 17, 1951, n. HE— September 18, 1932, d. 6E
July 5, 1934, p. 7— April 4, 1937, p. 6E
San Francisco Call-Bulletin, Aoril 11, 1931, p. 8
May 16, 1931, p. 12— January 25, 1936, p. 9'
June 7, 1934, p. 8
San Francisco News, July 4, 1934, p. 9
August 11, 1934, p, 8 — October 20, 1934, o. 9
November 24, 1934, p. 9 — February 1, 1936, p. 7
Oalcland "(California) Tribune
October 11, 1931 — December 13, 1931
August 12, 1934 — December 23, 1934
March 13, 1935— May 5, 1935
June 16, 1935
Courier, Berkeley, California
February 27, 1936
Gazette, Berkeley, California
April 16, 1936
Argonaut, San Francisco
December 25, 1926, v. 13--ADril 2, 1927, p. 13
March 24, 1928, p. 5— May 19, 1928, p. 9
February 2, 1929, p. 6--June 14, 1930, p. 13
October 2, 1931, ' p. 12— January 22, 1932, p. 13
January 31, 1936, p. 13— February 7, 1936, o. 17
February 19, 1937, p. 16
Argus, San Francisco
April 15, 1927, p. 6— April 1928, p. 5
June 1928, p. 6
San Franciscan, The, April 30, 1931, p. 19
:nOj -in
92
Wasp-News Letter, San Francisco
December 1, 1934, n, 12
August 31, 1935, ri, 10
February 8, 1936, p. 11
Carmelite, Carmel, California
April 30, 1931
Literary Digest, August 25, 1934, p. 24
Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts
March 24, 1936
Art News, New York City
February 22, 1936, p. 7
Art Digest, Kev/ York City
October 1, 1936, p. 21
ADALINE KENT
1900
Biography and Works
"tt:?ra cotta head— jane berlakci -v
:Ai^IS
- x:;a
93
AD ALINE KENT
THF KEN^; F.J\IJILY
Adallnc Button Kent, daughter of Congressman Wil-
liam Kent and Elizabeth Thacher Kent, was born in Kentfield,
California, August 7, 1900. Of predominantly New England de-
rivation, members of the fojnily have almost invariably chos-
en creative if not actually artistic occupations. Her Con-
gressm.an father is one example — her uncle, Sherman Thacher,
head of the Thacher School for Boys at Ojai, California, an-
other.
William Kent, Chicago born, felt that neither New
England nor the Middle West offered the maximum of opportuni-
ty, and so established his branch of the family on a portion
of one of his large California timber holdings at Kentfield
in Marin County.
William Kent's life was largely devoted to politics,
one-time member of the Federal Tariff Commission, leader in
the Packers' Investigation, and political opponent of Judge
Gary, he consistently favored the protection of American agri-
cultural workers against the importation of cheap foreign la-
bor. His wife was, from the time of her marriage, keenly a-
ware of political nuances and was actively engaged in the
struggle for women's suffrage and in the peace movement aris-
ing in America as a result of the World War and both felt the
necessity for constructive action. From her father, par-
ticularly, Adaline early acquired the respect for creative
activity so essential to the development of a real artist.
94
Although the Kentn v;-ro often in Calif orniri. and
Chicago, Congressman Kent's duties kept him and the fajnily in
Washington, D. C, where Adaliiie was almost constantly sur-
rounded by a political atmosphere. With her unprejudiced
child's eyes she recognized the tendency to individual eva-
sions, if not actual dishonesty, ajnong diplomatists, and dur-
ing her adolescence her observation resulted in growing dis-
illusionment, which developed into a strong conviction that
there was no place in art for preoccupation with the undig-
nified details of the contemporary scene. Slowly she grew to
feel that the artist should hold fast to those things which
arc ..eternal and unchanging rather than permit himself to be
swayed by the shiftying needs of the moment,
EDUCATION
She was early interested in drav;ing and clay mod-
eling, and during her attendance at both the Madera and the
Potomac Private Schools in Washington, D. C, received her
early instruction from competent art teachers, sympathetic
enough to encourage her childish enthusiasm.
Entering Vassar at Poughkeepsie in 1919, she took
only superficial courses in the history of art in addition
to the regulation requirements. One of her art instructors,
however, a Miss Agnes Rindge, was so personally stirred by
her subject that she transmitted much f^f her natural enthu-
siasm for sculioture tc her students. Under her, for the first
95
tine, Adallno Kent becane actively awr,re of her latent sen-
sitivity to form and talent for sculptural expression but
did nothing practical at college toward its dcvolopnent.
At the time of her graduation in 1923, her frjnily
settled an income on her which gave her complete freedom, A
serious-minded young woman, she found herself puzzled and un-
happy, feeling she had done nothing to earn the many benefits
now hers. But when she reached the point of deciding to give
up all her material possessions and begin the difficult task
of re-acquiring them by her own efforts, her father interven-
ed. He explained that although the money had been earned by
someone else, it had been given into her hands as a responsi-
bility rather than as a gift. She was to use it in accom-
plishing something of benefit to herself and to others. Viev/-
ing the matter in this light, she determined to work doubly
hard in an attempt to be v/orthy of such a trust. She rented
a studio in downtovm San Francisco and began work in earnest,
commuting across the Bay from her home in Kentfield,
PARIS PERIOD - 1025-1929
From 1925 to 1929, she divided her time between Cal-
ifornia and Paris. She believed that competent instruction
was vital, but that actual learning depended upon the stu-
dent's capacity for intelligent observation and assimilation.
Studying briefly with the great sculptor, Bourdelle, in Paris
she was hampered by her lack of French. To overcome this she
96
hired two interpreters, a Sv/edish woman and a Russian man.
Through their somewhat stumbling translations of her teacher's
criticism, she learned one fo.ct; her greatest fault was her
liking for "petit pain" and made up her mind to overcome it
despite her natural predilection for small, whimsical things.
For two years she worked in Roy Sheldon's Paris stu-
dio, gaining more here, she felt, than from direct instruction.
From the works and conversation of men and women v/ith names
already notable, as v/ell as fellow students, she succeeded in
clarifying considerably her understanding of the processes
and development of sculpture.
Much of her time was spent at the Louvre and especi-
ally the Salon des Tuileries, which contained the very best
of modern sculpture. During her Impressionable student days
she stood often before one great, calm head in the Louvre when
she was troubled or discouraged, absorbing the peace and repose
which was later to become an integral quality of her own work.
Her natural shyness, combined with an almost stub-
born determination, made m.any of her early steps painful ones.
Visiting the great sculptor, Despiau, she dared not ask to
see more of his work than appeared in the room in which ho
received her. On leaving, she forced herself to express her
appreciation — of his work as well as his kindness to her-
self—and was stunned to hear him say, "So. V/ell, now since
you have been so intelligent, I am going to show you every-
thing,]" And, taking her through his studio, he showed her
97
his stoneyard as well, go th-it sha might also study his meth-
ods of work by observing his luiiinishod pieces.
During this period she Soudied a year in California
at the California School of Fine Arts, adding to her modeling
the technique of direct cut stone under the instruction of the
American sculptor, Ralph Stachpole.
Before her final departure from Paris, she exhibit-
ed in the ConToagnie des Arts Francais and at the Q-alerie 2ak,
her v/ork being sufficiently distinguished to attract newspaper
notice.
SAN FRA.NCISCO EXHIBITION
Returning to San Francisco in 1929 Miss Kent had,
as a member of the San Francisco Art Association and of the
Art Center, exhibited locally at the latter' s show rooms as
well as in the East-West Gallery in 1928. Junius Cravens in
the Argonaut for May 19, 1928 comments:
"A lino drawing by Adaline Kent, of a nude ad-
olescent figure has great charm, and her sculp-
tured Congo figure, cast in metal and adapted
for use as an ornament for an automobile radi-
ator cap, is an amusing and unusual bit of ap-
plied art, "
The creation of the radiator cap for her brother was
typical of Miss Kent's honesty of approach, for although it
was representative of her best work, she saw no reason why it
should not be turned to practical uses if its owner saw fit.
Unfortunately, the figure was stolen during the exhibit andtr.is
never recovered.
98
Exhibiting with tho ncmbors of the Beaux Arts G-al-
lerie, the Chronicle of February 24, 1929, hcadlinec her work.
"ADALINE KEM? SHOWS STR.AA-C-ELY BEAUTIFUL HEAD"
"Adaline Kent' 8 'I an thirsty' (J'ai So if) de-
fies description from the viewpoint of one's
cmotionaL response; a singularly or rather
strangely bcaiitiful head tilted. backwa.rd, its
interest supported on the cr.lyx-llke arrange-
ment of two hands which flange outward from
the length of two long arms like the letter
'Y' . The use of lead as a medium has intensi-
fied in its cool grayness, the unique beauty
of this unusual conception. "
Still shy regarding her developing talents, she
felt honored when Timothy Pflueger, prominent San Francisco
architect, hit upon an idea of calling in a group of artists,
including herself, to decorate the Stock Exchange, one of San
Francisco's finest buildings, and Vi/as particularly impressed
when he paid them, not ;iccording to reputation, but impartially,
by the square foot of work. This meant to her a renewal of
that rare camaraderie of student days v/hich permits artists
to work together with complete freedom and purity of purpose,
without the taint of personal competition.
Her awn task consisted of producing two small bas-
relief panel sets, called "Night Club," in travertine m.arble.
Too shy to inquire of her fellow artists, it v;as wjoks be-
fore she learned how to keep her tools sharp, and she was al-
most completely baffled by this nev/ medium which, ar; she des-
cribes it, was "like nothing so much as working on a mouth-
ful of bad teeth" — an excessively Jiard grain giving wsy with-
99
out wa.rming to soft, chalk-like pockets,
M.^RIAaS AND CHILDREN
Early in ir^oO, Adeline Kent and her brother nado a
short trip into Mexico.
