Painting and sculpture in California, th
f N6530.C2 S26 15666
NEW COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA (SF)
Louise Sloss Ackerman
N
6530
C2
S26
DATE DUE
San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art
Painting and sculpture
in California, the
modern era #9134
BORROWERS NAmT
N #9134
6530 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art*
C2 Painting an<l sculpture in California f
S26 the modern era : [exhibition] San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art
September 3-November 21t 1976 ;
National Collection of Fine Arts*
Smithsonian Institutiont Washingtont
D.C.t May 20-Septefflber 11, 1977. San
Francisco : The Museum, cl977*
272 p. z ill. (some col.) ; 28 x 22
cm.
Bibliography: p. 248-268.
iK9134 Gift $ • •
1. Painting, American — Exhibitions.
2. Painting, Modern — 20th century —
California — Exhibitions. 3. Sculpture,
American — Exhibitions. 4. Sculpture,
Modern 20th century California —
Exhibitions. 5. Artists California —
Biography. I. National Collection of
Fine Arts (U.S.) II. Title
31 JAN 91
i^
3370173 NEWlxc
76-15734
DATE DUE
1
1
HIGHSMITH # 45220
THE LIBRARY
NEW COLLEGE. OF CALIFORNIA
5C FELL STREET
&AN FRANCISCO. CALIFORNIA 94102
(4)9i t>£6-4£U
THE LIBRARY
NEW COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA
50 FELL STREET
SAN FRANOSCO, CALIFORNIA 94102
(415) 626-4212
Painting and Sculpture in California:
The Modern Era
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
September 3-November 21, 1976
National Collection of Fine Arts,
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C.
May 20-September 11, 1977
\
a)
This exhibition and its catalog
were supported by grants from the
Foremost-McKesson Foundation, Inc.,
the Crown Zellerbach Foundation,
Mason Wells and Frank Hamilton and
the National Endowment for the Arts,
Washington, D.C., a Federal agency.
(P
Copyright 1977
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Library of Congress Catalog
Card Number: 76-15734
Table of Contents
Page
Acknowledgments 6
Lenders to the Exhibition 9
Preface 13
Painting and Sculpture in California:
The Modern Era 19
A European's View of California Art 43
Institutions 58
Schools 69
Collecting 76
Checklist of the Exhibition
1 Modern Dawn in California:
The Bay Area 82
2 The Oakland Six and Clayton S. Price 87
3 Pioneer Moderns: Los Angeles 93
4 Early Surrealist Explorations 97
5 Public Art of the 1930's 100
6 Into Abstraction: The Bay Region 1930-1945 104
7 The Romantic Surrealist Tradition 109
8 Climax: Hard Edge Abstraction, Los Angeles 115
9 Clyfford Still 119
10 Expressionism, Abstract and Figurative,
in the Bay Area 1945-1956 123
11 Expressionism, Bay Area and Los Angeles, after 1956 133
12 Toward the Personal 145
13 Collage/Assemblage and the Visual Metaphor 159
14 Color and Field Abstraction 168
15 New Realism and The Visionaries 179
16 Conceptual, Environmental and Performance 186
Artists' Biographies 196
Selected Bibliography 248
Photography Credits 270
Board of Trustees and Staff Listing 271
Acknowledgments
"Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern Era" was accepted
by the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as
our contribution to the Twin Bicentennial of our nation and our city in
early 1974. Shortly thereafter co-sponsorship was accepted by the
National Collection of Fine Arts, a branch of the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, D.C. Our thanks go to the museum and to Dr.
Joshua C. Taylor, Director of the NCFA as well as Harry Lowe, Harry
Jordan and the staff of the Modern Art Department of that museum for
their help and cooperation in this extensive project.
Initially it was proposed that curatorial responsibility would be shared
by four persons: Walter Hopps, Curator of Modern Art at the NCFA;
Joseph Goldyne, who originally proposed a modified version of this
exhibition to the Board; Suzanne Foley, Curator at the SFMMA and
myself. It quickly became apparent that on-the-spot decision making
was not compatible with the concept of committee selection and
Joseph Goldyne gracefully stepped aside. Suzanne Foley has remained
close to the project and has been responsible for selection in some areas
but she accepted the primary duty of holding the rest of the museum's
exhibition program together while Walter Hopps and I indulged
ourselves in attempting to fulfill a long cherished dream.
Michael McCone, Deputy Director, solicited financial help and guided
the museum's operations. S.C. St. John wrestled with NEA forms and
the budget.
Karen Tsujimoto admirably carried out the task of coordinating loans,
loan forms and photographs. Katherine Holland and Jan Butterfield,
supported by Merril Greene, Linda Kent, Jean Laurie, Shelley Diekman
and Louise Katzman, newly researched and compiled nearly two
hundred biographies and bibliographical references from original
source material whenever possible.
Susan King, Registrar, executed the exacting task of arranging loan
pickup, shipping, packing and insurance. Scott Atthowe of Atthowe
Transportation responded admirably to the museum's statewide
transportation needs.
Alberta Mayo, Executive Secretary, carried out her regular full schedule
and transcribed over one hundred and eighty-three pages of taped
conversation between Walter Hopps and myself for use in the catalog.
Karen Lee and Connie Goldsmith provided valuable clerical assistance
beyond their normal duties.
Julius Wasserstein and his staff completed our installation plans for the
largest exhibition ever held in the museum, which meant removing
and safely storing the entire permanent collection.
Deepest appreciation is extended to the many museums, galleries,
patrons and artists listed below who have lent cherished and often
fragile works to this exhibition because they believed in the idea. Our
real thanks to the artists included, who swallowed hard and accepted
the fact that we were presenting them in the light of history rather than
through their newest works. And equal thanks go to the estimated three
thousand professional artists in California who are not included in this
particular exhibition for accepting the fact that one cannot put every
candle on a seventy year old's birthday cake even though each one has
special meaning.
Personal thanks are given to Hal Glicksman, Relf Case, John Humphrey,
George Neubert, Lorser Feitelson, Helen Lundeberg, Nick Wilder,
James Corcoran, Wanda Hansen, Diana Fuller, Ruth Braunstein, Paul
Karlstrom, Harry Mulford and many others unnamed for their valuable
assistance in locating specific works.
Mason Wells and Frank Hamilton have a particular interest in the art
and artists of California and have given financial assistance to many of
our exhibitions dealing with California themes, including this one.
And finally, it gives me great pleasure to thank the Foremost-McKesson
Foundation, Inc., the Crown Zellerbach Foundation and the National
Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C., a Federal agency, for
generous grants in support of this exhibition and its catalog.
Henry T. Hopkins
Director, SFMMA
Lenders to the Exhibition
Private Lenders
Tom Akawie, Berkeley, California
Jo Harvey Allen, Fresno, California
Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Anderson,
Atherton, California
Jeremy Anderson, Mill Valley,
California
Ruth Armer, San Francisco,
California
Ruth Asawa, San Francisco,
California
Mr. and Mrs. Sid R. Bass, Fort Worth,
Texas
Paul Beattie, Healdsburg, California
Larry Bell, Ranchos de Taos, New
Mexico
Mrs. Allen Bleiweiss, Los Angeles,
California
Irving Blum, New York, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bosko, Oakland,
California
John Bransten, San Francisco,
California
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Bransten, San
Francisco, California
Rena Bransten, San Francisco,
California
Nick Brigante, Hollywood, California
Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Brown, Fort
Worth, Texas
Hans Burkhardt, Los Angeles,
California
Dr. and Mrs. Sandor Burstein, San
Francisco, California
Robert Colescott, Oakland, California
Austin Conkey, San Francisco,
California
Timothy Corcoran, Los Angeles,
California
Charles Cowles
Jay DeFeo, Larkspur, California
Thomas Eatherton, Santa Monica,
California
Mr. and Mrs. Gene A. Estribou, Big
Sur, California
Frederick Eversley, Venice, California
Betty and Monte Factor Family
Collection, Beverly Hills, California
Mr. and Mrs. Lorser Feitelson, Los
Angeles, California
Mrs. Oskar Fischinger, West
Hollywood, California
Terry Fox, San Francisco, California
Sam Francis, Santa Monica,
California
Howard Fried, San Francisco,
California
Charles Garabedian, Santa Monica,
California
Mrs. August Gay, Oakland, California
Berta and Frank Gehry, Santa Monica,
California
Dr. and Mrs. Merle S. Click, Los
Angeles, California
Hal Glicksman, Venice, California
Joe Goode, Los Angeles, California
Joni and Monte Gordon Family, Los
Angeles, California
Robert Graham. Venice, California
Ed Gregson, Santa Monica, California
Grinstein Family, Los Angeles,
California
Hansel Hagel, Santa Rosa, California
Newton Harrison, La Jolla, California
Wally Hedrick, San Geronimo,
California
Maxwell Handler, Santa Monica,
California
George Herms, Los Angeles,
California
Gerald R. Hoepfner, Davis, California
Sterling Holloway, Laguna Beach,
California
Mrs. F. Herbert Hoover, San
Francisco, California
Robert B. Howard, San Francisco,
California
Nick Hyde, San Francisco, California
Edwin )anss. Thousand Oaks,
California
The Janss Foundation, Thousand
Oaks, California
Jack Jefferson, San Francisco,
California
David Jones, San Francisco,
California
Vivian Kauffman, Los Angeles,
California
Mr. and Mrs. Francis V. Keesling, Jr.,
San Francisco, California
James Keilty, San Francisco,
California
Peter Krasnow, Los Angeles,
California
Mr. and Mrs. Moses Lasky, San
Francisco, California
M. Susan Lewis, Fresno, California
Alvin Light, San Francisco,
California
Mr. and Mrs. Philip E. Lilienthal, San
Francisco, California
Frank Lobdell, Palo Alto, California
Fay and Seymour Locks, San
Francisco, California
Maurice Logan, Oakland, California
Douglas and Alexandra Lynch,
Portland, Oregon
Estate of Stanton Macdonald-Wright,
Santa Monica, California
Deborah Marrow, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Fred Mason, Venice, California
Robert McChesney, Petaluma,
California
Michael McGuire, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
James J. Meeker, Fort Worth, Texas
Professor and Mrs. R. Joseph Monsen,
Seattle, Washington
Edward Moses, Venice, California
Lee MuUican, Santa Monica,
California
Manuel Neri, Benicia, California
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen D. Paine,
Boston, Massachusetts
Max Palevsky, Los Angeles,
California
Sonny Palmer, Fresno, California
Mr. and Mrs. Eugene C. Payne, III,
San Francisco, California
Milton T. Pflueger, San Francisco,
California
Mr. and Mrs. Gifford Phillips, Santa
Monica, California
Kenneth Price, Taos, New Mexico
Richard Reisman, San Francisco,
California
Roland Reiss, Venice, California
Mr. and Mrs. C. David Robinson,
Sausalito, California
Dr. and Mrs. K. Roost, Hillsborough,
California
Mr. and Mrs. William M. Roth, San
Francisco, California
Robert A. Rowan, Pasadena,
California
Edward Ruscha, Los Angeles,
California
Betye Saar, Hollywood, California
Darryl Sapien, San Francisco,
California
Louis Siegriest, Oakland, California
Hassel Smith, Bristol, England
Clay Spohn, New York, New York
10
Mr. and Mrs. Philip B. Starke, San
Jose, California
Laura Lee Stearns, Los Angeles,
California
Norman Stiegelmeyer, Walnut Creek,
California
Dean Stockwell, Topanga, California
John E. Talbert, West Covina,
California
Michael Todd, Los Angeles,
California
DeWain Valentine, Venice, California
James Valerio, Encino, California
Robert de la Vergne, Tomales,
California
Julius Wasserstein, San Francisco,
California
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick R. Weisman,
Beverly Hills, California
Ernest and Eunice White, Los
Angeles, California
Nicholas Wilder, Los Angeles,
California
Guy Williams, West Los Angeles,
California
Melinda Wortz, Pasadena, California
Helen Wurdemann, Los Angeles,
California
Sid Zaro, Los Angeles, California
Diana Zlotnick, Studio City,
California
Museums
The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Brigham Young University, Provo,
Utah
E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento,
California
Des Moines Art Center, Iowa
The Fine Arts Museums of San
Francisco: California Palace of the
Legion of Honor
The Fort Worth Art Museum, Texas
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
Garden, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.
La JoUa Museum of Contemporary
Art, California
Long Beach Museum of Art,
California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
California
The Museum of Modern Art, New
York, New York
National Collection of Fine Arts,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D.C.
The Oakland Museum, California
Portland Art Museum, Oregon
San Antonio Museum Association,
Texas
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California
Santa Barbara Museum of Art,
California
Stanford University Museum of Art,
Stanford, California
University Art Museum, University
of California, Berkeley
University Gallery, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, New York
Galleries
John Berggruen Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, New
York
Gallery Rebecca Cooper, Washington,
D.C.
The Claire Copley Gallery, Inc., Los
Angeles, California
James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles,
California
Hansen Fuller Gallery, San Francisco,
California
The Harmon Gallery, Naples, Florida
Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York,
New York
Gallery M, Washington, D.C.
Maxwell Galleries, Ltd., San
Francisco, California
Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles,
California
Rose Rabow Galleries, San Francisco,
California
Jodi Scully Gallery, Los Angeles,
California
Smith Andersen Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Sonnabend Gallery, New York, New
York
Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica,
California
Daniel Weinberg Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles,
California
James Willis Gallery, San Francisco,
California
The Zabriskie Gallery, New York,
New York
11
Preface
"Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern Era" should be
viewed as a beginning rather than an ending for in truth it is just that.
This exhibition represents the first completely serious effort to
document in a manageable, historical fashion, the vast multiplicity of
creative effort which has taken place in the state of California over the
past seventy years. The exhibition takes on the physical proportions of
a festival by offering over three hundred works by nearly two hundred
artists and still remains highly selective.
"Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern Era" offers more
important twentieth century art from all of California under one roof
and at one time than ever before in the history of this museum. Thus it
should provide more insights, raise more questions and suggest more
ideas for future exhibitions and scholarly study than ever before. It was
of primary importance to us that this exhibition should develop within
an historical context and we have, according to our best judgments and
availability of works, carefully selected representation which shows
the artist at the time, or times, of influence upon his peers. The artists'
biographies, exhibition records and bibliographic references have been
completely re-researched for accuracy from original sources whenever
possible. These efforts become the beginning steps toward establishing
a solid base for a new maturity in our understanding and appreciation
of the vast infusion into the national art treasury which California-
produced modern art of this century represents.
There have been several other meaningful efforts made in the recent
past to record certain aspects of California-produced modern art. These
exhibitions and their catalogs have been of great value in our research
and are listed in the bibliography. There have also been some attempts
to skim the richest cream from what is a fully homogenized bottle,
however, among these only a very few have tried to provide a
comprehensive overview of the complete spectrum of activity.
Frederick Wight's "The Artist's Environment: West Coast," which was
organized in 1962, sought to extract the full western sensibility from
Seattle to San Diego with no more than forty-nine works. The catalog
essay dealt with history, but the majority of works selected were
produced within two years of their presentation. This exhibition was
shown at the UCLA Art Galleries, the Oakland Art Museum and the
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art in Fort Worth, Texas.
"Fifty California Artists" was gathered together by George Culler, then
of the San Francisco Museum of Art, James Elliott, then of the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, and Lloyd Goodrich, then of the
Whitney Museum of American Art, for showing at the Whitney Museum,
the Walker Art Center, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the
13
Des Moines Art Center. This exhibition, also in 1962, was developed
from readily available objects and made no attempt to place the work
into the framework of history.
Importantly, these two serious but somewhat narrow exhibitions, now
fourteen years in the past, remain as the best efforts to present recent
California art to the rest of the nation.
It is therefore not surprising that this exhibition should emerge at this
time for extended showing at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
and the National Collection of Fine Arts, a branch of the Smithsonian
Institution, in Washington, D.C. It is long overdue.
That the exhibition should be developed for these two museums is
more than fitting since both have records of long-standing interest in
the collection, preservation and exposition of American art and, in
particular, the art of the nation's regions.
The National Collection of Fine Arts has developed collections in all
phases of American art from the Colonial period to the present and has,
under its present administration, placed unusual emphasis upon the
scholarly documentation of the many schools and pockets of American
art which have not been adequately dealt with at the national level.
Exhibitions such as "The Arts of the Pacific Northwest," "Made in
Chicago," and now "Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern
Era," are fresh examples of the national museum system working with
other museums and experts in their region to retrieve and preserve
America's art heritage.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is the third oldest museum
of modern art in the nation and the fourth oldest in the world.
Throughout its long history the museum has given encouragement to
advanced American art activity with special emphasis placed upon the
art of its own Bay Area. The museum exists as a rare, national example
of a private museum dedicated to the preservation and presentation of
contemporary art.
Thus, the what, the where, the why and the when are simply stated
when compared to the logistical complexity of the how. Our guidelines
of selection were of necessity difficult, time consuming, and agonizing.
The first determination was that the work to be shown was to have been
produced in California. Secondly, the artists selected must have spent a
reasonable number of their years of creative maturity working in the
state. If this sounds excessively regional it was only partially reflective
of our full intent for we recognize that putting a label "Made in
California" on art and artists who hold international positions of high
14
esteem is nonsense. However, it was our purpose to examine, as closely
as possible, environmental, philosophical, social, economic and
political events which are special to this region and which provided
the base for a massive contribution to the visual arts — a contribution
which is unique. This guideline was not proposed to establish the fact
that California-made art is better or worse than New York-made art any
more than seventeenth century Italian art is better than seventeenth
century Dutch art. Rather, it points up and takes pleasure in the
differences as well as in the similarities.