On Auguat of that year, she was married to Robert
Boardnan Howard at her family hone in Kentfield. Drawn to
gather years earlier through art activities and mutual mem-
bership in the Art Center, they simultaneous work in the
Stock Exchange had brought about the culmination of v/hat nei-
ther had at first recognized as romance. After a short honey-
moon in Mexico, they returned to their separate studies in
San Francisco, establishing a home on Russian Hill.
Previous to this time, she had com.pletcd a number
of commissions — mainly garden sculpture — in direct cut stone,
but she now began to feel that her best efforts could be a-
chieved by modeling in clay and casting in appropriate media.
The birth of the Robert Howards' first child, Ellen
Kent Howard, in May, 1931, appears to have deterred her art
work not at all for in the preceding April Adaline Kent had
been awarded honorable mention for a nude sculpture in ebony.
In October of the same year a number of the garden pieces done
as private commissions were exhibited at the California Palace
of the Legion of Honor. "Anteater; " "Pelican;" and "Bear;" a-
long with a shallow tray containing a small, seated nude, were
100
conmentod on as bolng "amusing, ntylishly ugly, and decora-
tive, " by the "San Francisco Sxanincr" for October 25, 1931.
In 1932 she and her husband made another short trip
into Mexico. Thcit yer.r she conpletod an excellent portrait
of her sister-in-law, Jane Berlandina, in terra cotta, and won
honorable mention for her m.arblc "Mother and Child. "
The artists' Barter Shov/, reported in the San Fran-
cisco Chronicle for February 12, 1933, v/^s hold in the Cour-
voisier Gallery:
"The idea is G-uthrie Courvoisior ' s. He got it
from the art barter shows in other cities and
the popularity of the practice of barter
throughout the country.
"Money is scarce, reasons Guthrie. Goods are
plentiful. Artists need money, but they f'.lso
need goods. People nant art. Why not arrange
some direct trading? ....Artists are enrolling
many of their best ,(v;orks) and the prices....
are unprecedentedly popul.ar. "
In this show Adaline Kent participated with enthusiasm. Art
being a necessity to her, she felt no one should be deprived
of it by reason of a slim purse, and here was the perfect op-
portunity to demonstrate her personal andnrtistic philosophy.
May 1933, saw the birth of her second dauf;hter, Galen
Kent Howard. About this tine, Adaline Kent refused to join
the San Francisco Society of Women artists. Happily feminine in
her own home, she refused to consider iicrself as anything but
a creative entity in her studio. She was perfectly \;illing
to accept the possibility of her personal artistic shcrtcon-
101
ings, but not the possibility of artistic shortcomings result-
ing from femininity of conception or execution.
SCULPTURAL THEORY
When she shared an exhibit of sculpture v/ith Harriet
Whedon at the San Francisco Art Center in 1934, Glenn Wessels
comments in the May £5th Argonaut:
"The Kent sculptures are subtly balanced, rest-
ful pieces, with somothing of the classic re~
straint of Millol about them."
And H. L. Dungan had earlier said in the Ontland Tribune for
May 13:
"Miss Kent's sculptures run from th3 nearlj'' ab-
stract to the modern-academic, with a leaning
toward a so.ne, vigorous modernism...."
Evidently Adalinc Kent had succeeded in following the first
rule laid down for herself, i. o., that a sculptor should work
from complicated forms to simple ones rather than bogin with
primitive conceptions and elaborate. In sculpture, essential
form is paramount. It is hor boliof that any complication of
detail is likely to overlay and obscure purity of form.
The Art Digest brought news of her further recogni-
tion in the East in its issue for September 1935:
"Adalinc Kent's stone carving of 'Mother and
Child' is of the square type of design, strong,
sympathetic, and good."
In 1936, she executed a line dravm mural, "Person-
age, " and "Girl with Draperies," a travertine recut. Of the
10 .
orii'
102
second, H. L. Dung.in, revie'vlng the exhibition by the five
Howards at Paul Elder's Modern Gallery in the Oakland Trib-
une for May 5, 1935:
"Adaline Kent is represented by drav/ings and
sculpture. .. .scattered line effects such as
Matisse and many others did at one time, but
v/e must boy; in admiration before her lovely
little terra cotta garden figure.... a small
boy with a funny little face. .. .handled grace-
fully and vjlth much appreciation. Let it be
recorded in art history that the present owner
(Mrs. John Kittle), who lent the lad for exhi-
bition paid the artist more than the price she
asked. ..."
Impersonality and repose are tv/o of Adaline Kent's
greatest aims, despite her love for v/hat Bourdelle called
"petit pain, " and these she achieves by delicate and sympa-
thetic modeling of largo solid masses. The theory of oppos-
ing planes, to which Bourdelle introduced her, and in v/hich
she is predominantly interested, has probably long been a
basic sculptural tenet. It is a simple device which con-
sists of the slight shifting of tv/o or more plane surfaces,
so that static geometrical figures become dynamic and, in
cross-section, show multiple surfaces along which the eye
travels in natural progression. Thus, in a reclining fig-
ure (like "The River" an almost life-size nude in cement,
executed for Jane Borlandina in 1937) the head, slightly
turned, forms an opposing plane to the shoulders, the
shoulders to the -relaxed hips, the hips to the half-drawn
Icneec *
The San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner for
103
April 4, 1937, enthusiantically reported her v/inning of the
$400 Parilla Purchase Prize and a r.edal for her fine brass
head, "Carita, " the xornior oonncnting:
"(It) is ^. beautifully modeled child's portrait
rejoicing In a richness of surface as beautiful
as the modeling. ..."
"Carita, " life-size head of a child with looped
braids on either side of a grave, appealing little face, is
in a sense the ernbodi.rient of a personal characteristic of Ada-
line Kent's--a soi't of clear-eyed earnestness and humility
typical of her own approach to art. When complimented on this
head she dismissed conventional ^Juste by aaying, "Oh, but you
should have seen ray model. She v;as exquisite.' "
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTSS
She offsets the fear that her many opportunities
may have given her unfair advantages by exercising her enor-
mous capacity for work and by accepting, reasonably and sane-
ly, the extent of her abilities. Possessed of a spontaneous
and irrepressible humor, often evident in her work, she is
merry rather than impatient over the layman's misunderstand-
ings of the processes of sculpture. She was highly aaused
when, in Paris, she was asked if she would meke "a small Venus
de Mile — nothing grand like the original" — and again when the
Salvation Army v/anted her to do a heroic bust of Evangeline
Booth in bronze for $100 (the process of casting alone run-
ning to, at absolute minimum, something over $500).
104
She is modern rithowt yielding to passing fads. A
survey of her work provides e/idence that she is unfalteringly
and comprehensively intelj.igent in her sculptural conceptions,
whether in the field of serious syrnbology. whimsical portrayal,
or personal portraiture. She likes her drawings and occasion-
ally exhibits a few with her cculpture.
Outside the studio, her time is spent mainly with
her children or in active, nut-door sports.
Temporarily closing their Russian Hill home in San
Francisco, Adaline Kent and her husband, Robert Boardman How-
ard, departed for atrip v/hich will include Paris and its great
galleries, as well as a bicycle tour of the outlying French
provinces for study and recreation, and bring them back to
San Francisco late in the summer of 1937.
105
ADALINE KENT
REPRESENTATIVE
WORKS
SCULPTURES:
Congo Figure (crast metal, adapted for rr.dlator cap)
1926
Pelican (stone), 1927
Standing Figure (bronzj), 1927
J'al Soif (cast lead), 1928
Springtime
Anteater (cast lead), 1951
Nude (ebony), 1931
Mother and Child (marble), 1932
Portrait of Jane Berlandina (terra cotta), 1932
Bear (stone), 1935
Young G-irl, A (travertine recut), 1936
Carita (head in brass), 1937
Frightened Maiden (terra cotta)
G-ardener, The
G-irl with Drapery (travertine recut)
Madonna
Personage (terra cotta)
Portrait of Escudero (terra cotta)
Portrait of Evangeline Booth
Portrait Head (terra cotta)
Reclining Figure
LINE DRAWING:
Nude Adolescent Figure
PEN AND INK:
Seated Figure
Seated Nude and Head at Left
-•ff:^,X'?
tii iff
106
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS;
Earl Reed, Chlcagio, Illinois
Bird Bath, 1920
Mrs. Wlllian Dunham, Hev; Haven, Connecticut
Noah, 1326
John Rogers, Nov; York
Pelican, 1927
William Thacher, New York
G-rasshoppor (rose granite), 1927
San Fr?inci3cc Stock Exchange, San Francisco,
California
Tv;o small bsis-relief panel insets of travortino
marble, called "Night Club," 1930
Thomas D. Church, San Francisco, California
Mural, lino drawing, 1936
Mrs. John Kittle, Roas, California
Perrsonago (terra cotta), 1936
Mrs. William Kent, Kontfleld, California
Girl Vifith Drapery (travertine recut), 1956
Jane Berlandina (Mrs. Henry T. Howard), San Francisco
The River (cast cement), 1937
Portrait of Jane Berlandina (terra cotta)
PERl^/IANENT COLLECTIONS:
San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco
California — Bender Collection
Seated Figure (pen and ink)
Seated Nude and Head at Left (pen and ink)
107
EXHIBITIONS;
San Francisco, C.-.lif -. rnla
San Francisco Art Association
Madonna (sculpture), April 1928
Frightened Maiden (terra cotta), May 1930
Polico.n (stone)
Standing Figure (bronze)
Antcfitor (cast lead), May 1951
Nude (ebony; received certificate of honor-
able mention)
Mother and Child (marble), 1932
Young G-irl, A (travertine recut), 1934
Standing Figure (bronze; honorable mention)
February 1935
Carita (head in brass; Parilla Purchase Prize,
5400), April 1937
Art Center
Congo Figure (cast in metal), May 1928
Nude Adolescent Figure (line drawing)
Represented, July 1933
Sculptures, May 1934
East-West Gallery
Congo Figure (cast in metal; stolen during the
Exhibition), 1928
Nude Adolescent Figure (line drawing)
G-alerie Beaux Arts
J'al Self (cast lead bust), February 1929 o,nd
September 1932
Lambkin, a (miniature piece of modeling cast in
metal mounted on a marble base)
June 1930
Portrait Head (terra cotta)
California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Anteater (cast lead), October 1931
Bear (stone)
Pelican (stone)
Also a sculptured shallow tray containing a
small seated nude
Pen and Ink drawings, March 1936
Artists' Barter Show, Courvolsler Gallery
Represented, February 1933
108
AWARDS :
Paul Elder's Modern Gallery
Girl v/ith Drripery (trr.vertlne recut), May 1935
Also represented '.-^y a number of drav/ings
San Francisco Museun of Art
Represented, August 1935
Also exhibited at:
Los Argeles Museu'n, Los Angeles, California
Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois
Dell CJuest Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Weyhe Gallery, Nev/ York City
Passedoit Gallery, New York City
Conpagnie des Arts Francais, Paris, France
Galorio Zak, Paris, France
San Francisco Art Association
Honorable Mention for "Nude" (ebony), May 1931
Honorable Mention for "Standing Figure" (bronze)
February 1935
Parilia Purchase Prize, $400, for "Carita" (head
in brass), April 1937
CLUBS;
Menber:
Art Center
San Francisco Art Association
109
ADALII.E KENT
BIBLIi'GRAPKY
San Franc:. SCO News
October 24, 1919, p. 5--April 3, 1937, p. 15
San Francisco Chronicle
February 24, 1929, p. D5— February 12, 1933
June 29, 1933, p. D5— April 4, 1937, p. D5
San Francisco Examiner
August 5, 1930--April 26, 1931, p. Ell
October 25, 1931, p. E8— April 1, 1937, p. 8
April 4, 1937, p. E6
San Francisco Call-Bulletin
October 17, 1931, p. 14
Oakland (California) Tribune
May 13, 1934— February 17, 1935
October 6, 1935
Berkeley (California) Courier
February 29, 1936
Argonaut, San Francisco
May 19, 1928— June 9, 1930, o. 13
October 23, 1931— September 16, 1932, p. 13
May 25, 1934— August 16, 1935
Art Digest, September 1935, p. 11
JANE BERLANDINA
1808
Biography and '^Vorks
"OLD BAR IN MOKELUME"— AIJIADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
PROPERTY OF TKE ARTIST
110
JANE BERLANDINA
EARi.Y lif:: in francs
Jane Berlandina, one of the two daughters of Alfred
and Edith Berlandina, was born in Nice, France, March 15, 1898.
Of a wealthy Catholic family, her father a writer,
and an aunt on her fathnr's side a painter of some reputation,
Jane was brought up in the strict, conventional tradition.
Her mother, a typical Frenchwoman, took immense pride in the
perfect management of her house and her family. She was,
however, as was customary with women of that class, totally
dependent upon servants to perform all tas-:s for her. And,
as a Frenchwoman of quality, she lived a completely sheltered
life, unaware of any world outside the restricted one in which
she reigned as the wife of a distinguished man and the mother
of a family.
Her two daughters were reared in the same atmosphere,
attending the proper finishing school and associating only
with carefully chosen playmates. Jane discovered the delights
of drawing at the age of three, and from then on utilized what-
ever time she could in making com-olicated but recognizable
sketches of people.
When she was eight years old, she srjent some time
away from home visiting relatives, and during this period sent
Ill
long letters, copiously illustrated v/ith scenes and figures,
to her mother, recording th*? cxcic^ng incidents of her stay.
Intended by her family to become a violinist (and
actually sonethinr": of a prodigy with that instrument at the
age of four) , sh.? v/as not encouraged to drai'', since it took
her tine and distracted her attention from her music. How-
ever, she could not resist the temptation of pencil and paper
and continued to yield to it whenever possible.
At the select girls' school which she attended,
her sister shone as a brilliant stu.dent and a model scholar,
but Jane's interest 'vas not aroused until she realized that
when her courses there were finished, she would be permitted
to go to another school. Recognizing her opportunity, she
announced firmly that she wished to enter the Beaux Arts
National School in Nice.
Nov.' there are many art schools in France, but only
five, highlj'' credited co-educational National Schools,
attendance at any one of which indicates the intention of
the student to enter upon the professional or semi-profes-
sional life of an artist. Such a course would have appeared
highly irregular to Jane's family, who looked uoon her deci-
sion with tolerant amusement. Finding, however, that she
refused to change it, her father, to quiet her, jokingly
agreed that if she could equal her sister's grades at gradu-
ation, she should be permitted to do as she chose.
112
Jane went to v;ork vlth renewed determination and
passed with honors in science, ohtaining her B. A. degree.
The family adhered to their pronise and her life as an art
student began,
POST-WAR CONDITIONS
Shortly thereafter, hovjever, circumstances altered
materially. France and all Europe were stricken by the War,
during the early years of 'vhich her father died. In the jum-
bled war-time economic conditions, monetary returns from the
Berlandina holdin,S"s 'dwindled steadily, and despite the fact
that her sister had an excellent ^josltion teaching in Paris,
Jane found herself faced "/ith the nece='slty of contributing
to the support of her mother, an aging gentlewoman to whom
poverty was inconceivable.
For four years she worked, literally from morning
to night, giving violin lessons and tutoring in every sub-
ject except (whei'e it v/as possible to avoid it) art, which
she hated to do because bad drawing offended her so deeply.
Tired as she was in the evenings, she managed to continue
her ov/n drawing, hoping that when "'hat she considered the
disgraceful period of her labor was over, she might return
to art.
When she began to realize hov/ dependent her mother
was becoming and that this period might never, end'', " she set
about planning her escaoe which she accomplished in this
113
raanner: through the influence of old friends of the family in
Paris, she finally succeeded in heving her sister named for
the school in Nice. This accomplished and her mother lorovid-
ed for, she felt free once more to do as she pleased.
She had mana;_':ed to save a hundred francs (a sum of
about ten dollars) and with it set out for Paris to continue
her art studies. Here she took a small room which she
shared, of necessity, with a girl of about her own age v;hose
interests were wholly unsympathetic to her own and v/hose
personality was far from congenial. To support herself, she
continued tutoring and giving music lessons until it "became
apparent that she would be better off teaching art.
ART IN PARIS
This was difficult, but Paris is a light-hearted
city and there were plenty of diversions which even a poor
art student, with a little economy and planning, might man-
age. Besides the museums and galleries, there were concerts
and plays and occasional studio parties, and young Mile.
Berlandlna found that in spite of the necessary struggle for
existence, she was very happy in her v/ork and in her new
freedom.
She entered the Ecole National des Ar-ts Decoratif
and during the next few years was fortunate enough to study
under such masters as the great Matisse, and Raoul Dufy, the
latter' s brilliance and delicacy of touch being still appar-
ent in her work.
^«>«?f»9i(T
114
From the beginning, she was fortunate in ma'King
influential fri.ends. Air.org her drawing students was one in
particular whose acquaintance Included a great taioestry maker
of Paris. Thus recommended to him, Jane Berlandina was em-
ployed to mare the large cartoon designs from which the
tapestries were copied, and for a number of years found this
pleasant occuT>ation a reliable source of income.
At twenty-four, she was startled to realize thcit
every oicture which she had submitted had been accented by
the Paris Salon. Moreover, she received excellent notices
in the Paris periodicals. If Paris is light-hearted on the
surface, it is also warm-hearted and appreciative, particu-
larly of its artists. Her recognition as a painter by the
Salon brought other recognition as well.
Befriended by a wealthy French v/oman v^hora she had
known earlier in Nice, she v/as commissioned to do a portrait
for her. Delighted with the work, her friend secured other
commissions, and invited Mile. Berlandina to spend some
months with her on the island of Capri where still further
commissions awaited her. All this contributed to her recog-
nition in the world of art and brought welcome additions to
her income.
One commission in particular which was added to her
already extraordinary prestige, v;as her appointment to design
and decorate the large Leagije of Nations stand for the Paris
115
International Exposition in 1925, a really Important achieve-
ment for an artist so young.
By 192S ehe h,".a enout^h rooney to establish her own
studio. It was an en^-'rinous draughty place which was cold,
damp and inconvenient, not oven bonsting running water except
in the courtyard outside. But to her it was the symbol of
her arrival as an independent person in the world she had de-
termined to conquer.
Her interest in America dates from the beginning of
her friendship with the secretary to the Director of the Amer-
ican University Women's Club in Paris. 'Vhcn the secretary
herself became Director, she suggested that Mile. Berlandina
take her meals at the Club, spepJcing French with the women
residents. These women were a friendly, interesting group,
and as their French improved, so did Jane Berlandina' s E'.nglish
and knowledge of American ways.
Meanwhile, her v;ork had begun to sell with fair
regularity, and in 1927 she was fortunate enough to partici-
pate in a show at the Nouvelle Essor, the only other exhibi-
tors being two of the most famous French women artists of our
day — Marie Laurencin and Hermoine Da^ld.
AIvIERICA AND NEW YCBX
And now her Am^erican friendships began to bear tan-
gible fruit. One member of the American University Women's
Club vms the owner of a very small and select girls' finish-
ing school in Tarry town, New York. At her urgenoe, M^le.
116
Berlandlna agreed to spend a year there, teaching the girls
art, literature and French.