In this same context, it became increasingly apparent during our
research that the compelling forces behind the art look of Northern and
Southern California were often as different as those between the East
and the West Coasts. One of the fascinations in watching this
exhibition develop was seeing the moments of cross-fertilization and
retreat which occurred through the era. For this reason we felt that
these moments of contact should be given special emphasis.
Our selection mandate led inevitably to a series of hard choices which
were difficult both historically as well as in the present. Perhaps a few
examples will help to clarify. It is a well-documented fact that the great
pioneer modernist Hans Hofmann was brought to the University of
California faculty by Glenn Wessels for the summer sessions of 1930
and 1931 and that Hofmann also taught at the Chouinard Art Institute,
Los Angeles, during the spring of 1931. He was even given a one-man
show at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, in
August 1931, but the show was one of drawings which reflected the
mood of Matisse and the Fauves and did not represent the greatness of
Hofmann that was yet to come. It would be wrong to declare Hofmann
to be a seminal influence upon California art during his brief stay here.
This is equally true of Mark Rothko who taught through the summers of
1947 and 1949, and Ad Reinhardt who taught the summer of 1950 at the
California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco, for even though this was
an important period in the development of their own art the local
influence is negligible when compared to that of their West Coast peers
Clyfford Still and Hassel Smith.
More recently, it would give great pleasure to include Mark di Suvero,
Richard Serra, Michael Heizer, Walter De Maria and others of their
generation who were born and schooled here but who have reached
their maturity away from the region. Perhaps they will yet, like Sam
Francis, find the West Coast environment compatible with their
creative interests and return to work here.
15
Other different areas of decision-making were forced by our title
"Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern Era." The word
"modern" is semantically insufficient but popularly understood
enough to connote our desire to seek those knowns and relatively
unknowns who have attempted to reach out through and bend the bars
of the existing esthetic cage at whatever moment in time. It is this
esthetic attitude and not from lack of respect that led us to exclude
imposing academic figures such as Francis de Erdely and Charles
White.
The use of the terms "painting" and "sculpture" in the title should be
self-explanatory, but they also raised the question of primary effort.
June Wayne, John Paul Jones, Marvin Harden, Eleanor Dickinson and
others are, in our minds, exceptional contributors to the field of graphic
arts who may also paint or sculpt but still fall outside the exhibition
guidelines.
Quite beyond semantics, certain movements gave us real problems
because of their size. For example, the group which emerged around
Rico Lebrun and the Jepson Art Institute in Los Angeles still has
several viable, youthful practitioners but for the sake of manageability
we stayed close to the original members. Similarly, the very large group
of so-called "Bay Area Figurative Painters" which emerged in the East
Bay during the mid-1950's is represented by several primary figures
rather than a comprehensive review of all participants.
On the other hand, certain areas seemed to cry out for reasonably
in-depth treatment. The group of teachers and students at the
California School of Fine Arts from 1945 to 1950 were of particular
concern, for even though the era is well documented in Mary Fuller
McChesney's book "A Period of Exploration," it remains the most
heroic and yet ignored episode in recent California art history.
Almost equally ignored has been the collage and assemblage
movement of the 1950's which was linked philosophically to the
"Beat" generation. This group now emerges in form and content as a
distinctive and almost uniquely California manifestation.
Other areas could not be dealt with adequately in this type of
exhibition and must wait for full-scale presentation at a later date. For
example, our search turned up a highly interesting, unbroken chain of
inventions and events dealing with light and color beyond painting
which lead from the yet shadowy figure of Charles Doccum to Stanton
Macdonald-Wright, Oskar Fischinger and the Whitney family of Los
Angeles and on to the current experiments of Robert Irwin, Jim Turrell
16
and Maria Nordman. Full exposition of this very special and
unheralded direction in California art will be spectacular.
Another factor in our selection was the desire to represent specific
works or groupings of works by artists who had some documentable
influence, no matter how fleeting, upon peers or a wider artist
audience. Many of these artists may not yet have received deserved
public recognition but nonetheless they played prototypal roles in
establishing direction and movements which have since borne fruit.
And, of course, quality was a major consideration, but not always in the
publicly accepted meaning of the word; historical quality, quality of
invention, quality of intent, quality of mind and spirit, all "yes;" but
not necessarily quality as related to skill and the production of the
handsome object.
I append this final word because I recognize the inevitability of
questions concerning ethnic and male/female balance within the
exhibition. Certainly we were aware during the selection process of the
imbalance that would develop as a factual documentation of history as
we understood it and we did not feel justified in subverting our
understanding.
So, we are attempting a great deal. We are fully cognizant of our
strengths and weaknesses, but it is time to begin.
It is time to begin, for it is only now, as we watch the chain of California
art continue to thicken and strengthen, that we gain the perspective
necessary to be aware that a rich modernist history emerged in this
state concurrently with similar developments in the East.
It is time to begin, for it is just now that a number of bright, young
scholars. East and West, are finding art produced in California to be
both fascinating and largely undocumented.
It is time to begin from pride in those many artists who have chosen to
work here, often under the most difficult conditions. To them this work
is dedicated.
Henry T. Hopkins
17
4 Gottardo Piazzoni Brushy Hillside 1904
Painting and Sculpture in
California: The Modem Era
Even though California was discovered by the Spanish in 1542 little
took place which had any real effect upon the natural environment
until January 1769 when Don Caspar de Portola, Governor of the
Californias under the Spanish crown and founder of the mission and
town of San Diego, led an expedition northward up the coast and
through the valleys to reach the Bay of San Francisco in the fall of that
same year. Portola's group was the first of white men to see those
waters. Anglo settlements began to develop around new mission
centers as they were established in the 1770's and 1780's and the
mission trail became the first historical linkage for travellers moving
between Southern California and the Bay Area.
In 1821 California's government shifted, through revolution, from
a remote Spanish colonial society to a nearer-to-home Mexican
provincial leadership. During the Mexican period the Russians, the
English and the Anglo-Americans, as well as the commercial influence
of the Pacific cultures of China, the Philippines and Hawaii, began to
shape the environment and to form a cosmopolitan atmosphere which
was unique on the North American continent.
The Mexican wars of the 1840's, the transfer of government to the
control of the American military and finally the discovery of gold in
1849 led thousands of people from every cornerof the earth to try their
luck in the loosely-formed and sparsely inhabited territory. Sizeable
cities made up of a complex ethnic mix emerged almost overnight and
even more than in eastern cities of that time a true "melting pot"
culture was established. Ideas, events and a variety of religious
attitudes produced a philosophy and a tolerance quite beyond anything
in the American experience. Throughout this formative period the
number of artists who came to document the vanishing frontier and
stayed to affect the social formation was unusually high. Thus, even
from the beginning, it is justifiable to reinforce the ever-present cliche
that the footloose, the adventuresome and the dreamer loom large in
the formation of California's compatible but strikingly individualistic
social structure.
In 1850, because of a dramatically enlarged population which was
developing sea trade with the eastern cities as well as other world
centers, California was accepted as the thirty-first state of the Union.
Doing so without going through an extended period of territorial status
is a fact which also set California apart from her sister states.
By the 1860's Californians were able to help finance and to build the
first transcontinental railway. The four "Barons" who provided funds
for this great venture, Charles Crocker, Collis P. Huntington, Leland
19
Stanford and Mark Hopkins, filled their extraordinary houses with art
of all kinds. Judge E.B. Crocker, for a moment, made Sacramento the
cultural center of the West when in the early 1870's he attached a new
and sumptuously furnished "art gallery" to his Sacramento home. The
core of his collection of nineteenth century painting and drawing was
purchased intact during one trip to Europe.
By 1876 the first Southern Pacific rail line established a connection
between San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1885 a Santa Fe line was
constructed to unite Los Angeles with Chicago via New Mexico. These
lines not only served to reduce the real isolation of the West Coast but
also opened up new agricultural, timber and oil lands which gave
unusual stability to the economy of the state even after the "gold fever"
had passed into history. The possibilities for the expansion of business
and the excitement of travelling to the "old west" under safe and fast
conditions brought wealthy eastern families to California, first for
extended vacations and later to develop lavish summer residences. It is
an interesting note that these vacation colonies developed not on the
seashore, which they knew from home, but rather in the lush valley
areas south of San Francisco and in Pasadena where the air was pure
and clean and the mountains and the desert were close at hand. Many
artists, well known and amateur, came here for similar reasons.
The most highly regarded painters of the period, Albert Bierstadt,
Thomas Hill and William Keith were, in fact, foreign born and trained.
They were drawn to California via the East Coast by the majesty of
Yosemite and other natural wonders. Keith, especially, found a ready
local audience for his huge romantic landscapes, which, along with
portraiture, dominated the art of the period.
During the decades from 1850 to 1890 nearly all significant work in
the visual arts came from the San Francisco Bay Area and the most
important artistic center was the school of the San Francisco Art
Association. The school offered enough solid technical training
without repressiveness to assure growth and most aspiring young
artists studied there. Often they went on to the European study centers
and ateliers of Munich for finish.
By the early years of the twentieth century several styles began to
overlap. The Diisseldorf, Munich and Barbizon landscape styles of
Keith and Hill still flourished as did a new American Impressionist
style represented by Thaddeus Welch, Edwin Deakin and Theodore
Wores. The dominant figure of the period, however, was Arthur
20
Mathews whose California Decorative style set the base for twentieth
century California art. The style was derived from sophisticated French
academic art of the time including Puvis de Chavannes, James McNeil
Whistler and L'Art Nouveau. The paintings, landscape and figure, were
elegant, flat, muted color harmonies. Mathews also evolved a
thematically consistent style of furniture and other decorative arts. He
became the central figure at the school of the San Francisco Art
Association between 1879 and 1906 where he encouraged students to
study at the Parisian Academie Julian rather than the conservative
Munich schools. He, his wife Lucia Mathews and close friend Emil
Carlsen, brought California art to a new plateau. His followers Xavier
Martinez, Eugene Neuhaus and Gottardo Piazzoni continued to
develop the style well into this century.
By the end of the nineteenth century, a number of art colonies had
developed in Southern California, and with the emergence of the
motion picture industry in Los Angeles, which employed many art
craftsmen, the geographical distribution of artists reached parity.
The completion of the Panama Canal in August of 1914 can rightly
be looked upon as the moment of transition from an adolescent to a
mature West Coast society. The canal had particular relevance to San
Francisco since one of her trade ships, "The Pleiades," was the first
commercial vessel through the canal on her way from San Francisco
to New York with five thousand tons of lumber. The trip, which took
thirty days, would have taken from sixty to seventy days by the Straits
of Magellan. The new route literally doubled trading capacity.
Additionally, the new passage put San Francisco very close to the Great
Circle Route, the shortest distance between the Orient and the Panama
Canal, which made her a primary port-of-call on all East- West sea
traffic runs to New York. It is little wonder that both San Diego and San
Francisco wished to celebrate the opening of the canal in a manner
never again to be matched.
San Diego's Panama-California Exposition established that city's great
park and zoo area as well as providing many buildings which still exist
as museum structures.
The Panama-Pacific Exposition was held in San Francisco in 1915 to
celebrate the discovery of the Pacific Ocean and the construction of
the Panama Canal. As an exposition it achieved a degree of fantasy
surpassing that of Walt Disney at his best. Fantasy tempered by
pragmatics, however, since the final expenditures which were in
excess of twenty-five million dollars were balanced by receipts which
left a profit of over one million dollars.
21
The exposition idea was initially proposed in 1904 and survived, was
perhaps even enhanced, by the earthquake and fire of 1906 which gave
the citizens of San Francisco a remarkably homogeneous spirit of
regeneration. An entire temporary community, referred to as the "City
of Ivory" developed in what is now the Marina district of the city.
Buildings and malls took names such as "The Crystal Dome;" "The
Forbidden Gardens;" "The Tower of Jewels;" "The Court of
Abundance;" "The Court of the Universe;" and "The Forecourt of the
Stars." A monumental night lighting display called the "Scintillator"
was conceived to rival the Northern Lights. It was described as the
greatest blaze of artificial light ever radiated from one spot on earth.
The "Joy Zone" was the name given the amusement section after a
public naming competition with a ten-dollar season-ticket book as a
prize.
The art exhibition, which was international in scope, could be called
San Francisco's response to the New York Armory Show of 1913, for
while most of the eleven thousand four hundred and three works
exhibited represented popular academic trends, there was also a liberal
sampling of the most advanced European and American work in
painting and sculpture. Included were many of the French
Impressionists, the Symbolists, the Nabis, the Norwegian Edvard
Munch and a large section devoted to the Italian Futurists.
Foremost among the American exhibitors were James McNeil Whistler,
Frank Duveneck and William Merritt Chase, each having individual
galleries devoted to the presentation of his work. The American
"Eight" group was also well represented as were artists such as Stuart
Davis. Several Californians including Lucia and Arthur Mathews,
Maynard Dixon, Xavier Martinez and Frank Van Sloun were also
shown.
It is impossible to imagine what the response of the regional art
community would be to viewing eleven thousand four hundred and
three works but certainly such a manifestation should put to rest any
thought that California artists lacked exposure to contemporary modes
of expression. That it had an effect is borne out by a 1918 statement
from Gottardo Piazzoni, an established and respected Bay Area artist,
who by heritage was unusually attentive to contemporary art
movements.
"I strongly believe in any movement that makes for the advancement
of art and the development of individuality. Especially am I interested
in Futurism ... I have been associated with the movement since its
beginning and am acquainted and in correspondence with the man
who started it in Italy."
22
36 Stanton Macdonald-Wright Dragon Forms 1926
A review of Piazzoni's work makes it clear that while his vision was
advanced for that time and place it was not developed out of the fervor
that guided Futurism through its short, influential history. Nonethe-
less, such a statement gives a real clue to developing attitudes.
Another reaction to the exposition resulted in reshuffling the staff of
the Art Association's school. Pedro Lemos, the Director, resigned, and
Lee Randolph, a young artist recently returned from Paris, replaced
him. Most of the more academic instructors were dismissed and
Gottardo Piazzoni remained to exert significant experimental
influence. In 1922, Piazzoni, accompanied by sculptor Ralph
Stackpole, revisited France and returned with a deeper conviction of
the ascendancy of the Impressionists and their followers.
By 1925 a casual group of "modernists" began to form. Along with
Piazzoni and Stackpole, Rinaldo Cuneo, Charles Stafford Duncan,
Helen Forbes, Otis Oldfield, Nelson Poole and Edgar Walter were
members. Maynard Dixon urged the group to organize and form a
gallery for the presentation and sale of their work and with this cause
in mind Beatrice Judd Ryan founded the Beaux Arts Galerie under
Dixon's guidance. The gallery was active from 1925 to 1933.
Other artists in the area were also rallying to the new ideas. The
Oakland Art Gallery, now the Art Department of The Oakland Museum,
opened in the Municipal Auditorium on February 1, 1916. In 1918
William H.Clapp, a primary member of an emerging group of
Oakland painters known as "The Six," became part-time curator and
quickly established a progressive exhibition program. His close
associate, Florence Lehre, worked with him to show international,
national and Bay Area art. In addition Lehre wrote criticism for The
Oakland Tribune and a perceptive local publication known as The
Argus.
Clapp and the other members of The Six, which included Louis
Siegriest, Maurice Logan, August Gay, Bernard von Eichman and their
"Captain" Selden Gile, found influences which ranged from French
and American Impressionism to Kandinsky-like abstraction, but they
still managed to fashion a communal genre that was both advanced and
reflective of the geographical region of its origin. The work, very
modest in scale, composed rich color and dense pigmentation around
views of the picturesque waterfront and the rolling hills above San
Francisco's bay.
In 1923 Clapp established an exhibition policy of annual shows for the
Society of Six and penned the following manifesto for his group.
24
We Believe
All great art is founded upon the use of visual abstractions to express
beauty.
These abstractions are: Vision, light, color, space (third dimensional
form), atmosphere (air), vibration (life, movement), form (length and
breadth) and form of accidents such as persons, trees, etc.
Pattern is the means by which the abstractions are arranged and united
in such a way as to procure the esthetic end. And by pattern we mean
unity, contrast, harmony, variety, symmetry, rhythm, radiation,
interchange, line, tone, etc.
Form, i.e., objects, is accidental and transitory, except in its large
sense — space. That the object we see happens to be a man instead of a
tree or other object is an accident, since if we look a few feet to one side
we see an entirely different object. Form is also destroyed and distorted
by light, color, vision, and space — in other words, its visual existence
is by grace of larger abstractions. We choose the greater rather than
the lesser, inasmuch as painting is interpretation rather than
representation, and it is only by sacrifice of the lesser that we can
express the greater with most force.
To us, seeing is the greatest joy of existence, and we try to express that
joy. Hence the cheer and happiness of the present exhibition.
We do not believe that painting is a language. Nor do we try to "say"
things, but we do try to fix upon canvas the joy of vision. To express, to
show — not to write hieroglyphics. We have no concern with stories,
with lapse of time, nor with the probability or improbability of
hereafter. In other words, we are not trying to illustrate a thought or
write a catalogue, but to produce a joy through the use of the eyes. We
have much to express, but nothing to say. We have felt, and desire that
others may also feel."
Perhaps it is here that one should state that the sensibility expressed by
the painters of the Society of Six and their philosophical colleague
Clayton S. Price, who was then working in California, set a pattern for
Bay Area art which has continued to the present time without abate-
ment. Simply stated it is a sense of place, an awareness and appreciation
of the natural, physical environment. The Mathews, Piazzoni, the
Society of Six, the Bay Area Figurative painters, the early and later
Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud, the Photo Realists, William T.