In the aiiuumn of l'^28 she arrived in America and
was at once enchanted with it, with the school, and with the
arrangements which had been made for her. Her teaching did
not require a great deal of her time, and she found that she
had as much leisure as she liked for her painting. Moreover,
as chaperone for the girls in the school, she not only spent
long hours with them in the Metropolitan Museum, and had at
her disposal for the use of herself and her students, a box
at the opera, but went into Mew York City with her charges
v;henever a new ple.y opened. It was a very happy time for
her, and she enjoyed the teaching as much as she enjoyed be-
ing in America, recounting with some pride that of her twelve
students, not one failed to pass with excellent narks at the
end of the term.
Other Anierican friends v.'ho had known her in Paris
now saw to it that she was presented to those people wield-
ing influence in Eastern art circles. At one dirjaer which
had been carefully arranged for this purpose, she was intro-
duced to one of the directors of the famous Knoedler Galler-
ies and spoke with him at some length on the possibilities
of showing her works there.
The following morning he telephoned her to say
that he had been considering their conversation carefully,
and was of the opinion that she should attempt to see Joseph
117
BrumiTier. Sonewhat embarr^soed , r'.nd uncertain as to the rr.o-
tives underlying this nh^n^e of front, she argued that she
would really pref.^r a s;io-v»' at Knoec.ler's. But the director
was firm. She shrjuld see Br'urnr.er first.
Jane Be^landina felt much as Daniel felt on "being
cast into the den of lions. She must confront Joseph Brummer,
adviser to the Metropolitan "useurn, the man \'/hose unsuTjport-
ed word could na'ze or brea?^ the most promising art career,
and the man whom, she linew had never given a show to a v/oman
with the single exception of Hermoine David. This tine she
felt th^t no amount of good fortune could save her. She
must depend on a single man's judgment of the merit of her
work.
THE BRangR e:<hibition
Gathering together a portfolio of unmounted v;ater
colors, nhe took the first or>oortunity of calling on him. at
his gallery in Nev; Yori:. She had considerable difficulty In
reaching him. 'Vhen s]:e succeeded, he was very busy. '.Vould
she lesve her work? Tongue-tied with terror, she shook her
head. But he wanted to see it. She took her courage in
her two hands and replied that she would leave it and
com.e back, provided he would oromise not to look until she
returned. Ferhaos that was the best th?^t could be done, and
with his oromise she deoarted.
When she returned after six o'clock, the gallery
was closed, but Brunmer hnd waited for her. She was taken
to his office and brusquely told to soread her watercolors
118
on the floor. Silently she cc.iiplied. In eoual silence,
Brummer stared at them fcr "/hr.t ser'ir.ed an interminable peri-
od. Then, startlivigly , bis abruiot voice broke the stillness;
"When do you vant the shov/? "
That i'.'a3 in February. In March 1929 her first
American shov was held In the Joseph Prunner G-allery, and
twenty-eight of the thirty-t^'o pictures exhibited v/ere sold.
Brumroer assured her benignly that her name was made. She
need v;orry no ^riore.
^'/hatever the artistic iimort of his statement,
Jane ^,erlandina' s finances had taken a definite step up, for
he was no ordinary art dealer, his hobby being merely to
give four, and only four, good shows a year, charging the
exhibiting artists no com.'nission whatever on sales.
It was about this time that she met Henry Temple
Howard (son of the Californ:^a architect, John Galen Hovfard) ,
then practicing architecture in New York G:ty. They becane
so well acquainted that, when the tine came for her return
to France, they r-arted v;ith the avovred purpose of meeting
again as soon as Dossible.
FRANCE AND T.IARRIAGE
Her school tern in Tarrytown ended, she returned
to France, and within a few months he followed her to Paris.
In August 1929 to escape the stiff and rather long drawn-
out formalities of a French family wedding, they made their
119
own plans, travelling to DaJ.matia where they were quietly
married. Shortly thereafrer Thoy returned to New York.
In 1930 sr.e bsld her second successful show at
Brummer's, this tine exhibiting oils instead of watercolors.
In the same year she exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art
in a Joint show with forty-five artists under thirty-five
years of age. It was here that her large oil, "Market in
Nice, " occupied the olace of honor--the same canvas which, in
1933, was re.jected by the San Francisco Society of y/oiT.cn
Artists.
In 1931 John Galen Howard died suddenly, and Henry
Howard and his wife cnjne West to San Francisco to be near the
elder Mrs. Howard. Jane Berlandina found her mother-in-lav;
to be a woman of fine discrimination and intelligence in
matters of art as well aG being the i-^ossessor of a comolete-
ly charming oorsonality, and the two rapidly developed a
firm friendship.
SAN FRANCISCO EXHIBITIONS
A new artist had come to California, bringing with
her laurels already numerous for so young a head and the
promise of adding much to San Francisco's firmly established
reputation as an international art center. And San Francis-
co's Call-Bulletin for April 30, 1952, noted that she had
held her second Joint exhibition with I'!arie L'-^urencin and
Hermoine David in May of 1931 at the Jacouart Gallery in
Paris.
120
The (New YorK) Art wev.'s for March 19, 1932, com-
mented:
"At the iiew little passerloit Gallery In East
Sixteenth 5':rof:t recenb paintings by that
lively }"-arisic,n-5=='-i Francisco artist, Jane
Berlandlnp.., ars to be seen. Mme. Perlandina
is best knovn here for her spontaneously
evolved rriover and figure pieces done in
aquarell3, ivj/r. she has not been content ac-
cording to tbe present demonstration, to re-
main within the limits of her v/ater coloring,
for she has taken to v;orking in heavy imoasto
that tends to damr)en her style to a consider-
able degree. She has made some headway with
the more refractory oils, and there are many
passages that show the typical Berlandina
fire and thrust. But as yet I feel that she
is at her best in the lighter medium, as ex-
emolifled in the clever and often audaciously
planned glimoses of flowers and fruits that
at their best have a sort of Redonesaue bloom
to them. "
The San Francisco Chronicle for Llay 1, 1932, an-
nounced:
"Jane Berlandina, a Fronch artist now a resi-
dent of San Francisco, will reveal versatile
examples of her talent in an exhibit at the
Galerie Beaux Arts beginning Thursday .... Her
media are oils, watercolors, and temoera, and
her subjects portraits, landscapes, and deco-
rative compositions of flowers and fresco.
"Her frescoes and taoestries are well-known in
her native country. Since her arrival in the
United States three years ago, she has won a
high position in Nexv York art circles. On in-
vitation, she is at present exhibiting a mural
decoration in the Now York Museum of Modern
Art . "
Nadia Lavrova, in her art column for the San Fran-
cisco Examiner, May 1, 1932, has more to say:
121
"Art is a life r.tudy and a life-time nassion
with Jane Berlancina-- Kie /rench artist recent-
ly transplanted to San Francisco and living in
a story-book r.ou.r.e ovoriooking the Bay.
"Those who viiii visit this artist's exhibition
of her oi:. and wate:- color paintings to be held
at the Galeric Btaux Arts, beginning Thursday,
will discover t:iat she works in the tradition
of the Pa,--i? School. The emphasis olaced on
normal valu-};-:; , the scientific conpordtion, the
kinship of her v-'ork to that of Raoul Dufy and
Dunoyer de Scgunzac, soeak for this. Her in-
dividuality expresses itself in the denth of
feeling and the poetic charm with which she en-
dows her work. This quality of beauty It most
a.pparent in her water colors.
"The emotion which Mile. Berlandina puts into
her paintings is temoered and restrained by
Gallic logic since a critic said hanpily and
she has "a highly sophisticated technique and
a naive enthusiasm. ' She has kent a freshness
of outlook despite the arduous training in
classical drawing and other disciplines to
which the students of art schools in France are
subjected.
"Among the ^atcr colors many were inspired by
the streets of San Francisco, by California
flowers. Others are of France. She can create
the atiTiosohere of a Hontraartre cafe or a square
in Nice with a few eloquent lines and a clever
placing of color, which she does charily.
"Her oil -Paintings are bathed in light. Mile.
Berlandinpi confesses that she works hard to
achieve luminosity. She is fond of a certain
golden yellovr. . . .
"A fresco of Mile. Berlandina is now exhibited
by invitation at the Museum of Kodern Art in
New York, -^here she has already held several
one-man shows. Her \''ork has also bei.n reoeat-
edly shown in Paris. "
MURAL DECORATIONS
The New York Show mentioned ^"lere is interesting
in that it indicates a new trend in the art oolicy of the
122
United States, as shov/n in the San Francisco Wn.op-Nervs Let-
ter for May 14, 193? -
"Murals oy fc/ty-:iiiie Ar.erican painters and
photograTy/.er 3 v.ie s'')ov.'n in the exhibition
which ox)(:\\e-l ^he new quari;ers of the MTjaeum
of Modern Art a'l. .; 1 '.Vifit 53rd Street, Nev; York.
The exhib?. tion. which has been In r)reDaration
for scver;.:l rionths, has attracted advance com-
ment thi'uugho";'i; the country because of the in-
creasiiie; l^r;;crest in mural decoration. It
comes at a tlr.se vrhen there is wide-soread dis-
cussioji of tne problem of who is to do the mu-
rals of the nation's great buildings. .. .Jane
Berlandina has a California -oanel in tris show-
ing. '*
This oanel was executed in temnera on masonite, the
second of three connrising her mural painting of a T:)hase of
the post-war v/orld and entitled "Radio Music," "Radio Public-
ity," and "Radio Fe-."3."
Beatrice Judcl Ryan, in the Women's City ilagazine
for May 1932, gives an interesting summary of the new star
on California's art horizon:
"Jane Berlandina has recently come to Calif 3r-
nia to live bringing with her an added note of
individuality and color to the art 'vorld of
San Francisco. A French woman by birth and
education, she has developed naturally v/ith the
French movement .in oaintlng, associated with
I'Ecole de Paris, her viewpoint may be likened
more to that of Matisse, Dufy, Deraln, Dunoyer
de Segonzac than of those that make up the
Sur-realist group. In other words, she is in-
fluenced by the plastic tradition as develOTDcd
in turn by the Impressionists, the Fauves, the
Cubists, rather than by the intellectual side
which developed through the teaching of Freud
that has assumed such imr)ortance in the work
of Cocteau and Chirico. For a long oeriod
this tnlented artist was interested in cubism
and she feels that her study and develoioment
123
in this manner have groatly enriched ,9nd sta-
bilized her Dalntj n^'s, adding to it an unerr-
ing sense of Gon;r.-oslti3n.
"....She etudicd fre.ico under the v/ell-known
tjainter Bc;id':;ii:, and oxeouted frescoes in Nice.
Her desigi'-i loi- ta-postries have been developed
by Fi'ench :nanutactursrs . . . . ''
In this s--^/r,t^ month, Mile. Berlandina gave a lecture
at the Galerie Beaux Arts on the "Evolution of !Todern French
Art," tracing its developrPient through impressionsim, cubism,
surrealism and the various other schools which had swept
France in -oa-rticular during the nast sever; J decades.
That July, she exhibited her "View from my Window,"
vase and flowers with a modern view of San Francisco and the
Bay beyond. This was shovm at Director Lloyd Rollins' inno-
vation of a Summer Annual of oils by California artists at
the California Palace of the Legion of Honor — a very success-
ful show according to the San Francisco neriodicals. How-
ever, when the oict^ires of the Northern California artists
were hung in Los Angeles in the fall, localism rear'ed its
head, and Jane Berlandina was one of those who bore the brunt
of Arthur Millier's caustic wit in the Los Angeles Times for
October 2, 1932:
"If the thirty-six paintings by as many San
Francisco artists, on view at the Los Angeles
Museum until October ol really represent the
north's best, the vigorous experimentation of
five years ago is In abeyance while artists at
this "end of the State gleefully strides out on
new paths.
"It is a pity that the group of Southern Cali-
fornia paintings which was exhibited with this
124
Northern selectjon in the xirst annual exhibit
of its kind arrai'jsJ ty Lloyd Rollins in the
California Palace of ^ne legion of Honor, oould
not have oeen joen hert. It would have afford-
ed direct oppor;;r.r j.t/ fo^-" comparisons. But as
most of thosc: '-so-.-.trsm "olc-jures viere originally
selected frcTi our museuru's soring sho'v, we
should xiave been seeing them t-^ice. Mso Los
Angeles llusou.- 's reduced budget is claimed to
make the hanging of exhibitions a difficult
p rob 1 err!.
"Tne naturalism of William Ritchel and Arthur
Hill G-ilbort is far m.ore revarding than an im-
itation of f,iatisse such as 'From my V/indo-"' by
Berlandina Ho'vard, "
The Howard's only child, a son n^med David ^crlan-
dina Hovprd, vps born in 1932, an! once the immediate require-
ments of mater-nity had been comolied with, Jane Berlandina
threw herself baci- into her work with ch.-^rcacteristic energy.
The center panel of her stritcirg mural, "Radio
Publicity," enlarged and executed o^ rressvood in te':^.pera,
was again exhibited ivlth the collection from We^" York's Mu-
seum of Modern Art vmen it vp.s shovm at the California Pal-
ace of the Legion of Honor early in T"'5Z. With the opening
of the soring sem^ester of the Univ,.rsity of California in
that year, she becam^e one of their lecturers on modern French
art.
And in spite of family duties and outride activi-
ties, she still found time to continue steadily with her own
work--so well, in fact, th,'- 1 in the fall of the year she was
awarded new honors, albeit her right to those honors were
125
viewed In differo-nt lightn. Witiies^ the San Franoisco Chron-
icle for November 26, 193<?, on the Worcen Artists' show:
"There ip r."-ery '.clrd of psinting in the Eighth
Annual E7"ii^ic of the San Francisco Society of
Women Art lb v.,^ at the California Palace of the
Legion of Honor,
"Some of it is fine, some poor, some clever,
and some orade- Since ao much of it is so good
and since nearly all of it is enlivened by a
keen impiilco for self-expression, the show as-
sumes a large and varied interest for the pub-
lic. It contains also sculpture, prints and
drawings .
"The crudity of a portion of the work in any
contemporary exhibition raises intere'.iting re-
flection. There was a time when things r^ere
so painted to the life — at least according to
academic formula — that any observer could lay
his hand precisely on incompetence to blame it
for what it was worth. 3y modern standards,
however, the crudest things in a show may well
be the best.
"V/ho knov/s? Difference of opinion is what
mak:es horse races. Horse races, in the fine
arts, are now-a-days run in so many diverse
directions from so many starting points that
they create great dlff oi»«e^i^:aof opinion.
"All of which can be preface to the fact that
these are two ways of regarding the Judges'
choice of Jane Berlandina's 'Still-Life' for
the first prize of #100.
"Conservative taste will find fault with the
unromantic wood-block stiffness of Miss Ber-
landina's picturization of a lovely plant.
But the modern spirit may take joy in her
urges and in tho fresh brightness of her col-
a^» Miss Berlandina contributes to the show
two other bold works, a nude done in an over-
ripe Renoir teclmlque, and a curious view of
figures in a French market place.
126
nSW YORK no;/-^2N7S
In. contraf^t to thlT flinprncy, see the Art News,
December 36, 193c, -.vhich Btatos I>ie\7 York's judgment of Jane
Berlandlna' s exhioition of many of those sane works in the
Georgette Passedoit Gallerj :
"A pupil of Dufy, Jano Berlandlna is an Ameri-
can artist of French "background. Her former
oils, exhibited at 3rummer's, v/ere done in
rich irapasto, effective, but certainly not of
the same merit that her present style possess-
es. Ker technique has changed to one of smooth
surfaces, ^^.'hich are delightful to both the
touch and the eye. Among the oils, 'Nude with
Hat' is especially attractive. The brush
strokes and heavy outline of the figure are
very unlike the technique of Renrir, but the
spirit underlying the innocent nrkedness and
animal passivity of the face Bhov;s close con-
tact with the French master. -Prune Pickers'
and 'Cabbage Patch' have distinct charm of de-
sign and color. The latter in particular, has
a certain fairy-tale character and one almost
expects Poter Rabbit of nursery fame to bounce
abruptly out ci the story-bock patches.
"The watercolors ar'3 evidently the field in
which the artist concentrates her greatest at-
tention. In the flo\"er subjects delicacy of
color alternates with more vigorous handling.
The landscape ' Olima California' is one of the
best. It is extremely simple bvit tender in its
treatment — merely a patch of blue sea surround-
ing a peninsular bit of land. A little patch
trickling around with v/ind-blov,'n trees savors
of the 'once upon a time' and bespeaks warmth
and spirit in an unusual artistic personality."
Parnassus, another New York art magazine, dispenses
with whimsy but upholds the favorable tenor of the Art News'
comments in its issue for January 1934:
"A very personal and lovely talent has covc'red
the walls of an underground gallery which is
worth one's time to go exploring for. Georgette
Passedoit has hung the basement of 485 Madison
127
Avenue ivith recent vater colors and oils by
Jane Berlandina, '.v'-^osc vvork, shown at the
Bruminer G-al^.ery a i w " yeurs ago, will be re-
membered. Gil;; are r, nev medium for trie art-
ist, but -_n i.e^f ra.l c- thoc;e here: 'Nude vith
Basket, '■ .r rur.e i ick'jrb cX'id The Cabbage Patch,'
she show.'-, ^ i.i'^. "Luring talent which juBtlflea
the glowiiig oredictlon made at the time of the
Brummer '..chlbitlon . In her water colors there
is taste and cliarm, ta.ste v^hich never descends
to prettiVier-. 5, and charm which is by no means
a har^py r.,ce-,.cont . A kind of gay -orofundity
they have. "/'uch I suppose can be set down to
her G-alli3 mture. Miss Perlandina is a French
women who has recently married an Anerican. In
the I"Iodern Museum's Sixteen Cities Exhibition,
a canvas of hers appears in the San Francisco
group. The subject, 'Prune Pickers,' is treated
again in the Passedoit showing in a r)icture
which is better realized and shows her rhythjnic
sense, and her ability to create a fine texture,
to better advantage. "
As indicated in the above notice, Mile. Berlandina
was one of the artists reoresented in the Modern Art Museum's
"Exhibition From Sixteen Cities" in New York, in the late
fall of 1933, only six of whom from San Francisco v/ere in-
vited to Darticipate.
In the spring of 1934 her activitie=^ increased to
include the giving of a course on Modern French Painting un-
der the auspices of the University of California Extension
Division at 740 Powell Street In San Franciaoo.
CQIT TOWER DECORATIONS
Also, she had been chosen as one of the San Fran-
cisco artists to contribute a mural in the Colt Tower for
P.W.A.P.* and allotted the little room constituting an entrance
lobby to the circular winding staircase leading to the top.
♦Public Works of Art Project.
128
Permitted to use for subject rp^tter any phase of the contem-
porary scene in Ami^rlca, shv; chose "Family Life," and went
to work in egg ter.-era. a raodium which one of her old In-
structors, Raoul Duiy, also favored.
On April 8, 1934, in the San Francisco Examiner,
Ada Hani fin renev/ed her current local show as follov/s:
"Whether a still-life with spring flowers, a
landscape of Telegraph Hill, or a scene in
Nice — 'The Market' — her paintings dance and
sing with living color, form and marvelous vi-
tality. There Is nothing about her work that
suggests the stereotype and commonplace. ^t
Is because the artist has the wit to be orig-
inal, and the gift to be resourceful.