Wiley, William Allan, Joseph Raffael, Bill Martin and Gage Taylor, no
matter what school title is devised to cover them all, each draws
heavily upon the physical place of Northern California. To be sure, this
25
51 Lorser Feitelson Magical Forms 1948
manifestation is only one of several, for a number of Bay Area artists are
interior-urban oriented to the exclusion of nature. But, this is the
unbroken string that not only separates the look of the art of this region
from most of that of the East Coast but that of Southern California as
well. This same continuity can be seen in the evolution of Northern
California photography.
Also, as much as the artists of the Bay Area accepted their natural,
physical environment, the artists of Southern California rejected theirs.
This is not to say that there is not a multitude of landscape and
seascape painters in the South, but early on in the modernist movement
they became the enemy. The Eucalyptus painters and the Laguna
seascape painters became symbols of all that was wrong with art rather
than something that could be built upon. Los Angeles artists renounce
a sense of place in the immediate geographical sense but the "feel" of
place is very much in evidence. The clarity of form and color, the open
spaciousness, the smooth surfaces, all seem to speak of a lack of
seasonal turbulence. The extensive use of new materials, plastic, glass,
lacquers and chromed steel, as well as an interest in technical advances
and kinetics, seem to reflect the newness and the high white finish of
Los Angeles. The "dumbness" and "razzle dazzle" of much of the
imagery accepts the heritage of Hollywood and Disneyland.
1923 can be designated as a seminal year in the evolution of modernism
since at the same time that Clapp was forming his manifesto, "The
Group of Independent Artists" held its first exhibition in Los Angeles
and the catalog introduction written by Stanton Macdonald-Wright
also took the form of a manifesto.
"The puerile repetition of the surface aspects of the Masters has ceased
to interest any intelligent man. The modern artist striving to express
his own age . . . cannot be expected to project himself with any degree
of sureness five hundred years back and drag forth by the aid of
necromantic stupidity the corpse of an art inspired and nourished by a
period environment, a greater art, if you will, but a corpse nonethe-
less Let our final work affect you as it will, but at least let your final
opinion not be the result of a preconceived antagonism.
To all workers in the graphic arts who rebel against the rule of thumb in
art! . . . (The Group of Independents) has been organized to bring
together experimental and creative artists, and, by holding frequent
exhibitions of their work, afford opportunity to the public to follow the
progress made in the field of artistic research . . . The group maintains
that artistic manifestations such as Cubism, Dynamism and
Expressionism, are sincere intellectual efforts to obtain a clearer
27
aesthetic vision . . . The apparent preference, in the past, for dead form,
is not so much a preference, arising from Free selection as a habit due
to the fact that any new work of an evolutionary character has been
refused to exhibitions and thereby withheld from public view . . . The
public will at last have an opportunity to comprehend the New Form
and an incentive will thus be provided for a more fluent expression on
the part of the artist."
In addition to Macdonald-Wright, artists such as Ben Berlin, Boris
Deutsch, Max Reno, Peter Krasnow and Nick Brigante were included.
Interestingly, each of these artists had his own special sense of input.
They were not a group with a homogeneous esthetic like the Society of
Six. Macdonald-Wright was a colorist, Ben Berlin and Peter Krasnow
were cubist-oriented abstractionists, Max Reno and Nick Brigante were
interested in what could be called surrealist ideas and Boris Deutsch
was a pure expressionist.
It is here that one can make a second observation about modern art in
California and that concerns the lack of homogeneity in the art of Los
Angeles and the acceptance of it in the Bay Area. Only three "schools"
can be clearly designated in twentieth century Los Angeles. The hard
edge abstractionists, Rico Lebrun and his followers and, more recently,
the perceptualists which could link artists such as Robert Irwin,
Douglas Wheeler, Jim Turrell and Maria Nordman, but even these
groupings began as independent efforts without common cause and
were linked after emergence by museum curators and critics. A much
more typical Los Angeles phenomenon would be represented by the
group of strong artists around the Ferus Gallery which became a force
in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Edward Kienholz emerged as an
early assemblagist or environmental artist, Billy Al Bengston was
immersed in heraldic central imagery with automotive surfaces, Robert
Irwin was a pure abstractionist, John Altoon a surreal expressionist.
Ken Price and John Mason were pushing ceramic sculpture in different
directions, Ed Moses was a figurative abstractionist, and Craig
Kauffman an abstract expressionist. Like their early counterparts in the
Group of Independent Artists they were held together by the idea of
advanced art, they were highly competitive and not interested in
mutual problem-solving.
In the North, the Society of Six, the group around the California School
of Fine Arts at the time of Clyfford Still, the Bay Area Figurative
painters which developed in the East Bay, the Dynaton group, the
Assemblagists, the philosophical grouping of painters and ceramicists
that Peter Selz would call "Funk," the Photo Realists, the Visionaries,
are all groups which share common concern with other practitioners in
the idiom.
28
Even with all the activity surrounding the formation of new modernist
groups in the 1920's such ideas still represented only a small portion of
the whole. With the depression of 1929 the percentage became even
smaller. In California, as throughout the nation, there was a tendency
among modern artists to pull back from the leading edge. The national
press, guided by the economic and political mood of the country, gave
great credibility to the American regional painters, especially Grant
Wood and Thomas Hart Benton. It was in this context that Millard
Sheets, a young Los Angeles social realist and California scene painter,
became the momentary darling of the art world. His watercolors were
particularly appealing and his work helped to breathe new life into the
venerable California Watercolor Society.
Fletcher Martin, who painted in Los Angeles for a brief period and later
taught there, also claimed national attention at that time.
In 1929, Diego Rivera was invited to San Francisco to produce a mural
at the California School of Fine Arts and at the same time he painted a
full stairwell at, of all places, the San Francisco Stock Exchange Club.
It was very much a sign of the times that, while there was some
grumbling about Rivera's Communist affiliations, he was allowed to
proceed with his work. In 1930, Jose Clemente Orozco was in the Los
Angeles area executing his powerful mural of Prometheus in Frary Hall
at Pomona College. David Alfaro Siqueiros, the other of the big three in
Mexican mural art and leftist politics, was also in Los Angeles for a
period of time. Recollections from artists of the period suggest that
Siqueiros completed a large outdoor mural at Olvera Street in the heart
of old Mexican Los Angeles. No trace of this mural remains.
The influence of these three great figures is being felt once more. In the
late 1960's, as the Latino movement gained momentum, social content
murals began to appear on many walls within the Mexican American
communities from San Diego to San Francisco. The early examples
were rather weak in their handling but now they have gained in style
and technique. These murals, which pay homage to Rivera, Orozco and
Siqueiros but deal with contemporary Latino concerns, have become
an important part of California's present art scene. This heritage has
also extended to the black communities.
Holger Cahill, the National Director of the Federal Art Projects, wrote
in 1936, "There is a theory that art always somehow takes care of itself,
as if it were a rootless plant feeding upon itself in sequestered places.
Many people are willing to believe, in a time like this, where art
patronage has dwindled to infinitesimal proportions, that it is not
necessary for organized society to do anything in particular, because no
29
85 lohn McLaughlin L/nlitled(yellow/blar.k) 1951
matter what happens a few artists starving in garrets will see to it that
art does not die. It is quite obvious that this theory will not hold." Thus,
for the first time in the history of this country, the federal government
took the lead in the maintenance and development of the arts.
Interestingly, even though the art temper of the 1930's was reserved,
two "modernists" were selected to head the W.P.A. Art Project in
Southern California. Stanton Macdonald-Wright became the Director
and Lorser Feitelson was chosen as his assistant. Macdonald-Wright's
own murals, which were developed for the Santa Monica Public
Library through the W.P.A. , displayed the prevailing tendency to
produce art which could meet a more popular standard. These murals
were removed when the library was torn down.
In San Francisco, the Coit Tower murals were completed as part of the
government project. And, though these murals are considered to be
"social realist" in form, perhaps the emphasis should be upon "social"
since they reflect the idealistic optimism of a happily revitalized
America which was to be brought about by the communal efforts of
America's labor force. There was no government pressure to paint in a
specific mode but these, and many other murals created at that time,
directly reflect the hope for the future inspired by President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats."
If the forward thrust of painting was momentarily slowed during the
era of the 1930's, it is worth noting that two remarkable architectural
monuments were produced at that time in Los Angeles. Richard
Neutra's "Health House" was completed just at the moment of the
economic crash. It stood on its dramatic hill site as a prefiguration of
developed International Style architecture. Nothing like it existed in
America at that time and it even predated Le Corbusier's Savoye Villa
in France.
At the opposite end of the architectural spectrum was that amazing
monument to the strength of the individual will, the Watts Towers.
They were built singlehandedly by the eccentric Simon Rodia between
1921 and 1954. While the towers were noted in some publications as
early as the 1930's, they were publicly ignored until 1959 when they
were threatened with destruction by the City of Los Angeles. A variety
of structural tests were performed which proved them to be remarkably
sound and they were allowed to stand. Perhaps fate has placed the
towers in what is now the heart of Watts, the black community which
erupted with such violence in 1965, as a symbol of individual strength
and determination.
An excellent essay by Mary Fuller McChesney, covering the period of
the 30's, goes on to state that:
31
"Social Realism was not the only esthetic strand in the painting of the
art projects. Then, as today, the painters were divided into different
groups and individuals were responding in a variety of ways to the
artistic influences from New York and Europe as well as from Mexico,
even though much more slowly in those days before wide-spread color
reproductions, television and the jet plane. Artists did not travel from
New York and Europe to California the way they do now, a fact which
had both disadvantages and advantages. The local art world was more
provincial because of less contact but it was also less blatantly
imitative. Still, Cubism and Surrealism were both known in the Far
West and were influential on the project art. In San Francisco the
Aquatic Park murals and sculpture reflect the modernistic European
styles and taste and the easel projects were completely mixed bags of
artists — Realists, American Scene Painters, Surrealists and
Cubist-oriented abstractionists all together.
Preparations for, and the final outbreak of, World War Two killed off the
federal art projects. Some painters moved into poster work for the
government but the majority went into the service or into industry and
not much happened artistically until the war was over. Painting
continued to be done, of course, and sculpture to be made but there
were no big artistic changes. For some time there had been a kind of
traditional watercolor painting going on both in San Francisco and Los
Angeles and there had always been the individual eccentrics, taking
their sources and inspiration from unlikely places and movements. The
watered-down Cubism of the Berkeley School ruled the Bay Area art
establishment and Post Surrealism flourished in Los Angeles along
with a very traditional brand of oil painting.
The end of World War Two and the G.L Bill of Rights brought a flood of
veterans into the art schools of California. They were older than the
usual student, they had been matured by the war, they had been
horrified by the atom bomb and they were in a mood to question most
accepted values. At the same time people such as Douglas MacAgy, the
director of the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and
painters like Clyfford Still were bringing news of the artistic revolution
happening in New York out West. These are some of the reasons for the
sudden explosion of Abstract Expressionism in California painting.
Artists were fed up with the past. They were looking for something
new and the freedom of this kind of painting with its emphasis on
individual expression, on letting go with a big gesture directly in paint
on the canvas, was right for that time. Interestingly enough, and as
usual, even in this so-called movement there were splits. The lack of
discipline or structure or order in action painting repelled some of the
artists and they, although totally abstract, moved off into a different
32
direction, using a deep space, more line and letting fewer of the
accidents that occurred in the making of a picture remain.
There has been critical talk about the development of a Pacific School
of painting, or an 'Ecole du Pacifique' as they called it in Paris, during
this period and some of the West Coast Abstract Expressionism does
have a rougher, cruder look than most abstract painting of the same
time done in New York, where the Cubist and Surrealist influences
were so much stronger and direct. Even though by then there was more
contact between the two coasts, the Western painting had a ragged,
earthy, unsophisticated look that was different. 'Brutal' some New York
critics called it.
In the late 1940's there was an abrupt movement back to the figure and
to landscape by some of the Abstract Expressionist painters, although
in that move they took the large scale, rough paint handling and
rawness of their earlier work along with them. Here again and as
always, these directions overlap. Some painters continued to work
abstractly. Some had never done so and they didn't 'go back to the
figure.' They had never left it. And some California painters had been
working consistently in a kind of hard-edge abstract style which was to
come back into fashion, altered slightly, in a short time.''^
These hard-edge abstractionists were the Southern Californians John
McLaughlin and Lorser Feitelson, followed by the youthful Karl
Benjamin and Fred Hammersley. Such artists were fighting for clarity
in form and color as a viable counterpoint to the widely accepted
romantic cubo-expressionism practiced by Rico Lebrun and his
followers.
In addition to these hard-edge abstractionists a number of independent
Southern California artists such as Helen Lundeberg, Leonard
Edmondson, Ynez Johnston, Oliver Andrews, Lee Mullican, Richards
Ruben, Gilbert Henderson and John Altoon were carrying out their own
approaches to experimental art. Some of their ideas were European-
based and some showed a consciousness of New York's Abstract
Expressionists but all were reaching away from the academic influence
which had controlled Los Angeles art for an extended period.
The ceramicist Peter Voulkos reached farther than anyone and received
national attention for taking ceramic sculpture out of the realm of crafts
and into the area of Abstract Expressionism. His work, along with that
of John Mason, bred a whole generation of clay experimentation
including Kenneth Price in Los Angeles and Robert Arneson, David
Gilhooly, Richard Shaw, Ron Nagle and others in the Bay Area.
33
By the early 1950's Bay Area "modernism," whether abstract or
figurative, had found acceptance among artists as the mainstream of
activity in California. Students graduating from the School of Fine
Arts, the College of Arts and Crafts and the University of California at
Berkeley were all beginning to think and to work in advanced modes.
What was widely accepted by artists, however, was not widely
accepted by the art public and the support system did not function. The
experimental, cooperative Metart Gallery, which was founded by the
students of Clyfford Still, had closed down. The King Ubu Gallery was
transforming itself into the Six Gallery and Dilexi Gallery had not yet
emerged. Clyfford Still had left the area and promising younger
painters like Sam Francis, John Hultberg, Ernest Briggs, Madeleine
Dimond and Deborah Remington left for New York or Europe.
Still others settled in for the long wait, recognizing that even if
galleries and collectors were not breaking down their doors, the
general live and let live environment of the Bay Area was suitable to
their evolution. Clyfford Still's strong statements about the dangers of
the marketplace and the need for the artist to develop naturally were
widely quoted at the time.
Fortunately, in 1953 and 1954 Southern California began to come alive.
An energetic group of young artists and appreciators, including Craig
Kauffman, Walter Hopps, Ed Moses and Jim Newman, joined with Ben
Bartosh to establish Syndell Studio in an old building made of pier
pilings in Brentwood. The idea was to develop a salon where artists
and friends could meet and talk and where exciting new work could be
seen. Kauffman and Hopps had developed close contact with the artists
of the Bay Area and began to bring their work to Los Angeles to show at
the studio.
This group developed a wildly experimental exhibition called
"Action" which opened in the Merry-go-Round Building at Santa
Monica Pier in May 1955. The exhibition introduced several Bay Area
artists to Los Angeles and marks one of the very few moments in the
long history of the two cities when cross-pollination occurred. Hassel
Smith, Ed Corbett, James Budd Dixon, Julius Wasserstein, Roy De
Forest, Jim Kelly, Sonia Gechtoff, Deborah Remington, Jay DeFeo, Relf
Case, Madeleine Dimond, Richard Brodney, Fred Martin, Paul Wonner
and William Theo Brown were all represented along with Paul
Sarkisian, Gilbert Henderson and Craig Kauffman from the South.
At this same time Edward Kienholz arrived in Los Angeles to establish
The Now Gallery which was structured along democratic, first come
first served, lines. Some of the exhibitions were exceptional and some
weak but all broke away from the prevailing attitudes in the established
commercial galleries. Kienholz also arranged exhibitions for the lobby
34
109 Richard Diebenkorn Berkeley #4 1953
of the Coronet-Louvre Theater on La Cienega Boulevard. The theater
which showed old movies and avant-garde films became more of a
meeting place than the museums or the galleries. Barney's Beanery, a
hash house-style restaurant nearby, became the focal point for late
night artists' conversations.
Kienholz and Walter Hopps pooled their interests to work on several
projects together including "Action^" in the spring of 1956. This was
the second and last North-South extravaganza which, along with many
of the artists already named, gave credibility to a new kind of mythical
collage and assemblage. In retrospect Wallace Berman and the printer/
designer Robert Alexander appear to be the spiritual fathers of this
movement which became one of the strongest strains of
California-produced art during the "Beat" movement of the late 1950's.
Berman, Wally Hedrick, Bruce Conner, George Herms, Arthur Richer,
Ben Talbert, Fred Mason, Jess Collins and, to a certain extent, Ed
Kienholz and Fred Martin, shared different aspects of this esthetic.
Strongly poetic, this love/hate art created from the transient residual
leftovers of society, became the first movement to blanket the whole
state. It also served a prototypal role for much of the popular and funky
art which would come later.
In 1957 Hopps and Kienholz opened the Ferus Gallery on La Cienega
Boulevard which became the point of focus for avant-garde activity in
Southern California.
La Cienega was becoming the art gallery street. The established Esther
Robles Gallery and the Felix Landau Gallery, which were somewhat
more traditional in their style, supported many California artists. The
Paul Kantor Gallery and the Frank Perls Gallery located in the more
posh surroundings of Beverly Hills not only offered exceptional
examples of international modern art but also showed artists of this
region.