"Incidently, one might note here that Jane
Berlandina (Mrs. Henry Howard) was the only wo-
man painter from this region to be represented
In the recent exhibit of art from sixteen Amer-
ican cities at the Nevi York Museum of Modern
Art.
"Her attractive gaiety and spontaneity, her
sensuous beauty in color and form, r>re restrain-
ed with fine intelligence. Always there is a
unification betv;een form and color: always her
spontaneity is born of sureness.
"'Still Life — Paris' shows a precise and deli-
cate relationship between color and form, and
a fine feeling for texture. Note the bov/1.
"There is a delightful piece of whimsy in the
water color of the flowers in a blue vase on
which she has spontaneously drawn a little red
house or two. It is beautifully and delicate-
ly painted. There are humor and movement in
her 'Carnival at Nice,' rich color in 'Nastur-
tiums in a Blue Vase,' and 'Spring Flowers.'
'Telegraph Hill' is especially interesting for
its composition. Notable also are 'fly Studio'
and the charming landscape of 'Tiburon. '
129
The San Fr-^nclsco Chronicle for Aoril 15, was e-
qually enthusiastic rcf™firdlng: tMs show:
"A remarkr'''.\i & show at the Adar.:s-Danysh Gal-
leries is 'i.hat of j'ane Berlandina's watercol-
ors.
"Miss Berlandinr,' s colors soarkle with oerson-
ality. In her flo-.ver Daintings they arc prod-
ucts of an original fancy as v;ell as of nature.
Their richness of quality and variety is en-
hanced by the deft sophistication v;ith v;hich
they sketch a subject into free modern design.
"Landsca'oes, also, by this French-Anerican
artist, are delicate, vivacious and crireless
of orthodoxy. When the charm of Miss Ber-
landina's style is so well-composed as her
'House on the Hill,' the result is a scene in
which freshness is given a sustained expressive
value. "
Glenn Wessels, himself an artist, evpluates Jane
Berlandina in a somewhat more technical manner in the Argo-
naut, April 20, 1934:
"Jane Berlandina Howard is one of the busiest
and certainly one of the most successful of
women artists. Winner of first prize in this
year's Annual Exhibition of Women Artists,
chosen as the only 'voman painter from this
section to be represented in the Exhibit of
Art from Sixteen American Cities of the New
York Museum of Modern Art, and winning critics'
plaudits for her 'Prune Packers, ' in that show.
She then exhibited at the Art's Club in Chicago
and then her 'Market in Nice' was chosen by
artists' vote to be represented in the Oakland
post-Annual Exhibit. Among numerous other ac-
tivities she has completed a series of gouache
water colors for the present show at the Adams-
Danysh Galleries.
"These paintings are in the true lyric spirit.
Their drawing is bold and flexible arabesque,
which goes its own way and lives its own life.
There is an almost acrobatic dexterity remin-
iscent of her master Dufy, and a straightfor-
ward expression familiar in Matisse. This
-or, .
150
light, subtle yet brilH iant talent finds r>.n
ideal mediun in t^icre v/atercolors of varying
subjects. One v/o'iders at the stern discipline
which' has prt-ii.;erved spontaneous freshness, del-
icacy, rtnc". .'il.ao'-t no.iv-'e \'ision; and yet dictated
the inevitable position and quality of each
line and sp^tv This is the most intimate mas-
tery of the nediv.n. "
When the nethod of her mur.'^l painting in the Coit
Tower came to light, the newspcapers leaped eagerly at the
opportunity for a bit of badinage, particularly the San Fran-
cisco Examiner v/hich, on April 13, 1954, gleefully caroled:
"ECtGS for paint, no YOLKIII&.
DON'T THROW TK052 EGGS, STaAJlG-ER. "
"The footlight plea of old-time actors menaced
by disgruntled spectators, took on a new slant
today.
"They used to egg the artists. Nov/ the artists
are using the eggs — to paint v;ith.
"And the biggest omelet in tovm is smeared over
the walls in an upper room in the Coit Memorial
Tower, whore Jane Borlpndina, noted San Fran-
cisco artist, is mixing hundreds of eggs — whole
crates full — in a striking fresco depicting
home life.
"It's called 'Egg Tempera.'
"The yellow yolks, rich with albumen, are
v/hipped with pure paint pigment and brushed
over plaster, leaving an Indelible coloring
that, it is said, v^ill last hundreds of
years.
"The 'Home Life' room includes a bridge f':ur-
some with highball glasses on the table, cig-
aret smoke curling from one of the feminine
player's fingers — and even a Kibitzer purring
over their shoulders."
Owing to the conservative choice she had made,
Bcrlandina' s name was not dragged into the battle over the
151
Colt Tower murnls despito the fret that she had considerably
raodornizod the convontionrl conception of the American Hone.
But, "v;hon the tumult and the shouting died" and
the Tower was finally opened to visitors in the fall, the
critics v/ere not particularly kindly. Junius Cravens, in
the San Francisco Novs, October 20, somewhat acridly remarked:
"Liany visitors arlmire the four panels in the
elevator foyer because they are 'more like
pictures.' They smile at Labaudt's staircase
wall because it is a 'cute idea.' The second
floor corridor pleases them because it is dec-
orative, and not burdened with a message. Bt:t
I observe that they generally like best the
little room on the second floor — the one dec-
orated by Jane Berlandina — probably because it
is so lacking in imagination that it requires
jaone to be understood. Most people a^jpoar to
think, hov;over, that the Berlandina paintings
are unfinished, in fact, barely begun."
MURAL TSCHNIQ.UE
What he does not nrte clear is that she has used
not only an unf.amiliar medium, but applied it v/lth rn unfa-
mllar technique, the one of ^-'hich her old instructor, Raoul
Dufy, was probably the first recognized modern master. This
technique consists of applying the color in unoutlined forms
and overlaying those rather nebulous forms with brilliant,
concise outlines of ivhite. Thus the eye picks up bits of
pattern and design piecemeal, with the necessity of putting
it together in the mind, rather than b^g able to catch at
a glance the composition of the decorative scheme.
During the magnificent ^5,000,000 show of the
v/orks of Vincent Van G-ogh at the California Palace of the
132
Legion cf Honor at this time, iTane Be}-landina wc.s ono of the
group of dlstlnp'ulshod. folk v/ho had been brought together
by Dr. Walter Hoil to lecture during the course of the exhi-
bition.
E\^?0.?'^']M SKETCHING TRIP
As soon H.s her 'vork in the Coit Tower v;an finished
Jane Berlandina Hov/ard departed for the Continent to visit
her family. Together they spent the summer in Italy, where
she set about busily painting the Mediterranean scenes v;hich
had been so familiar to her during her childJiood.
She had been back in San Francisco only ten days
when she dccidec'. to visit Yosoraite National Park, Deeply
impressed by the combination of the tremendous scale of the
cliffs and the vivid autumn coloring, she iremained until she
had completed five studies which v/ere later exhibited in
dov/ntown galleries in San Francisco. So completely enchant-
ed v/as she by the grande-Tlr and beauty of the Valley that she
determined to study and interpret it in its four different
seasonal phases.
Sometime during 1934 her much publicized picture
"The Prune Pickers," a large oil ori gesso, v/as purchased by
Albert M, Bender, noted San Fr;incisco art patron, fijid pre-
sented to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor for
its permanent collection. During November of that year,
after a single night's private exhibition at the Joseph
133
Danysh G-alleries, its only California showing, a new collec-
tion of her v/ater colors v/as shipped east to one of the Hew
York galleries. She also exhibited, by invitation, a large
oil at the Chicago Arts Institute.
^WiEPICAII PRESTIGE
In the spring of 1935 she again exhibited in the
Passedoit Gallery, on which shov/ the Nev/ York Times for
March 10, conraents:
"Gayety, sparkle and freshness characterize
the painting of Jane Berlandina, whose recent
work is being shown by Georgette Passedoit.
Even aside from the warmth and briglitness of
her color, which alone would make her work at-
tractive, there is a breeziness and a personal
approach toward her subject matter to lend
buoyant and youtirful appeal to her crisp v/ater
colors and soraev/hat mural oils. In these lat-
ter, if she really suggests any artist,, one
might think of Karfoil. But her work is
brightly her own. "
Nor was she idle at home. San Francisco's deter-
mination to hold its place as an outotanding operatic, mu-
sical and theata^ical city was being aided and abetted by the
efforts of its own artists. Junius Cravens noted in the San
Francisco iJews, May IS, 1935*
"The most impressive feature of the Opera Bal-
let performance Wednesday night was the artis-
tic improvement in the visual elements of most
of the production. The use of black curtains
as a background throughout Part I was, of
course, beyond criticism.
"For the 'Dance Noble, 'an r.d-r-.ptr.tioj? of typical
15th Century French court costumes was made by
Jane Berlandina. Using aesthetic contours as
a base, Lliss Berlandina superimposed upon them
13^
painted abstract designs v/liicli r.iodernized them
to harmonize with th^ 'color' cf the dance and,
at the sane time, pr'tr.erved their characteris-
tic superficial chic- The restrained color
scale was ir.ost pleasing. The stylized wigs
also deserve special nention. "
In June Jane Berlandina was represented in the
great American Art Exhibit arranged by Dr. Heil with an eye
to exemplifying the growth of art in this country. Samples
of early American painting were hung in the De Young Museum,
and the moderns, including the Bay region artists, in the
California Palace of the Legion of Honor. Among these. Mile.
Berlandina 's "Early Sumner Flowers" was particularly note -
wortliy.
At Courvoisier 's G-allery, downtown San Francisco,
in the same month, at a private showing of one hundred and
twelve paintings and drawings , she exhibited a "Flower Study"
and a "Landscape."