Here, another point of difference between the art tastes of Southern
and Northern California shows up. During the formative 1950's Los
Angeles had a number of strong galleries where the casual visitor could
view or purchase excellent examples of European and American
modern art. Picasso, the German Expressionists, the Austrian
Expressionists, Klee, Kandinsky, the Surrealists, Gaidar, Moore and the
French Impressionists, were all available at one time or another. Such
programming coupled with a revitalized Los Angeles County Museum
of Art and the program of modern art education offered through UCLA
Extension gave many a reasonably broad-based understanding of the
art of this century including work produced in California.
36
In San Francisco the modern galleries have been much more regional
in their orientation. In one sense this can be laudatory but it had a
restrictive effect on general knowledge and presented an unbalanced
picture of international art activity. A review of the Bay Area museum
programs of the period shows this same bias. A major exception was
R. E. Lewis' gallery which became a haven for many students and
young collectors who could study primary examples of print work from
Diirer to Picasso. Just recently the galleries of Daniel Weinberg and
John Berggruen have begun to correct this imbalance.
In the early 1960's June Wayne, printmaker and painter, convinced the
Ford Foundation that it should support an experimental lithography
workshop which would train master printers as well as artists in the
complexities of this dwindling medium. Tamarind Lithography
Workshop was formed in Los Angeles and brought many of America's
best artists there on fellowships. Quite apart from the technical
brilliance of the print production, many of the artists lectured and
mingled with the expanding local art community which helped to
develop common bonds of appreciation.
Kenneth Tyler, a master printer trained at Tamarind, established
Gemini G.E.L. and brought in well-known artists from the East such as
Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella and
Claes Oldenburg to work in the shop. Gemini also produced a limited
number of prints by Los Angeles artists John Altoon, Kenneth Price, Ed
Ruscha and Joe Goode, but it remained for yet another print shop,
Cirrus Editions, to concentrate on the printing of editions of many
Californians.
More recently, Kathan Brown established her Crown Point Press in
Oakland to produce exceptional quality intaglio prints. Artists such as
Claes Oldenburg, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt, Dorothea Rockburne and
Brice Marden now find their way to Oakland and mix with the Bay
Area art public.
These efforts have stimulated many young collectors and created a
market which might not have existed otherwise.
In June 1962 John Irwin began to publish a remarkable art magazine in
San Francisco. Art/orum began with the modest dictum that:
"Art/orum is an art magazine published in the west — but not only a
magazine of western art. We are concerned first with western activity
but claim the world of art as our domain."
During the first year of publication the magazine established Philip
Leider as Managing Editor with John Coplans and Arthur Secunda as
Contributing Editors from San Francisco and Los Angeles. Leider's
37
editorship, which held for several years, through the magazine's move
to Los Angeles where it began to be published by Charles Cowles, and
later to New York, brought the magazine to national prominence. By the
mid-1960's it became the single most important reference for avant-
garde activity in America. During its passage from one city to another
the character of the magazine changed but it can be credited with
bringing a number of West Coast artists to national attention and with
helping to make Los Angeles this country's number two art city. )ohn
Coplans became the Editor in 1970 and continues in that role to the
present time.
Since the early 1960's the art activity in California could no longer be
labelled "modernist" or "conservative" for the bastions had fallen
away. Museums and gallery exhibitions in all sectors of the state
provided ample evidence that the modern art of California had
achieved a position of wide acceptance. This closing of the circle
allows one to pursue that elusive thing called "art" as he pleases,
whether creator, collector or appreciator.
The full impact of Southern California-produced art began to be felt at
the international level. By 1960 the original Ferus Gallery artists had
been joined by Larry Bell, Edward Ruscha, Joe Goode, Llyn Foulkes,
Stephan von Huene and several others and all moved quickly toward
first levels of real art maturity.
At this time a number of new galleries also emerged. The Everett Ellin
Gallery and the Dwan Gallery began to show the works of Robert
Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, Franz Kline, Philip Guston and some
of the advanced Europeans such as Yves Klein and Jean Tinguely. They
also showed artists from the region. The Huysman Gallery introduced
Joe Goode, Edward Ruscha, Larry Bell, Michael Todd and Ed Bereal
during its nine months of operation. A Los Angeles version of San
Francisco's Dilexi Gallery was operated by Rolf Nelson. David Stuart
and Ed Primus combined an interest in showing both pre-Columbian
and contemporary work. Eastern dealer Richard Feigen joined with
Herbert Palmer to open a western branch, the Feigen-Palmer Gallery,
and for a brief period New York's Pace Gallery joined Irving Blum's
new Ferus Gallery in a joint venture. Comara Gallery, Heritage Gallery,
Charles Feingarten Gallery and the Ankrum Gallery also joined the
ranks.
In the middle '60's Nicholas Wilder came from San Francisco to Los
Angeles to open his gallery which for the next decade replaced the
Ferus as the center of support for the artists of Southern California.
More recently the James Corcoran Gallery.The Claire Copley Gallery,
Margo Leavin Gallery and Tortue Gallery opened to show a broad
38
spectrum of the most advanced art, and the Jodi Scully Gallery is
showing several of the best of the "old timers."
With the obvious exceptions of Edward Kienholz and )ohn Altoon, Los
Angeles art also developed a special look which could be characterized
as cool, clear and clean. Individual esthetics remained intact but many
artists shared a quality referred to by lohn Coplans as a "finish fetish."
To my mind this is a misapplied term. Rather, the "look" is born out of
deeper philosophical conviction. Craftsmanship becomes an inherent
part of the full conception of the work and is not an added afterthought,
as the word "finish" implies.
For example, Kenneth Price would build beautiful and elaborate bases
for the presentation of his small-scale ceramic sculpture. The purpose
was to make it clear that this was work to be taken seriously and not to
be confused with shelf ornamentation. Joe Goode would cover his large,
rather roughly painted skies with plexiglass, not to protect the surface
but to create the illusion of looking through a window. Robert Irwin
would round edges and forms to defeat spatial boundaries, and so on.
But, no question, the "look" was also related to place.
Visitors to Los Angeles, especially Europeans, become entranced with
the "pop" elements of the city (Forest Lawn, larger-than-life billboards,
the Sunset Strip and Hollywood) but, in fact, Los Angeles, especially
considering its size, is astoundingly pure and clean. Hundreds of new
buildings bounce the clear light from these pale surfaces. Immaculate
parks and lawns seem always green, civic plantings are landscaping
wonders, the freeway system is a work of crisp precision and the
shimmering Pacific laps at the doorstep of the city. There are smoggy
days but residents don't dwell on them.
Is it any wonder that light and reflective surfaces would play an
increasingly major role in the art of that area? Or that, ultimately, in the
1970's, light would become the primary medium in the work of Robert
Irwin, Douglas Wheeler, Jim Turrell, Michael Asher, Maria Nordman
and DeWain Valentine.
It is also interesting to note that Northern California artists who found
their way south, Ronald Davis, John McCracken, Tony DeLap and even
Richard Diebenkorn, began to partake of this particular sensibility.
Bay Area art of the 1960's also began to take a new turn. Worries about
"abstract" and "figurative" disappeared in favor of "personalized" art.
The sculpture of Robert Hudson and William Geis and the painting of
William Wiley forced a new consciousness, as did the ceramic work of
Robert Arneson, David Gilhooly and Richard Shaw. Built on the poetic
base of assemblage, the intended awkwardness of Alvin Light's
39
sculpture, the strange presences of Jeremy Anderson and the "folk"
characters, Roy De Forest and Wally Hedrick, Bay Area art for a brief
moment escaped from the physical look of the region. The "feel" began
to dominate.
Perhaps these artists could be referred to as sophisticated rustics since
they prefer the country to the city, a fact which shows in their work, but
the often-used generic title "funk" does not apply.
This particular sensibility, best exemplified by William Wiley, found
wide acceptance among American university art students during the
late 1960's as a symbol of their desire to escape the rigors of urban
existence and return to a "homespun" life.
To my mind it was not a dissimilar seed that spawned the particularly
California brand of photo realism centered in the Bay Area. The
celebration of the mobile middle class by Robert Bechtle and Ralph
Goings seems to be the manifestation of a comfortably-off generation
which retains vague, warm memories of Jack Kerouac and On the
Road.
And, undoubtedly, it was the same genetic structure, only slightly
modified, which gave rise to the Bay Area Visionary painters,
especially Bill Martin and Gage Taylor, who conduct the "acid rock"
generation into thoughts of a pastoral Nirvana.
San Francisco and Bay Area art galleries, if not the public, have always
been supportive of their own and in recent years the situation has
improved immeasurably. The pioneer efforts of Gump's Gallery, BoUes
Gallery, Rose Rabow Galleries, Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery, Charles
Campbell Gallery and the Triangle Gallery, as well as Metart, King Ubu
Gallery, Six Gallery, East & West Gallery, Dilexi Gallery and Batman
Gallery, smoothed the road for the future. Today the Braunstein/Quay
Gallery, Hansen Fuller Gallery, Phoenix Gallery, James Willis Gallery,
Smith Andersen Gallery, John Berggruen Gallery, Daniel Weinberg
Gallery, Hank Baum Gallery, Berkeley Gallery, William Sawyer Gallery,
Zara Gallery, Malvina Miller Gallery, Lester Gallery, The Allrich Gallery
and the Grapestake Gallery are all functioning well. The Galeria de la
Raza is giving support to emerging Latino artists and the Thackrey &
Robertson Gallery and Focus Gallery are concentrating on photography.
California has retained from its heritage a strong and stimulating sense
of independence and openness which managed to hold through the
emotional conflicts of the late 1960's and the economic recession of the
1970's. Current issues have not so much to do with what art should be
but rather upon how more art can be seen so that its message can be
40
imparted, its impact felt. This feeling is particularly strong among
artists who are women or artists who have taken a strong ethnic
position and who feel that the prevailing system of galleries and
museums blocks adequate representation. This condition has led to
the reemergence of the cooperative gallery, the open studio and the
manifesto, all of which are healthy signs of art's self-regenerative
powers.
Henry T. Hopkins
'Mary Fuller McChesney, A Century oj California Painting 1870-1970. Crocker-Citizens National
Bank, Los Angeles, California, 1970.
General References
The Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth. Texas. The Artist's Environment; West
Coast. 1962. Text by Frederick S. Wight.
Crocker-Citizens National Bank, Los Angeles, California. A Century o/Caii/ornia Painting
1870-1970. 1970. Essays by Joseph A. Baird (1870-1890), Paul Mills (1890-1910). Kent L. Seavey
(1910-1930), Mary Fuller McChesney (1930-1950), Alfred Frankenstein (1950-1970).
Moure. Nancy Dustin Wall. Dictionary of Art and Artists in Southern California Before 1930. Los
Angeles: privately printed, 1975.
The Oakland Museum, Oakland, California. Society of Six. 1972. Text by Terry St. John.
Ryan. Beatrice Judd. "The Rise of Modern Art in the Bay Area," California Historical Society
Quarterly, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, March 1959, pp. 1-5 (ill.).
Todd. Frank Morton. The Story of the Exposition. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons for the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company, 1921.
Taped conversation with Walter Hopps. July 1976.
41
98 Clyfford Still Untitled 1947-S (PH :i71) 1947
A European's View of California Art
An introduction to the situation of plastic art on the American West
Coast can, to my mind, not get off to a better start than with an account
of the impressions and experiences of the traveler who for the first time
sets eyes on this area. Taking off, as I did, from one of the New York
airports in the late afternoon, one realizes that one is headed for the
unknown. So long as the slowly fading daylight permits — for about six
hours we are flying west — one gets between the scattered clouds
occasional glimpses of a continuously changing, in large parts thinly
populated, scenery. Reminiscences of books and films about the 'great
trek to the West' come to mind. Romanticism? Yes indeed, but a
romanticism that will prove still actively alive in the actual on-the-spot
experiences.
Night has fallen and Las Vegas is pointed out to us. As the aircraft starts
downward, an immense fair of lights gradually unfolds below: the Los
Angeles agglomeration which is sprawling over an area of more than
4000 square miles. It is inconceivable. Crossing from New York, with
recollections of other major American cities like Chicago, Boston,
Washington, one fails to adequately translate this carpet of lights; how
does a city get that inconceivably big?
After landing, in a bus on our way to the hotel, we pass through endless
suburbial districts. We see a hotch-potch of all kinds of buildings.
Spaciously laid out gas stations bathe in a sea of artificial light. In the
hotel, an atmosphere of leisure prevails — the other America. Not until
the next day, when we traverse the city from West to East on the
enormous, yet very busy freeways, does the real picture reveal itself.
Actually, Los Angeles is one vast suburb of gigantic dimensions.
Building is still entirely in 'Wild West' fashion. Motivated by the fear of
quakes, houses have of old been kept low. Only in recent years have the
people ventured in places to break up the familiar pattern with closer
formations of towering buildings. In spite of the splendid examples of
older date (the works of Maybeck, Gill, Greene and Greene, Schindler),
there is in Los Angeles in fact no architecture of any quality to speak of.
Instead, we find either insignificant buildings or the most fantastic
structures bordering on the grotesque. This may have been inspired by
the extremely beneficial climate which in the eyes of the inhabitants,
makes the automobile and the telephone, much more than the home,
the most cherished necessities of life. (As a consequence of the extreme
distances, the city has hardly any public transportation, not even taxis.)
Wherever one looks, contrasts are staggering. Life seems to be marked
by an exuberant urge of expression which oftentimes assumes a
hypertrophic character. It radiates optimism, although it is here that the
43
contrasts are apt to explode in violent clashes, witness the treatment
meted out to the hippies, and the student revolt in Berkeley, to cite but
a few examples.
Most remarkable of it all is the fact that the excessive urge of expression
tends to manifest itself visually in all areas of life. 'Visualization seems
to be a characteristic of life on the Pacific Coast,' Werner Spies aptly
writes. Advertising boards, larger than the houses on or between which
they are erected, dominate the face of the city. Everything, barring the
gas stations, is dwarfed by them.
Later, San Francisco indeed offers an entirely different picture — is this
maybe, one wonders, why art life has shifted to Los Angeles? Or rather,
why the actual breakthrough that made the new art of the West Coast
emerge on an international level, did not originate in this wonderful
city which, in many places, reminds [one] of the paintings of Edward
Hopper?
Against this exuberant background developed the art of the younger
generation; with this background it is linked in an ambiguous way —
it partly thrives on it, partly reacts upon and against it. Having
experienced this background, one looks with more perspicacious eyes
upon the few examples of West Coast art one has already come across
in exhibitions on the East Coast or in Europe. In spite of the great
difference in the work of the various artists, there is evidence of
underlying relationships that are conditioned by the very climate, both
spiritual and material, of the environment. It also explains why this
work and its atmosphere are so very much unlike what we find in New
York. The awareness of this adds to the self-confidence of the artists
and makes them envision the seventies with great expectations.
Characteristic for Los Angeles is also the fact that, unlike New York,
there is no 'art center' as a focal point, but rather an 'art environment.'
There are some major galleries and museums, but modern art is just as
much to be seen in studios and private collections. These are usually at
great distances from each other.
Going back to the years just after the end of World War II, it is the state
of art affairs in San Francisco and its Bay Area that determines our
perspective. Not that the situation then and there was a very promising
one, but at that time, in spite of the earlier presence of such artists as
Man Ray and Archipenko, no major impulse was coming from Los
Angeles. In fact, it harbored a conservative, classic, academic
establishment under the lead of the painter Lebrun.
In San Francisco, famed for its wonderful site on the large bay and its
beautifully designed residential districts and relatively old houses, the
academies, notably the California School of Fine Arts (now the San
44
Francisco Art Institute), have had a greater impact on the development
of art than the local museums and art galleries. Not until the more
recent years have the latter devoted greater attention to contemporary
art. The great influence of the academies is to be laid to the fact that
outside their walls interest in contemporary art was virtually nil. On
account of the unfavorable art climate, artists who had come in contact
with these institutions, not infrequently stayed around them and were
often taken on as teachers. Others left for the East Coast or gave up their
vocation.
One of the most consequential impulses came from Clyfford Still who,
like Mark Rothko, was invited to teach there toward the close of the
forties. For the first generation represented in this retrospective survey,
Clyfford Still has been of vital importance, both through his work
and the type of artist he represents. Rothko's work, it is true, has
undoubtedly left its marks, but this is maybe more clearly pronounced
in the work of later generations. His influence appears therefore less
marked.
Clyfford Still, whose work is hard to obtain in loan — but little of his
extensive oeuvre has been sold and the painter himself does not fancy
collective exhibitions — is known for his outsize canvases. They are
monumental in character and have a place of their own in Abstract
Expressionism. In the years following the end of World War II, Abstract
Expressionism sprang up on the East Coast with New York as a center.
The key figures of this movement: Pollock, de Kooning, Newman, Still,
Rothko, Kline and others, all reached the fruition of their own personal
style around 1950. At that time, two trends are beginning to show: a.