When the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center held an
exhibit in July, entitled "Paintings 3y Artists West of the
Mississippi," Jane Berlandina was chosen to represent Cali-
fornia and the New York Art Digest, for August 1, 1935, ^S"
f erring to her and other participants, remarked:
"Some of the exhibitors were both born and
educated in tlie West. Others, although born
in the 3ast, or even in Europe, have lived so
long in this country, or are so sensitive to
its character that they are thoroughly repre-
sentative of the V7cst...."
With the appearance of her autumn show that year
at the Courvoisier Gallery, three revelatory items were
135
carried by San Frarxcisco papers. The Exaniner for October
27, 1935 spoke briefly bj;t pot^itively:
"Miss Ber].ar..d.lna is bliowing paintings and wa-
ter colors at tro Courv-o; sier Galleries. .. .Not
only her familiar exhibition of massed bril-
liance is enjoyable in her flov;er studies. She
is advancing in tne wisdom of selection, reti-
cence. Some of her still-life is exquisitely
delicate.
"Her landscapes, personal as they must be, be-
cause her color is always personal, are influ-
enced by Renoir. Indeed, she is French. The
best of them is the latest, 'After The Storm. '
Something of the dark force of Vlaminck enters
this work; something also of the stark bright-
ness of Van Gogh. "
LIAIJNSR Airo METHODS
This was exemplified, in the Argonaut for November
1, by Glenn Wessels who asserted:
"Jane Berlandina has never yet shown us a pic-
ture which was boring. French vivacity and
French precision produce work neat but pur-
poseful. As Dr. Heil has so well put it, 'The
French, as no other people, possess the two
essential qualities in proper mixture; a sub-
tle and critical mind strong enough to control
the flights of imagination, and to force the
phenomena of the world under its discipline
for the sake of order and logical coherence,
as well as an extraordinary sense for the mel-
ody of lines, the harmony of colors, and the
balance of proportion. The results in the
painting that is rationally clear in purpose
and of the esthetic beauty characteristic of
French art. '
"The landscapes at Courvoisier 's are, however,
no mere repetition of French modernistic for-
mulae. With some painters, misunderstood
modernistic doctrines have become limiting,
inimical to passionate and downright expres-
sion, but with Hiss Berlandina they are, as
136
they were always intended to be, a gate to
personal discovery.
"Using the open method of painting — frank
spots and ftreatcs of paint instead of contours
filled with careful modeling — Miss Berlandina
achieves rhythmic pattei'n and atmospheric depth.
The white gesso ground gleams through the
translucent pigment, or again is obscured by
intuitively planned opacities. A conscious-
ness of, and a delight in, the legitimate qual-
ities of the medium is conveyed to the ob-
server. I can think only of the vibrant dex-
terities of the later Vlsjninck in looking at
this work.
"To name only one of several superb pieces
'After the Storm' is a notable success. It
integrates deep foreshortening with pattern
which lies on the picture plane. Here is no
illusion of space, but an effect of space, a
created Dictorial space, in which the eye is
conscious of the volume of the atmosphere as
it follows the dynamic tensions between the re-
ceding planes of the picture.
"There seems to be little in common between
the individual colors on the canvases and the
colors as they must .lave been in nature. It
is not a spot by spot copying which produces
such painting, but a summary of Judgment of
the whole effect and its translation into the
language of painting in idiomatic style, vfhich
proves so much truer to the total effect than
could any literal transcription. "
And in the San Francisco News Letter and Wasp for
November 2, Jehanne Bietry Salinger adds her own Gallic bit:
"The world of Jane Berlandina, who exhibits
ten recent oils and ten freshly painted water-
colors in the Courvoisier G-alleries at 480
Post Street, is one that is filled with light
and infinite, subtle warmth.
"Berlandina cannot be classified in any school.
Ker work makes you forget all about techniques
and styles, for it is at once so mature and so
delicate in its analysis of sun-illumined land-
scaoes and flowers. The charm of her vision
137
takes preoedonce ovoi- 'iny ideology. Hor pig-
ment is exqui.3ite while her sketchy dejign is
likely to rislcad yoii. It hides rer.l drawing,
real undcrstariding of composition.
"Essentially French and feminine, Berlandina's
paintings are rich in textile qualities. Her
notations of light and color values are in-
tensely sensitive in a physical sense. These
remarks are Inspired most particularly by her
canvases entitled 'The Vegetable Garden,'
'Prune Drying, ' and 'Under the Big Tree,'
which I consnder her very finest oils in the
show, by 'The Hat 'Jnder the Tree,' 'Flowers on
a Blue Table,' 'The Open Door,' and 'Studies
of Flowers in Blue,' those beautiful water-
colors v/hich offer a rich arabesque of line,
so fluid and superb a quality of wash, and an
extraordinary palette of colors.
"When Berlandina has an exhibition in town,
which is all too rrre an event, you invariably
go to see it. When you are in the gallery,
you forget yourself and overstay your visit.
Everything you see ' is at once so facile, so
fluent, yet so sure, so complete, so beautiful
and so convincing. We know no woman painter in
America who can p^;,int as she does. Her show is
an art event. Do not miss it."
ORGANIZATION AND PATTERN
Nor was this laudatory notice confined to the West
Coast. Boston's Christian Science Monitor for November 1®,
1935, carried the following article by Nadia Lavrova on the
same one-man show as well as the shov; concurrently exhibited
at the San Francisco Museum of Art:
"....An American by marriage, Jane Berlandina
is of the French. Having absorbed the tradi-
tions of the modern Paris school, she has not
remained merely a fcllov/er, but has asserted
herself as a creator. She paints in the mod-
ern idiom of glowing, vibrating tones, but the
luminosity of her paintings is an individual
gift. Here is a peculiar combination of a
138
fresh, alnost naive outloik and of a sophisti-
cated nanncr of exorosrion. Her orsanizations
have fornal beauty, her r)atterns arc often ra-
diant. The has a seuot of style, originality
tendered by a sure French taste. It is goner-
ally agreed that she is one of the nost prom-
ising artists on the coast.
"One often ho'-\rs talk of Miss Berlandina's
spontaneity. But ho^7 r.uch thought, study, and
order there is back of it! The artist lets
her3elf go spontaneous.' after she has made up •
her nind as to oxactl;'' 'what inpression she is
out to crviate.
"This is evident fron her master nainting in
the current exhibition, 'After the Storm. ' It
is an oil, the artist having recently begun to
concentrate her attention on this medium. It
has rovement, emotion, essential truth, the
artist blithely disregarding this and that
rule to make her effect. G-ray-white clouds
are scurrying above an agitated landscape, but
In an irridescent light breaking over the wlnd-
v^hlpped fields there is a promise of peace."
Even New York's Art News for November 50, recog-
nized the qualities r-'hich had permitted this comparatively
young artist to build up so firm an international reputation:
"One of the most successful of the West Coast
exhibitions has been that of the paintings and
V7ater colors by Jane Berlandina, shown during
Novem.ber at the Courvoisier Galleries of San
Francisco. The painter whose exhibition was
held three years ago at the Brumner Gallery in
New York has m3.tured greatly in the interim.
The •.Tit and spontaneity of her earlier vork is
combined with a new feeling for solidity, a
departure from, the less disciplined style of
her first oaintings. Born in Nice and educat-
ed th.cre and in Paris, she combines the tech-
nical sureness of the French school v;ith an
intim.ate knowledge of the landscapes of the
West. Her paintings are rich in surface tex-
tures and tactile values, fluent in the han-
dling of oils and wash. The ten oils and ten
water colors on exhibition are concerned, for
the most r>art, with lyric qualities of land-
139
scarves and flo-wer gmurs, felicitously painted
with careful not.-iticns of light and color val-
ues. "
IKTERKATIOKAL RhJFUTATION
And the Art Dig:e3t follov.'ed in line on the list of
December wit)::
"The Pacific Cc-^at press hailed Jane Berlan-
dina's exhibition at the Courvoisier Galleries,
San Francifjco, as a distinct person<al triumph
for the v;ell-known French-American painter and
lithographer. Junius Cravens, of the San Fran-
cisco Mc'vs, waa high in praise. 'Miss Berlan-
dina, ' he wrote, 'has been wise in her selec-
tions from the California landscape. Slie has
avoided the rolling hills of the Coast range
and has gone inland to the Valley fruit ranch-
es. There she has chosen complex, homely genre
scenes and has invested them, with a simple
beauty which one seldom sees equaled in paint.
One of the wonders of some of these ranch
paintings is that the artist has been able to
sustain her 'inspiration' — the first flashing
impression which led her to choose her subject
— without allowing unessential realities to en-
croach upon it a.nd destroy it. '
"Luther Meyer "-rote in the San Francisco Call-
Bulletin: 'Hiss Berlandina, a native of France,
schooled in Nice and Paris, sometime student
of Raoul Dufy, paints in the French tradition.
However, her work is strongly individual, re-
vealing the imoact of Western stimulations.
Here is no copying — she strikes out strongly
and surely in a direction of her ovm choosing."
When the splendid Matisse show was brought to the
new San Francisco Museum of Art early in 1935, Dr. Grace L.
McCann Morlcy, its brilliant curator, who had early inaugu-
rated the fine system of free lectures to the public on the
Museum's exhibitions, obtained Jane Berlandina' s promise to
lecture on the great modern master. And, in the foll'->wing
1^0
May, in the Little Theatre of the California Palace of the
Legion of Honor, she gave o.nother lecture on "The Place of
Van Gogh in 19th Century Art. :•
•■ Her ;'?lo\;\;rG in a D^.:.-k- V .se , " shown at the 56th
Annual Exhibit of the San Francisco Art Association in the
Autumn, brought forth the expected, enthusiastic comment,
and her "Flov;er Arrangement" in oils took second prize at
the 57th Annual the following spring.
The "story-book house" referred to by art critics
earlier in this monograph is the artist's home located at
29^^ Jackson Street and undoubtedly merits far more signifi-
cant terras of appreciation. Designed by her architect hus-
band, Henry Temple Hov/ard, it is wholly modern in conception
without any of the fantastic over-simplification so often
associated with m.odernism. Simplicity, spaciousness and
light make it the perfect background for an artist whose
busy mind is forever absorbed with the problem of new and
more perfect combinations of form and color. Here are no
intrusions on the eye or the mind — only a pleasant neutrali-
ty half-bounded by unobtrusive line. Even the untidy studio,
eloquent of concentrated hours of labor, maintains a peace-
fulness which no amount of litter can disturb.
THE I.IODERI-I ARTIST
Typically French in manner and appearance, she is
gay, vivacious and wholly charming in the drav/ing roor.. Her
141
mind is a storch~usc of "'Itty .inccdotes of the art v/orld,
American and European. Her lectures eoitoniize the quality
of her mind and her outlook on li'Je, being, over and above
their dellghtfu]. and human character^ clear, concise illumi-
nating, and impartial.
But one does not ioke with Jane Berlandina about
art. No blind worshipper of the "modern," she has acquired
the discipline nece-sary to disoense with personal prefer-
ences of any sort and, v;ith the critical eye born of training
and taste, has evaluated modern art. V/hat she has found
good has been incorporated into her own credo. Her imagina-
tion and hor sensitivity are guided and controlled by her
native intelligence, and her vitality is a quality of mind
as well as of body. She has absorbed the fund.^jTiontal ore-
cepts laid down by her masters, and by her unremitting work
turned them to her own account with originality and zest.
Hor late-^t oil (illustrated in this monograph),
entitled, VDld Ear in Mokelumne," is the result of a leisure-
ly trip made through the mining towns of the old Mother Lode
country recently with her mother-in-law, Mrs. John Galen
Howard. It is the typical saloon of gold-rush days,
the mirrored .bar with its dark woodwork, the assembled min-
ers in their unconsciously picturesque clothes, satisfyingly
grouped under the smoky brilliance of the flaring lamps. In
the foreground one glimpses the inevitable Berlandina touch.
142
a portion of the stacked crirds on the table, so minutely
dravm as to shov; the red pips on the top card. And over
all lies th.'\t lunlnosity •vhich nakes the picture a living
portrayal.
California nay be increasingly grateful for the
privilege of adding to its ranks of artists Jane Berlandina,
not only for ivhat she has already contributed to the art of
America and of the v;orld, but equally for her capabilities
in pointing out a. recognizable path over 'A'hich others may
walk with confidence, thus intelligently avoiding the maze
presented in the conflicting trends taken by the art of our
times.
143
OILS;
JAN^ 3ERI^'.NDINA
R'i]?R2SINTATIVE
WORXS
Cabbage Patch
Flov/3r Arrant^craent
M^irket in Kioc
Nude with Dar.ket
Nude with Hat
Old Bar in Mokelumne, 1937
Prune Pickers, The
View from my Windov/
WATERCOLORS;
Carnival at Nice
House on the Hill
Market, The
My Studio
Nasturtiums in a Blue Vase
Olima, California (landscape)
Sioring Flov/ers
Still-Life— Paris
Telegraph Hill
Tiburon (landscape)
MISCELLANEOUS;
After the Storm (landscape)
Frjnily Life (mural in egg tempera)
Flov/ers in a Dark Vase
Flowers on a Blue Tabic
Flower Study
Hat Under the Tree, The
Landscape
Nude
Open Door, The
Prune Drying
Prune Packers
Radio Music ) mural panels, tempera on nasonite
Radio News ) " ' " " " "
Radio Publicity) " " " "
Still-Life
Studies of Flowers in Blue
Under the Big Tree
Vegetable Garden, The
144
PSR1CA.NENT C0LLz:CTI01JS:
San Frr.nciaco Musecr. nf Art
Still-LifG (oil)--r:;. V«'n.iter Collection
Stil]/-Life (vvv-i.tfir color) — Bender Col].ectlon
White Phlox (v/atsrcolcr) — Bender Collection
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Franc i? 00
Prune Pickerc, The (oil on gesso) — Bender
Collection
Colt Tov/or;. San Francisco
Family Life (niural in egg tempera)
EXHIBITIONS:
San FranciGco, California
G-alerie Beaux Arts
Portraits, landscapes and decorative compositions
done in oil, v/atercolor and tempera. May 1932
California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Viev; From My Window, July 1932
Radio Publicity (mural panel executed on prcsswood
in tempera), 1953
(American Art Exhibit), California Palace of the
Legion of Honor, June 1933
Early Summer Flowers
(San Francisco Society of Women Artists'
Exhibition), November 1933
Nude
Still-Life (First Prize, $100)
Market In Nice
San Francisco Art Association
Market in Nice #1 (oil), 1932
Market in Nice #2 (oil)
Prune Drying (oil), 1934
Under the Big Tree (oil)
Flowers in a Dark Vase, 1936
Flower Arrangement (oil), Second Prize, Aprill937
Joseph Danysh Galleries
Carnival at Nice (watercolor) , April 1934
House on the Hill "
Market, The "
My Studio "
Nasturtiums in a Blue Vase (watercolor)
Ik^
spring Flowers (\Tatercolor)
Still Lif3--Pariii "
Telegraph Hill
Tiburon (1 \nc.s3ape)
Pinine Pickers, The, Ilovember 193 'I-
Courvoidier G-allery
Flower Study, June 1935
Landscape
(Cne-nan Show), llovenber 1935
After the Storn (landscape)
Hat Under the Tree, The
Open Door, The
Prune Eryins
Studies of Flowers in Blue
Under the BiB Tree
De Young I.Iemorial Museum
Early Sunmor Flov/ers, June 1935
San Francisco I..iu3eujn of Art
Exhibited, October 1935
Paul Elder's G-allery
Represented, 1935
Los AiiG-^l-^, Calif or.:ir
Los Angeles IIuseuM
View fror. '.ly Windov;, October 1932
Oakland, California
0 aid and Post- Annual Exhibit
Market in IJice, 193^
San Diego, California
California-Pacific International Exposition
V/hite Cyclanen, May 29-Koveuber 11, 1935
New York City
Joseph Braaner Gallery
Thiruy-two Watercolors, March 1929
Oils, 1930
Museum of Modern Art
Market in llxce (oil), 1930
Represented by a California panel executed in
tempera on masonite, the second of tliree con-
prising her mural painting of a phase of the
Post-Vt'ar World and entitled "Radio Music,"
"Radio Publicity" and "Radio Nev/s. "
Prune Pickers, The, December 1933
145
AWARDS:
Georgette PasRcdoit G-allory
Exhibited, March ]932
Cabbage I-atjh (ol:.) , December 1933
Nude with -Buukex (oil)
Olina, California (lancfscaoe in watercolor)
Prune pickers, The (oil)
Wateroolors and oils, Ivlarch 1935
Chicaf;o, Illin"iis
Cliicaso-Aj't ;:;iub
Exhibited, 1933
Chicago Arte Institute
Represented, 1934
Colorrdo Sp^'in^iT. , Colorado
Colorad') Sr^rings Fine Art Center
Chosen to represent California, July 1935
Pa.ris, France
Nouvelle Essor
Represented, 1927
Jacquart Gallery
rleorcscnted, May 1931
Also exhibited at the Official S„lon and the
Galerie Billiet in Paris.
San Francisco Society of WcTnen Artists' Show
California Pala,ce of the Legion of Honor
San Francisco, November 1933
First Prize, |lOO , for "Still Life"
San Francisco Society of Women Artists' Annual
Exhibition, 1936
First Prize
San Francisco Art Association, Annual Exhibition
April 1937
Second Prize for "Flower Arrangenent" (oil)
CLUBS:
Member:
Sai^- Francisco Society of Women Artists
147
oTAi:e 3erla:\tdina
BIBLIOGFAl^T
San Franc.i sco Call-Bulletj.n
April 30, 19oP., -o. 14— -July 9, 1952, p. 9
February 1, 1953, p. 9
San Francisco Chronicle
May 1, -'.9}^i, p. D3— May 15, 1952, p. D5
February 19, 1933, p. Do— November 26, 1933, o. D3
April 15, 1934, p. D3— November 8, 1936, p. D7
San Francisco Examiner, May 1, 1932
February 19, 1933, p. E6
Aoril 8, 1934, td. 6
April 13, 1934, p. S8
October 27, 1935
May 17, 1936
January 31, 1937
San Francisco News
October 20, 1934, p. 9— May 18, 1935, p. 20
Oakland (California) Tribune
April 24, 1952— July 24, 1952
December 17, 1933 — Aoril 8, 1934
November 18, 1934 — June 15, 1935
June 23, 1955 — November 15, 1936, p. 6
Carrael (California) Pine Cone
July 22, 1952
Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1932
New York Times
March 10, 1935, Section 8, p. 6, Col. 6
Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts
November 19, 1935
Wasp-Nev;s Letter, San Francisco
May 14, 1932, p. 12— August 13, 1932
February 10, 1933, p. 13— February 18, 1935, d. 11
November 2, 1955, p. S8
Women's City Club Magazine, San Francisco
May 15, 1932, p. 15
148
Argonaut, San Fr.-^.nclsco, California
January 12, 19.?4— .Anril 20, 1934
November 16. 1934, p. 17 — November 1, 1935
Peninsulrn, '3an Franclr.co
December 1934
Art News, Nev; York City
March 19, 1932, p. 11 — December 16, 1933, p. 8
November 30, 1935, p. 16
Parnassus Magazine, New York City
January 1934, p. 18
Art Digest, Kew York City
August 1, 1955, p. 12
December 1, 1935
Who's Y/ho in American Art, 1936-37, Vol. I, p. 42
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