Action Painting which puts greater emphasis on movement (Pollock,
de Kooning, Kline) and b. Chromatic Abstraction, a term applied to the
work of Newman and Rothko. With his work, Clyfford Still stands
between these two trends. His work is characterized on the one hand by
the tangibility of the pigment which he often puts on thick with the
spatula, on the other hand by the monumental aspect of his color fields
achieved by the massive closeness of his monochrome fields of which
the edges, by contrast, are breaking apart. His canvases give the
impression of masonry and on this score have been of decisive
significance for the field-painting that was especially practised on the
East Coast. On the West Coast, emphasis was put more on the material
aspect of the paint and the way it is put on — Still's concrete way of
painting. This influence is strongly reflected in the work of Lobdell,
but is also to be found — be it thoroughly transformed — in the so
much different work of Thiebaud. His ethical views as well as his
unapproachable attitude as an artist have also greatly affected the
45
artistic type of his generation. Like Still, many of these artists are living
far from the art centers, Lobdell, for one, lives in the small town of Palo
Alto, dozens of miles from the perimeter of San Francisco. In his work,
the black backgrounds, done in a crustlike material, frequently
dominate the painting. The oftentimes diagonally placed figures barely
detach themselves from the background so that, notwithstanding the
baroque design, the flat aspect of the painting remains intact. As to this
diagonal effect against a dark fond which we also encounter in the
work of many contemporary painters, Kienholz once pointed out to me
that, when turning off an old vintage television set, one sees the picture
disappear from the screen in a diagonal movement.
For Hassel Smith, the years 1948-1952 at the California School of Fine
Arts were decisive for his artistic growth. He made paintings in which
an abstract-linear script is the salient feature. This he has in common
with the well-known painter Tobey who for many years worked on the
West Coast and settled in Basel afterwards, hi Smith's work too. the line
appears autonomous which bespeaks the influence of Pollock. His
treatment of the linear, however, shows a strong personal character
unlike that of the two other artists. The line shoots over the canvas in
sharp angles and curves, ends in or is accompanied by dots and stripes
which makes for a humoristic effect. Smith was fascinated by comic
strips and cartoons.
One of the most significant painters of his generation is Richard
Diebenkorn whose work testifies to a rich evolution. He started out
under the influence of Edward Hopper's work which is notably
apparent in the qualities of isolation, monotony and the disengagement
of the human figures in the picture, hi 1947-1948 he teaches, along with
Still, Parker, Smith and others, at the California School of Fine Arts. At
that time, the composition of his work assumes a more structural
character allied to Cubism. The surface is subdivided in a free,
abstract-geometric pattern. Spatiality tends to flatten, increasingly so
during his stay in Mjexico (1950-1951). His Albuquerque paintings
dating from that time, are all but monochrome, of sand and meat
coloring; they show an intermittently tense and relaxed linear
movement that freely outlines the painted forms. Whereas his earlier
(and more recent) paintings clearly bespeak his admiration for certain
paintings by Matisse, here the unerring linear drawing technique of de
Kooning asserts itself, be it that he handles it in a uniquely personal
way. One wonders why these paintings of undoubtedly high quality
have never met with the admiration they rightly deserve. Greater
dynamic power emanates from his consequent series of scenery
paintings, titled Berkeley. The diagonal continuously recurs in the
composition. His color scheme Diebenkorn derives from the general
mood of the landscape whose structural lines determine the
46
175 Robert Arneson Typewriter 1965
composition. Until 1955, his paintings are nevertheless abstract. In that
year, under the influence of the mediocre painter David Park,
Diebenkorn moves toward figuration from which he has distanced
himself only recently. In this figurative period, his paintings have
become larger. Mention should be made furthermore of the
cosmopolitan Sam Francis who, in addition to his studios in Tokyo,
Bern and Paris, also worked and taught at the University of California,
Berkeley.
With this first generation, we leave the scene of San Francisco and the
Bay Area. The latter half of the fifties is marked by the activities that
take place at Los Angeles. Artists are leaving San Francisco to settle in
Los Angeles or on the East Coast. Not until the sixties are new trends,
be it spasmodically, to originate in this area. Also because the activities
in Los Angeles are mainly focused on fields outside painting in its
traditional form (except for the work of Feitelson and McLaughlin), this
shift of scene marks an incisive change.
Which are those fields outside conventional painting? First, we must
point to the unconventional evolution that occurred in the field of
ceramics. This will be dealt with in greater detail later. Next and along
with it, there is the powerful progressive upsurge in the fields of the art
of assemblage, lighting and the use of new media. At the same time, we
witness the emergence of a peculiar Pop-image which, to a greater or
lesser degree, uses the techniques of traditional painting. This is,
admittedly only the broad outline, as there are individual painters who
are active in several fields at the same time. In Los Angeles too, we find
an older and a younger generation. The dividing line lies aroimd the
year 1962.
The development in the field of ceramics is one of the first major events
on the West Coast that reflects a free and independent attitude of the
artists vis-a-vis the traditional and what is simultaneously taking place
on the East Coast. Ceramics had so far always been classed as applied
art. Rebelling against the inherited hierarchical division of media, the
artists began viewing ceramics in terms of its own specific merits.
They no longer looked upon it in terms of its usefulness but of the
possibilities inherent in the material. They were very bold in their
approach. The story goes that Voulkos, first among peers in the group,
at one point misread the scale of some reproductions showing
examples of Japanese ceramics he very much admired and, on that
basis, set out to free ceramics of its small dimensional proportions.
This required, however, the solution of some major technical problems.
In 1954, Voulkos came to Los Angeles where he set up a ceramics center
at the Otis Art Institute; here he was joined by Mason, Price and
Bengston. Since there existed no hierarchical distance between
48
Voulkos and his colleagues, a fruitful exchange of ideas was possible.
Their joint endeavor resulted in the rediscovery of the essential
characteristics of the medium clay as a very manageable and plastic
material which lends itself to more than just the making of
symmetrically-shaped functional pots. Voulkos and Mason attacked
symmetry as their first target and the upshot was that the object, as it is
viewed from different angles, now offers each time a different aspect
and contour. Especially in the case of Voulkos and Mason, the new
development moved toward sculpture. In an important part of his
work. Price concentrates still on the creation of cups, of such fantastic
shapes though that they altogether lose their functional character. In
the expression of form and color, the work of these artists shows ties
with Abstract Expressionism. Notably in the work of Price, color has a
significant function. While on the pot shown in this exhibition, the
color is put on in the form of glazing (compare the method of coloring
with e.g. Clyfford Still's way of painting), later he aims at such
powerful color and such a smooth sheen that he oftentimes paints his
objects after baking.
The confrontation with painting also applies to the others: like Still
achieved masonry work with paint, Voulkos does it with clay; Bengston
is to derive his world of signs of his later paintings from his earlier
work in clay. Aside from the beauty and expressive power of the results
reached, these ceramic experiments have an added importance in that
they have opened new avenues toward a great number of novel
possibilities. Overnight, color had become something that could be
made with other materials and had a meaning of its own. The long
process of drying and baking makes it unfeasible to foresee the various
consecutive stages. From the struggle out of this situation grew a
procedure and an experimental craftsmanship without which the
current trends (e.g. Larry Bell, Craig Kauffman) are inconceivable.
All criteria of form, color, structure, et cetera, called for a change of
perspective as, from now on, all creative activity was to start out from
the material and the working method. Later, it is true, for the purpose
of achieving a specific objective, the artists reverted to choosing an
appropriate material and the pertinent working method. But they
had learned to be free in setting their goals and, in the process, an
interaction between objective choice of material and working method
developed.
The evolution in the art of assemblage kept, at first, closer to the
technique of painting. Inaugurator of this movement is Wallace Berman
who, during the time he was employed in a furniture store (about
1950), started assembling odds and ends of scrap material. In his work,
he reacts upon sentiments that, repressed or openly, exist in the
49
environmental society: advertising, sex, violence together with the race
issue, often combined in one work, are his recurrent themes. His only
one-man exhibition organized in 1957, had to close its doors. Herman
was arrested and put in jail on the score of pornographic activities.
After that, he started making kinds of envelopes enclosing poems,
photographs, drawings, et cetera. His works are only rarely shown
nowadays. He influenced Bruce Conner and Kienholz, the key
exponents of the movement.
Bruce Conner, who started out by making collages, turned to making
spatial works after meeting with Berman. From all kinds of objects
such as old clothes, costume jewelry, old photographs, et cetera he
made assemblages over which he often pulled ruined nylon stockings
which created a romantically tinged alienation of every day reality.
Like many of the works of Kienholz, they are 'memento mori' pieces
with a bitter, caustic humor. More so than the work of Kienholz, they
are mellowed by the romantic nostalgic veils of the nylons. Later he
focused his activities on filmmaking.
Kienholz' work has a more direct impact. After making wood reliefs of
a rather formal character, he shifts, toward the close of the fifties, to
making objects of a more spatial nature. This leads to the construction
of environments, accessible or otherwise. One of his best but probably
also most poignant works is his non-accessible 'State Hospital.'
Kienholz' work springs from a direct reaction against the artificial life
of his environment with which he feels, nonetheless, related. A major
part of his work which will be shown in the Stedelijk Museum at
Amsterdam, has a socio-critical angle with sometimes a hint of
caricature. Kienholz stands out by his great inventive power and
versatile craftsmanship. These qualities are clearly noticeable in his
less socially engaged works.
The younger generation includes William T. Wiley and Bruce Nauman.
(Their work sometimes is termed 'funk-art.' The term 'funk' is taken
from music and denotes the combination of heterogenous forms and
techniques.) Through Kaspar Konig, both artists came in contact, at a
relatively early stage, with the work of the German Joseph Beuys. Wiley
made a great number of aquarel drawings of landscapes in which there
are all kinds of bizarre objects or bizarre things are happening. The
scenery is overgrown with the conception of an artificial world which
finds its full expression in his later assemblage-like constructions. The
artist draws our attention to the unusual processes we can observe in
our backyards or which we can imagine. Wiley organized many
happenings somewhat on the line of the 'fluxus' activities in Europe.
Much of Bruce Nauman's work has the characteristic aspect of a
happening or rather 'performance.' The inversion positive-negative is a
50
202 Wayne Thiebaud Pies 1961
theme that recurs in his earlier work. When he makes, for instance, a
sculpture of the space between two volumes or 'the space under my
chair,' the inversion is applied in two ways: he not only makes the
rather arbitrary space into a sharply defined tangible object but at the
same time evokes again the now imaginary spatial parts of the original
object. We encounter this inversion also in his experiments with new
materials, his holograms: the 'light picture,' as a concrete construction
in space, is here however virtual. It is, more so than Wiley's work,
conceptual of character which adds a new effect to the title of his work.
In this respect, he is linked up with the other group of artists who work
with the medium of light.
As for Robert Irwin, it may seem difficult to bring his work under the
denominator of the art of light. In fact, as from the close of the fifties,
this artist has developed a style in which the painting or, for that
matter, any substitute object is, as to its presence, increasingly
neutralized in the process of the visual experience of the spectator. For
him, the visual experience is the only thing that counts; it cannot, then,
be translated by anything else, including my introductory remarks, let
alone be replaced. For Irwin, the only legitimate goal is that the
conception be formed through and during the visual experience of
light and non-light (shadow). Everything else has to recede before
it — the concrete-material aspect of the work and its attributes, the
spatial reality of the exhibition hall, even the rest of my descriptive text
(be it so).
Doug Wheeler is closely allied with Irwin's endeavor. Also in his
work, we find the ambiguity of the presence of the object alongside its
concurrent negation caused by the working of light. Unlike Irwin, he
does not throw light on the object but makes the light flow through the
work toward the spectator. The square light box is transparent in front
and lighted from the back. The light is directed through the edges to
the transparent front plate which makes for a richly shaded surface.
The dimensions of both the work and the surroundings are essential for
the viewer's reaction.
Light, be it daylight or artificial light, as to the way it is modified by the
work, is also a key element in the oeuvre of Larry Bell who introduced
new media in his art. From painting (shaped canvases), the artist
turned to making cube-shaped objects of coated glass which, through
varying degrees of absorption and reflection, lend a very special
quality of expression to the enclosed volume. This calls for an
extremely high technical perfection which the artist developed entirely
by himself. His studio is in fact a plant with special ovens, vacuum
chambers, et cetera, which he runs with the aid of a few assistants.
52
Depending on the degree of reflection, the cube receives impulses from
the environment which, in combination with the activity of the
spectator, constitute the content of the work. For the benefit of the
exhibition in Eindhoven, Bell wanted to step up the effect. Thanks to
the recent acquisition of an oven of the required dimensions, he
managed to make glass panels of more than man-size; with these he is
now able to construct a regularly patterned footpath which makes the
hitherto closed cubic space accessible. The mystery of the box (of . . . ]
has been lifted without violating the visually happening magic; on the
contrary, it intensifies the immediate contact between spectator and
work.
Craig Kauffman, one of the first initiators around the Ferus Gallery at Los
Angeles, executes his later work in plexiglass moulded in the vacuum
chamber. From one mould he has several forms made which he paints
from within with various iridescent colors. As a result of the semi-
transparency and the reflection on the outside of the object, a richly
shaded color effect is achieved which can only be accomplished with
this technique and in this material. Originally, the reliefs were
moulded in monochromatic plexiglass. Later, Kauffman discovered
that by spraying the swelling on the inside, a condensation is formed at
that spot: this produces a certain ambiguity again as regards the
interplay of color and form. The effect is still heightened, when various
mutually blending colors are used.
John McCracken makes monochromatic sculptural objects, mostly
composed of composite wood or plywood finished with a layer of
fiberglass and colored polyester resin. His minimal art-like sculptures
often consist of several parts that are either detached or placed on top
or next to each other. There is a close interrelation between proportions
and choice of color. The form is sprayed with 20 to 30 layers of paint,
then sanded and polished. Not transparent in itself, the surface lends
transparency to the shiny surface. The quality of the surface luster
affects the intensity of the color which dominates the sculptural
aspect . . . color becomes volume and conversely.
The Pop-image on the West Coast developed relatively independently
of that on the East Coast. Also, within the West Coast area the work of
Bengston, Ruscha and Thiebaud is widely different in character.
Billy Al Bengston probably was the first and most influential of
them. Following his ceramic period as referred to above, he turned to
painting. It has been of paramount importance for the West Coast that,
already at an early stage, Bengston not only saw but understood the
work of Jasper Johns: from it he drew the conclusions that have greatly
influenced the development on the West Coast. Aside from the work of
53
assemblage artists, it was through Bengston, a motorcycle racer of
stature, that art developed in direct response to the social, cultural and
political climate. Also in terms of form, he exerted great influence. In
defiance of the current ideas infused by Abstract Expressionism,
Bengston advocated toward the end of the fifties a radical symmetrism.
Turning against all that is approximate and improvised, he upheld
perfection of method and technique. His experiments resulted in a
combination of various techniques, e.g. a clearly articulated brush
stroke alongside a smooth surface technique.
Fascinated by the light reflexes on the paintwork of his motorcycles, he
was probably the first to handle the spray-gun as an artist. Bengston's
work can be easily identified by the recurrence of a number of
stereotyped emblematic forms such as crossform, heartform, iris,
chevron, which as a rule are grouped in a small central section of the
painting.
Wayne Thiebaud is not so much concerned with the social
environment but rather with the identity of painting method and
subject (with him often foods such as pastries, cream puffs, ice creams,
et cetera). As stated above, in his method of painting and the
application of paint, the influence of Clyfford Still, though greatly
transformed, is still traceable. In his composition, the serial element
often plays an essential part. We must, however, not overrate the
Pop-image aspect of his work: Thiebaud professes to be a realist,
although he is aware that realism rarely, if at all, concerns itself with
the choice of these kinds of objects, let alone in close-up form.
Thiebaud had a telling influence on painters like Mel Ramos.
Edward Ruscha came to the Art School as an ad man but, disappointed
in commercial art, took up painting. His activities are twofold: 1.
paintings, prints, et cetera, 2. books which he designs, publishes and
distributes himself. He keeps these two activities strictly apart. In his
paintings, Ruscha applies the technique of commercial advertising.
Words like 'Space,' 'Smash,' 'Annie' he paints as is customary for
advertisements: flat and schematic; they are for him only variable
elements (he sometimes makes the words in his paintings drip like
honey). In his books, Ruscha proves to be an extremely alert observer
who succeeds in giving his photographically registered impressions a
cool, yet deadly accurate typographic form. His books belong to the
most penetratingly graphic visual information of the West Coast (Los
Angeles) one can wish for.
It is hard, at this point, to draw the balance sheet of West Coast art.
For one thing, it appears fundamentally different from art on the East
Coast. The idea and its conception, light and its reflection are the main
54
282 Sam Francis Blue Balls I 1960
concerns of many of the West Coast artists. In this field, they have
developed highly perfected techniques. In many instances, these
qualities lend to the work an almost ephemeral character. The illusion
against which the object-cultus of the East Coast stormed, returns here.
But not in the old form nor with the same objectives as before. We are
often confronted with an optical illusion in which the concrete
presence of the work seems to dissolve. But this illusion is only created
for the purpose of making the spectator inescapably aware that the art
process gravitates in essence around his individual experience (in
connection with something, say a work of art). With some artists, this
view is stretched to the point where they are more concerned with the
physiological than with the intellectually understood qualities of
vision. Whereas the East Coast saw the concreteness of art in the
process of making a work of art which has to be stripped of all
illusionary elements, the West Coast seeks the concreteness of
physiological vision to which the optical illusion may be instrumental.
The technical perfection of the execution and the ephemeral aspect of
many works sometimes induces us to suspect the artist of aestheticism.
This would, however, be a misconception, for the artist, far from
seeking beauty for the sake of beauty, resorts to these qualities as a
necessary means to increase the intensity of the (visual) experience. In
spite of these apparent differences, it is, as stated above, as yet difficult
to draw the balance sheet of art on the West Coast.
Source: Jan Leering, catalog essay
for Kompas 4, West Coast USA,
Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven,
Netherlands, 1969.
Translated from Dutch.
56
Institutions
The Official Museum Directory, 1975 edition, lists forty-nine museums
and art centers in California. Of these, thirty-six deal with modern art
in a major or minor manner. The list does not include
many of the small but enterprising public galleries associated with
California's vast system of universities, state universities and
community colleges.
The oldest public art institution in the state is the E. B. Crocker Art
Gallery in Sacramento which was established by Judge Crocker in 1873
and turned over to the city as a municipal gallery in 1885. The Stanford
University Museum and Art Gallery was foimded by Leland Stanford in
1891. The Mark Hopkins mansion was turned over to the San Francisco
Art Association for use as a school and art gallery in 1893. The
Huntington Library, Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens, founded by
Henry Huntington in San Marino, was incorporated in 1919. These bits
of information have little to do with the evolution of modern art in the
state but they do point up the fact that the four great "barons" of
California were all dedicated patrons of the visual arts.
Of the many institutions which have dealt with modern art, three have
long records of interest.
San Francisco Museum of Modem Art
The San Francisco Museum of Art was incorporated in 1921 but did not
begin to function in the fullest sense until January 18, 1935, when its
present housing in the Civic Center was completed. The museum
operated under that name until late 1975 when it became the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The name change was long overdue
since the purpose of the museum from its inception was to present
modern art to the community. It is the oldest such museum in the. West
and the third oldest museum of modern art in the country being
antedated by only The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. and The
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Under the professional directorship of Dr. Grace L. McCann Morley,
the first decade of activity kept pace with the East by presenting
retrospective exhibitions of Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, Wassily
Kandinsky, Georges Braque and Paul Klee. Also shown were
"Picasso — Forty Years of His Art," "Abstract and Surrealist Art in the
United States," and exhibitions of Fernand Leger and Joan Miro. Dr.
Morley also gave the first West Coast showing of Jackson Pollock and
the first museum exhibition of Clyfford Still. The second decade
included the first museum presentation of Arshile Gorky. Jacques
Lipchitz and Henri Matisse exhibitions were imported from The
Museum of Modern Art. Much to Dr. Morley's credit was the
58
introduction of California artists at the Sao Paulo Bienal in 1955 and
her continuous showings of artists from the Bay Area in full scale and
juried exhibitions.
In 1960, Dr. Morley was succeeded by George D. Culler who saw his
role as developing still further the emphasis upon art from the region
which he promoted through theme and group exhibitions and the
continuation of the San Francisco Art Association Annual, then in its
eightieth year. He also continued to borrow major exhibitions from The
Museum of Modern Art including the important "The Art of
Assemblage" exhibition of 1962 which featured a number of West Coast
artists such as Edward Kienholz and Bruce Conner.
During this period the Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary
Art was developed to give support to local artists and to aid the
museum's program.
Following Culler's resignation in June 1965, Clifford Peterson served
as Acting Director until September 1966 when Gerald Nordland was
appointed to the post. Nordland wished to broaden the program and
while he still gave support to regional artists through exhibitions of
Richard Diebenkorn, Peter Voulkos and John Altoon, he also developed
traveling exhibitions of the work of Leon Polk Smith and Paul Jenkins.
He continued the unbroken relationship with The Museum of Modern
Art by showing "The machine as seen at the end of the mechanical
age." Nordland can be credited with greatly enhancing the space and
appearance of the museum by gaining an additional floor of the
building for offices and education purposes thus freeing the entire
fourth level for presentation of the permanent collection and changing
exhibitions. He resigned his position in 1973 to become Director of the
UCLA Art Galleries and was replaced in January 1974, by Henry T.
Hopkins.
After reviewing the program for the past ten years Hopkins felt that it
was time to look again at some of the early modern masters. Exhibitions
of "Arthur Dove," guest-curated by Barbara Haskell and "Picasso
Braque Leger" were developed. "The Wild Beasts: Fauvism and Its
Affinities" and the small but choice "The Paintings of Gerald Murphy"
were borrowed from The Museum of Modern Art. In a more
contemporary vein, exhibitions of Max Bill, Arshile Gorky, Louise
Nevelson and "Poets of the Cities," an examination of artists of the
"Beat" generation, were imported from other museums. Curator
Suzanne Foley originated "Works in Spaces" which featured large-
scale work by Sam Gilliam, Dorothea Rockburne, Robert Irwin, Ronald
Bladen and Stephen Antonakos; a selection from the collection of
Richard Brown Baker of New York and the Monsen Collection of
59
ceramic sculpture. She also developed a new video program for the
museum. Curator John Humphrey, in addition to enhancing an already
historically important photography collection and program, has
originated traveling exhibitions of Roy De Forest and "Women
of Photography." Though the title was controversial, Rolando
Castellon's "A Third World Painting and Sculpture Exhibition" was
the highlight of a series of exhibitions under his direction designed to
reach for art world integration within the Bay Area.
In late 1975 Clyfford Still once again entered the West Coast art picture
by presenting twenty-eight of his monumental paintings to the
permanent collection of the museum.
At present community support is excellent. The Board of Trustees is
embarking upon a major fund drive to strengthen the museum's
financial position and with success one sees several years of healthy
growth and program development ahead.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Prior to 1965 , the Los Angeles County Museum of Art was one part of
the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art and was
located in Exposition Park. Early director of the Museum, William
Valentiner, had a deep interest in contemporary art especially the
German Expressionists, but the story of modem art at the museum was
more of curators than it was of directors. In 1952, Valentiner's assistant,
curator James Byrnes, presented the "American Vanguard in Paris"
exhibition which had been organized by Samuel Kootz in New York.
This show became the first large-scale institutional showing of the new
American abstract art in Los Angeles. A superior Josef Albers, and fine
examples of Jackson Pollock and William Baziotes were purchased
from the show which established a small but viable base for the future
collecting of contemporary art.
In the 1950's Richard F. Brown was selected to be Chief Curator of the
Art Division and would later become the first director of the new
museum which would be built under his leadership. Early in his tenure
Brown developed full-scale exhibitions of Renoir and Stanton
Macdonald-Wright. He appointed James Elliott to be Curator of Modern
Art and later Chief Curator of Art.
During the late 1950's and early 1960's not many exhibitions were
originated but the percentage of modern exhibitions in what is a
general museum began to increase. Grand exhibitions of Claude Monet,
The Joseph Hirshhorn Sculpture Collection, Futurism, Philip Guston,
Jean Dubuffet and the Ben Heller Collection were from The Museum of
Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum. The first American
museum exhibition of Reuben Nakian was developed and Frederick
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Wight guest-curated a complete Amedeo Modigliani retrospective. The
grandiose "Artists of Los Angeles and Vicinity" juried annuals
breathed their last gasp as the staff prepared to move the museum to its
new site on Wilshire Boulevard. On April 1, 1965 the museum opened
with Elliott's long-awaited Pierre Bonnard retrospective.
One of Elliott's major contributions was the development of the
Contemporary Art Council which has played an important role in the
museum ever since. The Council gives cash awards to developing
artists in Los Angeles, supports exhibitions of modern art and adds
important acquisitions of contemporary art to the museum's collection.
During the move to the new building Maurice Tuchman was named
Curator of Modern Art and, with Elliott's departure to direct the
Wadsworth Atheneum, Henry T. Hopkins, who had been on the staff
since 1962, became Curator of Exhibitions and Publications. During the
next few years Tuchman originated monumental exhibitions of "New
York School: The First Generation: Paintings of the 1940s and 1950s,"
"American Sculpture of the Sixties," and "Chaim Soutine." He also
presented important exhibitions of David Smith, Ron Kitaj, Peter
Voulkos, John Mason, Robert Irwin and Kenneth Price, Billy Al
Bengston and the wildly controversial showing of Edward Kienholz.
Hopkins planned a major exhibition of Morris Louis with guest curator
Michael Fried, arranged for guest curator Jules Langsner to develop a
Man Ray retrospective and planned with Henry Seldis his Rico Lebrun
retrospective. Hopkins also brought in retrospectives of Alberto
Giacometti, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and the "Dada,
Surrealism and Their Heritage" exhibitions from the East Coast. He
also planned the first Los Angeles Museum performance and dance
pieces with Robert Rauschenberg, Deborah and Alex Hay, Steve Paxton
and Jill Johnston.
After 1968 the Board of Trustees of the museum began to shift the
emphasis to earlier periods of art history and since the completion of
Maurice Tuchman's ambitious "Experiments in Art and Technology"
and "Bruce Nauman," which was co-curated by Jane Livingston and
Marcia Tucker, little of exceptional scope has been forthcoming in the
modern art area.
At present, because of the demise of the Pasadena Art Museum and
the conservative policies at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
Southern California artists feel disenfranchised. Fortunately, exhibition
areas outside the museum such as The Los Angeles Institute of
Contemporary Art and the new Arco Center for the Visual Arts have
responded to try to fill the gap.
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277 Ronald Davis #110 Frame 1969
Pasadena Art Museum
The history of the Pasadena Art Museum, now the Norton Simon
Museum of Art, is perhaps the most interesting of all as it relates to the
presentation of modern art in California. It is interesting because the
museum emerged from very modest beginnings into a major showcase
of modern activity, almost against its will, then faded away.
The museum came into being as the Pasadena Art Institute in the
1920's and was housed in a modest wooden structure in Carmelita Park.
The park at the edge of the business district had been laid out by the
great naturalist John Muir. The museum trustees hoped for expansion
on this site but their plans were aborted by the Great Depression.
In 1942 a wonderful oriental structure which had been designed in the
1920's by Grace Nicholson, a dealer in oriental art and antiquities, was
made available to the museum. The building had been given to the City
of Pasadena upon her death. The Trustees were reluctant to move from
the Carmelita Park site and it was only after a pact that the museum
could retain its right to build there for twenty years that this move was
made. In fact, this oriental building, presenting a series of galleries
around a lovely, enclosed garden proved very serviceable as a museum.
The first professional director was John Palmer Leeper followed by W.
Joseph Fulton.
After World War II the museum opened an education department
which provided a progressive approach to teaching art to children in
Southern California. Many recent education projects in Los Angeles
have staff who were developed in the Pasadena school.
In 1951 the event which would lead the museum to a modern stance
occurred. The Galka Scheyer Collection of six hundred paintings,
drawings and valuable documents of Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee,
Lyonel Feininger and Alexi von Jawlensky, as well as a primary 1913
Picasso painted construction, were deeded to the museum. Suddenly,
this modest institution held an internationally prominent collection.
During his tenure, Fulton circulated portions of the "Blue Four"
collection and developed early exhibitions of the Abstract
Expressionists in 1954 and later full exhibitions of Man Ray and David
Alfaro Siqueiros.
Thomas Leavitt, Assistant Director at the Fogg Museum, was named
Director in 1957. Leavitt was able to bring the museum to professional
standards of administration and in 1962 he was finally able to hire a
curator, Walter Hopps. Leavitt produced a number of important
modern exhibitions and paid particular attention to artists of West
Coast origin. He presented Richard Diebenkorn and Hassel Smith in
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full exhibitions. His last major show was Robert Motherwell. During
his tenure plans for a new museum moved forward but Leavitt, feeling
them to be unrealizable, resigned in May 1962 to become the Director
of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
Walter Hopps was appointed Acting Director and then Director. He
hired James Demetrion, who had guest-curated a fine jawlensky
exhibition for the museum, as curator. Few funds were available for
acquisitions so the emphasis was placed on changing shows,
originated and borrowed. Several of Hopps' exhibitions, including
Kurt Schwitters (1962), Marcel Duchamp (1963), and "The New
Painting of Common Objects," the first "Pop" art show in an American
museum, brought the museum to national attention. Demetrion
developed exhibitions of Lyonel Feininger, Frank Stella and completed
Hopps' work on a beautiful Joseph Cornell show. Both of them also
developed California art projects.
Also during this period Mrs. Eudorah Moore set up a design section
at the museum which existed as a separate corporation. "California
Design," now in its tenth year, has become an important contribution in
its own right.
Hopps resigned in 1967, primarily because of problems related to the
new building. Demetrion became Director and held the position for a
short two years. One of Demetrion's stipulations for acceptance of the
position was that he would have a minimum of $25,000 per annum for
acquisitions. With this he was able to buy a Joseph Cornell, an
Ellsworth Kelly, a Claes Oldenburg sculpture as well as works by
Robert Irwin and Larry Bell which were the first major collection
additions in several years.
Through all of this the new, controversial Pasadena Art Museum was
being completed at the Carmelita Park site. Demetrion appointed John
Coplans as his curator. Coplans had already produced a successful Roy
Lichtenstein exhibition for the museum in 1967. Then, Demetrion
resigned before the opening of the new museum. Thomas G. Terbell, Jr.,
a young banker and collector, took over the directorship.
The new museum opened in 1969 with a massive exhibition, "Painting
in New York, 1944-1969," organized by guest curator Alan Solomon,
and a smaller exhibition of West Coast artists. The opening was
followed with exhibitions of the Bauhaus, Donald Judd and Andy
Warhol. Soon after, Coplans, and then Tom Terbell, resigned their
positions and William Agee was to see the Pasadena Museum of Art,
fleetingly named the Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, through what
were to be its final days.
Even before the new building opened, critical financial problems had
arisen and afterward the increased cost of operation, past deficits and
64
unpaid building costs made it necessary to close the museum. On May
13, 1974, Norton Simon took possession of the museum and the
existing collections for the presentation of the remarkable collections
which he had formed. An understanding was reached that for five
years 25% of the museum space would remain available for "exhibiting
modern and contemporary art from the permanent Pasadena Museum
collection, the Galka Scheyer Collection and other modern and
contemporary art loaned to the museum for exhibitions."
Thus, an exciting phase of the presentation of modern art in California
came to an end. There can be little question that the Norton Simon
collections are tremendously important to the West Coast and one
prays that they will remain here, but nonetheless one regrets the
circumstances that removed the Pasadena Art Museum from the
pages of future history.
Other California museums and public galleries have also made
substantial contributions to modern art appreciation.
The Oakland Museum, a museum which combines the history, science
and art of the state of California, was founded in its handsome new
building in 1969. However, prior to that time, as the Oakland Art
Gallery, the institution had a long history of service. The gallery,
developed from interest aroused among Bay Area artists by the 1915
Panama- Pacific International Exposition, opened on February 1, 1916.
Robert C. Harshe, former Assistant Director of the Fine Arts
Department of the Exposition, became the first Director and Dr.
William S. Porter, President of the Oakland Art Association, became the
primary patron. Following brief directorial stints by Worth Ryder and
Finn Froelich, William H. Clapp was appointed Director in 1918. With
the assistance of Florence Lehre, Clapp established a progressive
exhibition program. The first West Coast showing of Galka Scheyer's
collection of the "Blue Four" was held there in 1926. It was shown
again in 1931. The primary emphasis was placed upon juried annuals
which used a three-juror system (radical, intermediate, conservative)
that allowed for a broad range of representation from conservative to
the most radically modern.
After Clapp's retirement in 1951 and the temporary leadership of
Lillian Canfield and Alice Mulford, Paul Mills became curator in 1953.
He formalized the regional trend of the gallery's collection and in 1954
established the Archives of California Art to provide a supporting
research program. He also changed the name to the Oakland Art
Museum. Mills produced exhibitions such as "Contemporary Bay Area
Figurative Painting" in 1957 which gave wide credibility to David
Park, Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn and others. "Pop Art USA "
65
281 Frederick Eversley VnlUU-d 1971
of 1963 was an early national survey of that movement and "New
Perspectives in Black American Art," 1968, showed early concern for
democratization.
After Mills went to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in 1970, George
W. Neubert was named Curator of Art. Along with Terry St. John and
the rest of his staff, he has given clarity to the pioneering efforts of
Arthur and Lucia Mathews and Xavier Martinez, as well as producing
well-documented exhibitions of contemporary California art including
a giant showing of monumental sculpture for the urban environment,
and retrospectives of Ronald Davis and Manuel Neri.
The California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the M. H. de Young
Memorial Museum of San Francisco are now combined under one
administration and are known as The Fine Arts Museums of San
Francisco. In recent years, because of a cooperative relationship with
the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, these museums have
minimized their modern art programs with the important exception of
small exhibitions of Bay Area artists such as Bruce Conner, Eleanor
Dickinson, William Allan and Robert Cremean.
During and immediately following the World War II period, Jermayne
MacAgy, Assistant Director of the Legion of Honor, mounted a number
of modern exhibitions including "Contemporary American Painting"
(1945], Charles Howard (1946), Clyfford Still (1947), and Morris Graves
(1948). The de Young Museum, beginning with the era of curator Ninfa
Valvo, did showings of Ralston Crawford, Cameron Booth, Kenzo
Okada and an extended series of exhibitions of local artists including
David Park, )ohn Baxter, Frank Lobdell, Elmer Bischoff, Arthur
Holman, David Simpson, Faralla, Keith Boyle, Howard Hack and Bruce
Beasley.
The UCLA Art Galleries under Frederick S. Wight produced
exhibitions of Arthur Dove, Hans Hofmann, Henri Matisse, Gerhard
Marcks, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Hyman Bloom and Francis Bacon
among others. Wight's tenure also produced a number of special
California-related exhibitions including "The Artist's Environment:
West Coast," "California Painters Thirty-five and Under" and "Fifty
Paintings by Thirty-seven Painters of the Los Angeles Area." Since
Gerald Nordland's directorship, beginning in 1974, exhibitions of
Gaston Lachaise and "Fourteen Abstract Painters" have been formed.
The University Art Museum at the University of California, Berkeley,
under Peter Selz, produced exhibitions of Arnaldo Pomodoro, Richard
Lindner, Hundertwasser, "Directions in Kinetic Sculpture," William T.
Wiley, Harold Paris and the widely known "Funk" exhibition which
67
brought a number of California artists to prominence. Selz was
supported in many of these projects by curators Tom L. Freudenheim
and Brenda Richardson. After Selz' resignation in 1974, exhibitions of
Joan Brown and Joseph Raffael, among others, were developed by
Richardson.
In 1976, James Elliott was offered the opportunity to return to
California as Director of the museum, a challenge which he accepted.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art; Mills College in Oakland; the Los
Angeles Municipal Art Gallery; Pomona College; the University of
Southern California Art Galleries, Los Angeles; Pepperdine College in
Los Angeles; California State University, Long Beach; California State
University, Fullerton; Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles;
California State University, Los Angeles; University of California,
Irvine; University of California, San Diego; University of California,
Santa Barbara; Otis Art Institute Gallery, Los Angeles; San Jose State
University Gallery and the de Saisset Art Gallery and Museum in Santa
Clara have all made significant contributions.
The La JoUa Museum of Art, now the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary
Art, under the directorship of Donald Brewer and now Sebastian Adler,
is doing an excellent job of presenting recent and sometimes difficult
art in the San Diego area.
The Long Beach Museum of Art, now directed by Jan Adlmann, is in a
period of transition as it prepares yet another new museum structure.
Of particular immediate interest in this program is the development of
a wide ranging video art program formed by curator David Ross.
And, the Newport Harbor Art Museum should receive special mention
since it has, under the most adverse conditions of support, been able to
produce a remarkable number of fine exhibitions, the majority of which
have emphasized artists from the area. Often they have been the first to
recognize and provide showings and documentation for emerging
artists.
This section cannot do full justice to the efforts made by institutions,
large and small, in support of modern art in general and modern art of
California in particular. It is also immediately apparent that these
paragraphs are written from the viewpoint of the professional curator
and directors in the field, which is not meant to remove proper
recognition from the fact that no museum or public gallery can exist
without continued work and support of its boards of trustees, volunteer
groups and the membership at large.
68
Schools
Schools have played an important role in the evolution of the style
and character of the art of California. Perhaps more than museums and
galleries the schools have been at the center of art life. They have
served as philosophical as well as art training grounds. They have
served as places of refuge and they have provided employment
opportunities for many of the artists who have needed or wanted
to teach.
No better example of this exists than the San Francisco Art Institute
which through its long and turbulent history has provided a sense of
place. The San Francisco Art Association was founded in 1871, which
in turn spawned the California School of Design in 1874. It was the first
art school west of the Mississippi and the fourth oldest in the nation.
After twenty-two years of existence in modest quarters the Association
gained possession of the Mark Hopkins mansion and the organization
combined under the umbrella title of the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art.
In 1906 the disastrous fire which followed the great earthquake
destroyed the mansion and the largest part of its contents. In less than a
year's time the spirited supporters of art in the city had rebuilt on the
same site and boasted more than three thousand members. Because the
mansion no longer remained and because the group was looking for
wider support the name was changed once again to become the San
Francisco Institute of Art.
After the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915 the Institute maintained a
museum in the Palace of Fine Arts, a temporary structure built for the
Exposition. In 1916 the group instituted an exhibition which presented
over twelve hundred artists from many nations. A significant number
of these were living and working in California. This site was main-
tained until 1926. A new school building, modeled along the lines of a
California mission, was opened on Russian Hill in 1926. This building,
with recent additions, has served as the school until the present time.
Also in 1926 the school became known as the California School of Fine
Arts which was to hold until February 15, 1961, when the present name
of the San Francisco Art Institute was selected.
In 1935 this same association gave birth to the San Francisco Museum
of Art. Separate boards of trustees were established at that time but the
long heritage of kinship is still recognized.
From its inception until World War II the School of the Institute was
structured along academic lines. This was to change in 1945 when
Douglas MacAgy was appointed Director. MacAgy had been brought to
San Francisco in 1941 by Grace McCann Morley to be curator at the San
Francisco Museum of Art. He was an enthusiast for contemporary art
69
53 Helen Lundnberg Double Porfra/t of the Artist in Time 1935
and enjoyed direct contact with artists so when the school position was
offered, he accepted. His plan was to utilize the teaching talents of
some of the most advanced artists of the region such as David Park,
Hassel Smith, Richard Diebenkorn and Clay Spohn and to bring in
some additional thinking artists from outside the area. He employed
Clyfford Still who had been working in the Bay Area and who had just
had his first major gallery exhibition in New York at Peggy
Guggenheim's Art of this Century gallery. He also employed Mark
Rothko and Ad Reinhardt to teach summer sessions. The students
during this exciting five year period from 1945 to 1950 were mostly
returning G.I.'s who took this work very seriously and who were ready
for the new revolutionary art attitudes expressed by Still and the
others.
The school became a hotbed of advanced, large-scale and heavily
pigmented abstraction which in time and appearance rivaled the "New
York School." That era is now referred to as the "Golden Age" of Bay
Area art activity and with some real justification for the methods of
teaching and the independent attitudes instilled by the faculty at that
time are carried over from generation to generation. Since that time the
school has maintained its reputation as a tough, artist-oriented place
and many of the best artists of the region have continued to serve on the
faculty.
The California School of Arts and Crafts was established in Berkeley in
1907 by Dr. Frederick H. Meyer with a handful of his art students from
the earthquake-ravaged Mark Hopkins Institute in San Francisco. The
school's name was changed to the California College of Arts and Crafts
in 1936, a decade after it moved to the present site in the former
Treadwell estate in Oakland.
Even though the school has expanded dramatically over the years the
architectural character of the Treadwell Mansion has been retained and
in 1975 it was named an Oakland historical landmark.
Dr. Meyer's approach to education was derived from the concepts of
the British writer /craftsman William Morris and he stressed a unified
approach to the arts and crafts. Interestingly, Meyer disagreed with the
Morris edict that the machine was a destructive force in society and in
building his program around the arts and crafts he accepted machine
technology. Thus the school can be looked upon as a prototype of the
German Bauhaus.
The school was distinguished in its first fifteen years of existence when
it was recognized by the California State Board of Education with its
first accreditation. It remains the only private art college in the state
71
which is authorized to recommend candidates for the California
Secondary Teaching Credential and the Standard Elementary
Credential.
The Art Department of the University of California in Berkeley was
founded in 1902. Mills College in Oakland, one of California's oldest
colleges, was established in 1852 to train young women in life
preparation and the arts.
The development of art schools in Southern California was not far
behind with the establishment of several schools before the turn of the
century. Among the earliest of these was the Stickney Memorial Art
School in Pasadena which was founded in 1896 by Susan Horner
Stickney to honor her sister Anna Stickney Whitney. Not atypically for
the Los Angeles area, the school took the configuration of a replica of
Anne Hathaway's cottage in Stratford-on-Avon. It was dedicated to the
course of art in Southern California. After serving its purpose the
school was sold in 1934 to raise funds for the Pasadena Art Institute
which was later to become the Pasadena Art Museum.
Another Southern California experiment which was to have more effect
on the development of modern attitudes was the Art Students League
of Los Angeles founded in 1906 by Hanson Duvall Puthuff. Rex
Slinkard, one of the earliest modernist thinkers, began to teach there in
1910 with students such as Nick Brigante. In 1918, after his return from
Paris and his founding of the school of Synchromism, Stanton
Macdonald-Wright was to become the school's leader. The members
clustered around this school organized as the "Group of Independents"
who in their first exhibition in 1923 offered a strong manifesto in
support of modernist ideas. Macdonald-Wright, Boris Deutsch, Peter
Krasnow, Nick Brigante, Ben Berlin and Max Reno were among the
included artists.
The two early schools which had the greatest influence and which
exist to the present time are Otis Art Institute and Chouinard Art
Institute.
Otis Art Institute was established in 1918 when, shortly before his
death, General Harrison Gray Otis, founder of the Los Angeles Times
newspaper turned over his residence, "The Bivouac," to the county of
Los Angeles for the advancement of art in the West. The school became
affiliated through county supervision with the new Los Angeles
Museum of History, Science and Art in Exposition Park. The property
adjacent to "The Bivouac," located on Wilshire Boulevard, was
acquired in 1939 and in 1954 major rebuilding and expansion was
undertaken. The school was reorganized to be able to offer a Master of
Fine Arts degree. Among other significant contributions the school's
72
strong ceramics department gave credibility to the ceramic sculpture
breakthrough of Peter Voulkos and John Mason. Otis is still
administered by the county with strong internal support groups and
has several hundred full-time students.
Chouinard Art Institute was founded by Nelbert Chouinard, an East
Coast-trained art educator who came to Southern California in 1909.
That same year she began teaching design and crafts at the Throop
Polytechnic histitute in Pasadena.
It is an interesting sidelight that the Throop Polytechnic Institute was
established to develop the total person. Both male and female students
took classes in science, natural history, art and a special series of
classes in the manual arts of wood and metal working. By 1920 the
teaching of science became emphasized and the Institute went on to
become the California Institute of Technology.
Nelbert Chouinard opened the art institute which bore her name in
1921 at a location close to Otis Art Institute, for the school was founded
to take care of the overflow from that popular school. In the post-World
War II period the two strong schools became rivals and as Otis became
more structured, Chouinard became more open and responsive to more
aggressive modes of representation. Instructors such as Richards
Ruben, John Altoon and Robert Irwin turned out students such as Larry
Bell, Edward Ruscha, Joe Goode and Stephan von Huene, among others.
In 1961 the Institute joined forces with the Los Angeles Conservatory of
Music and became known as the California Institute of the Arts.
Massive funding from a bequest by Walt Disney allowed them to build
an extensive new campus in Valencia, some thirty miles north of Los
Angeles. The premise of this new school was to integrate all of the
arts — music, dance, theater, poetry and the visual arts along the
Utopian lines of the earlier German Bauhaus. The recent history has
been turbulent and it is yet too early to document the results.
During the mid-1940's another short-lived but influential school
developed in Los Angeles as the Jepson Art Institute. The school
evolved to take advantage of the many returning G.I.'s who were
looking for an art education outside of the university and formal art
school structure. Rico Lebrun, then the dominant force in Southern
California art, was the primary instructor with the support of long-time
visitors such as Eugene Berman. Artists from that school like William
Brice and Howard Warshaw have carried this tradition forward in their
teaching and their art.
The Art Center School in Los Angeles is primarily concerned with
teaching design and commercial art but it has for decades served as a
platform for the ideas and teachings of Lorser Feitelson.
73
In the 1950's the California system of universities and colleges
exploded into a massive network which presently includes nine
fully-recognized universities, nineteen state universities and one
hundred and five community colleges. Almost all of these schools have
art departments and several have good-to-excellent departments of art
history which are beginning to produce scholars and teachers who
have a special affinity for the art of California.
The University of California with campuses in Berkeley, Los Angeles,
Santa Barbara, Davis, Irvine, San Diego and Santa Cruz has unusually
strong art programs as do the state universities in San Francisco, San
Fernando Valley, Long Beach and San Jose. Even during the recent
recession enrollment in the fine arts departments of these schools held
steady while many other majors declined. Thus California, a state
which has had from the inception an unusually high number of
art-involved residents, continues to expand. In the mid-nineteenth
century many artists were drawn here because of the unspoiled natural
beauty of the sea, the coastal hills, the valleys and the great forests of
tall trees — more recently they have come to participate in the
hospitable social climate. For many, California still remains an open
dream.
74
299 Ralph Goings Paul's Corner 1970
Collecting
The collecting of modern art in California by private patrons has had
an erratic history, one marked by periods of great activity followed by
lengthy pauses.
In Northern California early interest in collecting was spurred by Sarah
and Michael Stein who returned to the Bay Area from Europe shortly
after the 1906 earthquake. They brought with them not only the
romance of Paris and news of the illustrious Gertrude, but also the first
paintings of Matisse to come to the United States. Their influence is felt
to the present day through the extended patronage and collections of
Mr. and Mrs. WaUer A. Haas, Sr., Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Crocker and
Harriet Lane Levy. Fortunately, many of the fine works from these
collections have found their way to the San Francisco museums along
with large parts of the collections of Albert M. Bender, William L.
Gerstle, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Lilienthal, Charlotte Mack, Jeanne Reynal
and Mrs. Henry Potter Russell.
Mrs. Alexander Albert, Mr. and Mrs. Prentis Cobb Hale, Mrs. Edgar
Sinton and Mr. and Mrs. Hans Popper developed good collections as
did Mr. and Mrs. Grover Magnin, who specialized in the French
Impressionists, and Mr. and Mrs. Jaquelin Hume who prefer the
German Expressionists. The collection of Madeleine Haas Russell is
the most comprehensive of those dealing with the twentieth century
European masters. In the 1940's Gordon Onslow Ford, an artist and
early enthusiast of Surrealism, brought his collection of Yves Tanguy,
Giorgio de Chirico, Paul Delvaux and others to the Bay Area from
Britain.
Collecting emphasis was placed almost completely upon modern
European art until the 1950's when Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Bransten, Mr.
and Mrs. Wellington Henderson, Mrs. Sally Lilienthal and Mr. Mason
B. Wells began to take interest in American movements and collected
works by Franz Kline, Hans Hofmann, Mark Rothko and Morris Louis.
They also began to collect representative examples of the art produced
in California as did John and Rena Bransten, Mary Keesling, Mr. and
Mrs. A. Hunter Land, II, Mr. and Mrs. Moses Lasky, Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Lauter, Byron Meyer, Mr. and Mrs. James Newman, William S. Picher
and Walter Goodman and Rene di Rosa. Just now other collections are
beginning to form.
Dr. Samuel West and Nell Sinton both developed good collections of
contemporary Bay Area art.
Mr. and Mrs. C. David Robinson collect in the contemporary American
field, including California, and hold examples of Ellsworth Kelly,
Morris Louis, John McLaughlin, Larry Bell, Robert Hudson and
William Wiley, among others. Almost all Northern California
collectors maintain close ties to the local art scene but the Robinsons
76
are exemplary in their hospitality to developing artists.
Unquestionably, the most impressive and comprehensive collection of
modern art in Northern California has been developed over the past ten
years by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Anderson. They began by collecting
prime examples of early American and British furniture and then were
lured into collecting lesser examples of French Impressionism which
disappointed them. So, after gaining significant expertise, they
launched into the art of the twentieth century. Painting and sculpture
are their specialty areas though drawings and prints also consume their
interest. Important works by Picasso, Giacometti, the early American
modernists, the Abstract Expressionists, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper
Johns and many of the American artists of the 1960's, as well as a large
collection of California contemporary art, grace their home and the
offices and working spaces of Saga Foods, Mr. Anderson's company in
Menlo Park, California.
The pattern of collecting in Southern California is not dissimilar except
that there has been more of it. However, while most Northern California
collections are eventually given to the museums in the area, several
select Southern California collections have been sold off or
disappeared to the East Coast.
The earliest example of such a loss was the collection of Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Arensberg who moved to the Los Angeles area from the East in
the 1930's. The Arensbergs developed an extraordinary collection of
twentieth century art which included several exceptional works each
by the early Cubists, Constantin Brancusi, the Surrealists and Marcel
Duchamp. Their great desire to have the collection housed in a Los
Angeles museum was thwarted when both the Los Angeles County
Museum and UCLA refused to meet their terms of gift. The collection
is presently housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art where it has
already served to educate several generations toward an understanding
of modern art.
As early as 1925, Galka Scheyer began to represent Wassily Kandinsky,
Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger and Alexi von Jawlensky on the West
Coast. She entitled the group the "Blue Four" in homage to their
historical association to the "Blue Rider" movement in Germany.
Essentially a dealer, Scheyer pursued her interests with great energy
and arranged showings up and down the California coast. There was
no market and upon her death the extensive holdings were placed in
the Pasadena Art Museum, now the Norton Simon Museum of Art.
The Ruth McC. Maitland collection, which reflected the taste of her
friend Walter Arensberg through excellent examples of Picasso,
Kandinsky, Dali and Miro, was, at the time of her death, sold off by the
77
78
heirs. The collection of Mr. and Mrs. George Garde da Silva which
emphasized the French Impressionists and the collection of Preston
Harrison which had good American work of the 1930's suffered better
fates and were turned over intact to the Los Angeles Gounty Museum of
Art in the 1940's. Film pioneer Josef von Sternberg developed a fine
comprehensive art collection some of which also found its way into the
museum's collection.
Mr. and Mrs. William Goetz collected importantly in the field of the
French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists as did film actor
Edward G. Robinson. Unfortunately, the best of the Robinson collection
was dispersed in a divorce settlement. The movie colony as such has
not provided as many major collections as one might think but
Robinson, Vincent Price, who has a sensitive eye for drawings, and
Sterling Holloway, who was among the earliest collectors of Galifornia
art, became well- known proselytizers for art understanding through
speaking engagements and television appearances.
The Reverend James McLand built a nice collection of Marc Ghagall
and Mr. and Mrs. Donald Winston sensitively collected lovely works
including those of Oskar Kokoshka, Odilon Redon and Joan Miro.
During the post- World War II era a number of important modern
collections began to develop. Mr. and Mrs. Sidney F. Brody collected
exceptional examples of Pablo Picasso, Pierre Bonnard, Amedeo
Modigliani and Henri Matisse. Matisse's last commission was for a
large ceramic wall in the patio of the Brody home. The paper model
for this work is at UCLA. Mr. and Mrs. B. Gerald Gantor began their
monumental collection of Rodin sculpture. A large part of the
collection which was developed through their foundation is now
placed at Stanford University and the Los Angeles Gounty Museum
of Art.
Mr. and Mrs. Gifford Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick R. Weisman, Mr.
and Mrs. Taft Schreiber, Mr. and Mrs. Milton Sperling, Mr. and Mrs.
Stanley Freeman, Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Hirsch and Mr. and Mrs. David
E. Bright all began to be responsive to American abstract art even while
retaining an interest in European modernism.
Upon the death of David Bright in 1965 his collection was divided
between the Los Angeles Gounty Museum of Art, which received the
paintings, and UGLA, which received the sculpture. The paintings
greatly enhanced the museum 's collection and the sculpture provided
the impetus for the development of an excellent, evolving sculpture
garden at UGLA which has recently been named to honor retired
Chancellor Franklin Murphy.
It was also during this period that Norton Simon began to build his
fabled collection which became increasingly historical in its emphasis
308 Tom Akawie Pyramid Sunset 1974
80
but which nonetheless contains brilliant examples of early twentieth
century material.
In the early 1960's a number of younger and more venturesome
collectors were reaching toward Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns,
Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol as well as the more
advanced Californians. Mr. and Mrs. Donald Factor and Mr. and Mrs.
Dennis Hopper gathered balanced collections which are now
dispersed.
The leading collectors of Southern California contemporary art are
Betty Asher, Sterling Holloway, Mr. and Mrs. Monte Factor, Mr. and
Mrs. Stanley Grinstein, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Blankfort, Laura Lee
Stearns and Diana Zlotnick. Bart Lytton built a well-rounded collection
of Southern California artists and opened a public gallery in his
Savings and Loan Headquarters.
The premier Southern California collection of American art of the
1960's was developed by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rowan and includes
multiple examples of Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski,
Ronald Davis and William Wiley, among others.
Mr. and Mrs. Bert Kleiner developed an excellent collection from the
same decade which included many examples of California art which
were given to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
In Santa Barbara the influence of Donald and Esther Bear upon
collectors and art appreciators was profound. Wright Ludington has
been the most thoughtful collector of everything from classical to
surrealist art and many of his objects have found their way into the
collection of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
The period from 1950 to 1968 has marked the zenith of Los Angeles
collecting so far. Since that time the combination of education and
enthusiasm has been lacking to support collector interest. Bay Area
collectors seem to be developing a strong interest in support of the
artists of the West Coast but it is still too early to say how this will
develop.
Quite apart from the momentary lull in activity, it can be stated without
qualification that the growth of art collecting in California over the past
thirty years has been nothing short of dramatic. This is even more true
in pre-twentieth century collecting. The J. Paul Getty Museum in
Malibu, with its magnificent new inheritance which is estimated to be
four million dollars annually, will continue to develop its collection of
Greek and Roman classical art. The public presentation of the Norton
Simon collection in his own museum provides impetus for scholarship
in many areas. This combined with the general collection growth of the
art museums throughout the state establishes a solid base for study and
developed appreciation for the visual arts.
In the listing of dimensions, height
precedes width precedes depth.
Unitalicized, parenthetical entries
in the checklist are descriptive
information only.
81
1 Modem Dawn in California:
The Bay Area
Equally important to (Arthur F.] Mathews' style is the California
landscape. The California landscape is truly distinctive in its contours,
coloring, foliage and atmosphere. Arthur Mathews was frequently
asked why an artist of his remarkable ability should prefer San
Francisco to the art centers of the Eastern seaboard or those of Europe.
"Why do I stay in California?" he asked, "California is an undiscovered
country for the painter. It hasn't been touched. The forms and colors of
our countryside haven't begun to yield their secrets ..."
The tawny gold of California's summer hillsides and a glimpse of the
sea beyond is characteristic of the Mathews style. Occasional views of
urban scenery in his paintings consistently reflect the typical local
architecture in both color and style.
The mood of Mathews' paintings, whether portrait, figurative or
landscape, is typically quiet and serene. The mood of revery in his
portrait studies recalls that of Whistler.
Further regional aspects of this so-called style derive from the
Mathews' followers. Although there was never a movement or a school
of art per se that could be identified with Mathews in the way certain
other art movements were created, evidence of his widespread
influence among California artists is evident.
Certain aspects of the California Decorative style can be seen in the
works of several noted California artists. Gottardo Piazzoni, Xavier
Martinez, Francis McComas, Carl Armin Hansen and of course Lucia
Mathews are but a few artists whose works bear testimony to the
master's influence.
Source: Harvey L. Jones, catalog
essay for Mathews: Masterpieces
of the California Decorative Style,
The Oakland Museum, California,
1972.
A group of young artists, fresh with ideas and techniques, founded
the California Society of Artists in 1902. This society was formed in
reaction to conservative academic attitudes which restricted freer
expressions and opportunities for the younger artists. Listed as
founding members are Gottardo Piazzoni, Xavier T. Martinez, Blendon
R. Campbell, Arthur Putnam, L. Maynard Dixon, Charles P. Nelson,
W.H. Bull and Matteo Sandona.
A manifesto published in May, 1902, on the occasion of their first group
exhibition solicits cooperation and makes clear their goals:
82
California Society of Artists
Manifesto
As the California Society of Artists wishes to enlist your interest and
cooperation in the movement for which it is organized, the objects of
the society are here set forth:
1st To benefit local art and artists by stimulating interest in art. To
benefit equally the members of this society and all other artists
who may exhibit with it, by bringing them into close contact with
the public by holding independent semi-annual exhibitions
which shall be more accessible to the public at large than those
previously held here.
2nd To bring the artists themselves into closer and friendlier contact
with one another by maintaining an independent society of artists,
conducted exclusively by and for artists.
3rd To give the younger artists a freer opportunity of showing what
they can do — providing always that their work be of good quality.
Local artists are asked to exhibit with this society, the work of our own
members being subject to just as searching criticism and careful
selection as that of non-members. The intention of the society is to
enlarge its membership to the fullest extent upon the basis of good
work.
Source: George W. Neubert,
catalog essay for Xavier Martinez
[1669-1943), The Oakland
Museum, California, 1974.
83
Checklist
Lucia Mathews
1 Sand Dunes with Beach LJmbrelia
in Background, 1899, oil on wood
panel, 101/4x8%"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Mr. Harold Wagner
Arthur Mathews
2 Landscape — San Francisco, not
dated, oil on canvas, 26x30"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
the Art Guild, The Oakland Museum
Association
3 The Swan, not dated, oil on canvas,
26x23"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
the Art Guild, The Oakland Museum
Association
Gottardo Piazzoni
4 Brushy Hillside, 1904, oil on
canvas, 43V2X29V2"
Lent by University Art Museum,
Berkeley, University of California,
Gift of Ansley K. Salz, San Francisco
5 The Channel, 1918, oil on canvas,
34V2X46"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, The
Oakland Museum Founders' Fund
Xavier Martinez
6 Untitled (eucalyptus trees),
1915-1918, oil on cardboard, 20x22"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California,
Extended loan of Mr. and Mrs. Peter
Bosko
Maynard Dixon
7 Mesas in Shadow, 1926, oil on
canvas, 30x40"
Lent by Brigham Young University,
Provo, Utah, Brigham Yoimg
University Permanent Collection
Lucien Labaudt
8 L'Homme au Chapeau Gris (Man
with Gray Hat), circa 1920, oil on
canvas, 26X28V4"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Mrs. Lucien Labaudt
84
1 Lucia Mathews Sand Dunes with Beach
Umbrella in Background 1899
2 Arthur Mathews Landscape — San Francisco not dated
5 Gottardo Piazzoni The Channel 1918
85
Xavier Martinez Untitled (eucalyptus trees) 1915-1918 7 Maynard Dixon Mesas in Shadow
Lucien Labaudt L'Homme au Chapeau Gris circa 1920
86
2 The Oakland Six and
Clayton S. Price
Society of Six
All the members of "The Six," Louis Siegriest, Maurice Logan, William
Clapp, August Gay, Selden Gile and Bernard von Eichman, discovered
for themselves during their long association what it was like to be an
artist and a member of a close-knit, self-conscious art movement. They
all had strong and independent personalities that helped them to
avoid the studied and artificial attitudes previously adopted by past
generations of Europeanized California artists. The Society of Six was
intensely devoted to its self-imposed rough-and-tumble ideas. The
members sensed that they were not making new art merely for the sake
of newness, but with an exhilaration that was born from overthrowing
subservient attitudes toward previously sanctified art modes. They
were a part of the Bay Area art scene in the Twenties, but they had an
allegiance primarily to themselves . . . they were forced to be their own
best audience. Influences on the Society of Six artists ranged from 19th
century Impressionism to European abstraction. Although it is fairly
easy to trace their more obvious influences, they nonetheless managed
to fashion their individualistic painting styles into a fresh and
ingenuous genre that appears generally American and specifically
Californian. It is regional painting in the best sense of the word.
Source: Terry St. John, catalog
essay for Society of Six, The
Oakland Museum, California,
1972.
Clayton S. Price
There followed a period of experimentation, which betrays a self-
conscious concern with manner and style, typical of the work of the
younger artists of the area. Still faithful to his farm and animal themes,
he painted them now in Gauguinesque decorative silhouette and now
in simplified Cezannesque volumes, but in neither idiom did they
seem completely at home.
About 1925 Price began to carve and paint wood and cork models of
animals and farm workers. These little figures, frequently miniature
sculptures of a high order, were part of an effort to simplify his
conception of three-dimensional form and to strengthen the
organization of his canvases. Horses in Barnyard is a careful, almost
literal, rendering of these carvings, placed among paint rags on a table
top.
Source: Priscilla C. Colt, "Notes Memorial Exhibition, Portland Art
on the Artist's Development," in Museum, Oregon, 1951.
catalog, C.S. Price 1874-1950: A
87
checklist
William Clapp
9 Estuaiy Dwellings, 1920-1930, oil
on plywood, 20x16%"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Mr. Donn Schroder
10 Oakland Yacht CJub, 1920-1930,
oil on chipboard, 14^8X18"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Mr. Donn Schroder
August Gay
11 Ranch in Carmel Valley, 1925, oil
on paperboard, 8%xll%"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Dr. and Mrs. Frederick Novy
12 Untitled (garden scene), not
dated, oil on panel, 15V4XI8V4"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California,
Extended loan of Mrs. August Gay
Selden Gile
13 Untitled (fishermen in
Belvedere), not dated, oil on
paperboard, 17x14"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Dr. and Mrs. Wallace W. Hall
14 Untitled (country scene), not
dated, oil on canvas, llxl5"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Mr. Louis Siegriest
Maurice Logan
15 Old Milk Ranch, 1925, oil on
paperboard, lOx 113/4"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California,
Extended loan of the artist
16 Point Richmond, 1929, oil on
canvas, 14y8Xl7%"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Mr. Louis Siegriest
Louis Siegriest
17 Oakland Quarry, 1920, oil on
paperboard, 12x I6V4"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
the artist
18 Landscape, 1926, oil on
paperboard, 13y4Xl6V8"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California,
Extended loan of the artist
Bernard von Eichman
19 China Street Scene No. 1, 1923, oil
on paperboard, 191/4 x leW
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Mr. Louis Siegriest
20 China Street Scene No. 11. 1923,
oil on paperboard, 21 x 14"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Mr. Louis Siegriest
Clayton S. Price
21 Coastline, circa 1924, oil on
canvas, 40V8X50"
Lent by Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.
22 Horses in Barnyard, circa 1925,
oil on canvas, 241/2x291/2"
Lent by Douglas and Alexandra
Lynch, Portland, Oregon
23 Cart with Two Wheels, not dated,
painted wood, 2 x 21/4 x 31/4"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
24 Man, Legs Spread, not dated,
painted wood, 2V8Xiy8X%"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
25 Man with Hands on Hips, not
dated, painted wood, 31/4x11/2x1/4"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
26 Standing Calf, not dated, painted
wood and rope, 1 1/2 x 21/4 x %"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
27 Standing CoJt, not dated, painted
wood, rope and leather, 25/8x3x3/4"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
28 Standing Cow, not dated, painted
wood, 23/8x4x3/4"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
29 Standing, Grazing Horse, not
dated, painted wood, 25/8X4x34"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
30 Standing Horse, not dated,
painted wood, 21/2x3^x3/4"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
31 Standing Indian Woman, not
dated, painted wood, 3x11/4x3/4"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
32 Standing Sow, not dated, painted
wood, 11/8x2x1/4"
Lent by Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
89
11 August Gay Ranch in Carmel Valley 1925
9 William Clapp Estuary DweHings 1920-1930
13 Selden Gile Untitled (fishermen in Belvedere) not dated
90
16 Maurice Logan Point Richmond 1929
17 Louis Siegriest Oakland Quarry 1920
20 Bernard von Eichman China Street Scene No. /I 1923
91
22 Clayton S. Price Horses in Barnyard circa 1925
Clayton S. Price Carved Wood Figures not dated
92
3 Pioneer Moderns: Los Angeles
Rex Slinkard
Slinkard studied under Robert Henri and at the College of Fine Arts,
U.S.C. He also studied at the Art Students League of Los Angeles where
he later (1910) took charge of the classes. In his spare time from teach-
ing he painted poetic canvases at his father's ranch in Saugus.
Source: Nancy Dustin Wall Moure,
Dictionary of Art and Artists in
Southern California, Los Angeles,
1975.
The Group of Independents
The Group of Independent Artists of Los Angeles held its first
exhibition in 1923. S. Macdonald-Wright wrote in the foreword to the
exhibition catalogue a plea for fairness in judgment.
The exhibitors with survival power were Boris Deutsch who showed a
vigorous landscape, Peter Krasnow, and, of course, Macdonald-Wright
himself, with Santa Monica Canyon , a watercolor partially abstract and
quite oriental in conception if one is not reading too much of Wright's
history into a dim reproduction. Wright had been teaching since 1921
at the new Art Students League of Los Angeles. He had already
established his early place in art history when he was a young painter
in Paris before the first World War. Synchromism, the movement or
invention associated with his name, was sufficiently related to Cubism
to be grafted successfully on that tree. It was nonetheless distinct, a
development that Wright shared with his friend, Morgan Russell, and it
was doubtless due to Wright that Russell contributed two paintings to
the show. The sculptor Zorach and Thomas Benton were also out-of-
town contributors. A Nolde-like flower scene by Nick Brigante brought
the German Expressionist way of seeing to Los Angeles, Max Reno
painted a skeleton as a cellist bowing a female figure called Dying
Vienna, and a geometric abstraction by Ben Berlin was all circles, rays,
and saw-tooth patterns, quite in step with Kandinsky of the early
1920's.
Source: Frederick S. Wight,
catalog essay for The Artist's
Environment: West Coast, Amon
Carter Museum of Western Art,
Fort Worth, Texas, 1962.
93
checklist
Stanton Macdonald- Wright
33 Los Angeles Landscape, 1903,
painted when the artist was 13 years
old, oil on panel, 16x8"
Lent by the Estate of Stanton
Macdonald-Wright, Santa Monica,
California
34 Canon Synchromy (Orange), circa
1919, oil on canvas, 24V8x24y8"
Lent by University Gallery,
University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, Gift of lone and Hudson
Walker
35 Fire Synchromy, 1925, oil on
canvas, 18x18"
Lent by Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica,
California
36 Dragon Forms, 1926, oil on panel,
26x151/2"
Lent by The Harmon Gallery, Naples,
Florida
Rex Stinkard
37 My Song, 1915-1916, oil on
canvas, 37y2X5lV2"
Lent by Stanford University Museum
of Art, Stanford, California, Estate of
Florence Williams
Nick Brigante
38 Porcelain and Oranges, 1931,
watercolor on paper, 15 x 22"
Lent by the artist
39 Animated Rocker, 1948,
watercolor on paper, 27x20"
Lent by the artist
40 Mitosis of Sea Plankton, 1956, oil
on canvas, 60x36"
Lent by the artist
Peter Krasnow
41 Untitled, 1940-1945, walnut,
8OV4XI6XI8V2"
Lent by the artist
42 K-1 , 1944, oil on board, 48 x 35^8"
Lent by the artist
43 K-3, 1953, oil on board,
473/4x671/8"
Lent by the artist
Ben Berlin
44 Untitled, 1937, casein on firtex,
221/4x281/2"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Lorser
Feitelson, Los Angeles, California
Oskar Fischinger
45 Circles, Triangles and Squares,
1938, oil on canvas, 48% x 36%"
Lent by Mrs. Oskar Fischinger, West
Hollywood, California
46 Tower, 1954, oil on canvas,
36x48"
Lent by Mrs. Oskar Fischinger, West
Hollywood, California
Knud Merrild
47 Equilibrium, 1938, painted wood
and metal, 2 1 1/2 x 14^8 x 2"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Conrad Arensberg
48 Flux Bouquet, 1947, oil on canvas
mounted on composition board,
19x141/2"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, Gift of Dr. William
R. Valentiner
Charls Tracy
49 The Sun Bathers, circa 1940,
tempera on paper, 17x22"
Lent by Helen Wurdemann, Los
Angeles, California
94
33 Stanton Macdonald-Wright
Los Angeles Landscape 1903
42 Peter Krasnow K-1 1944
39 Nick Brigante Animated Rocker 1948
37 RexSlinkard My Song 1915-1916
95
44 Ben Berlin Untitled 1937
45 Oskar Fischinger Circles, Triangles and Squares 1938
49 Charls Tracy The Sun Bathers circa 1940
47 Knud Merrild Equilibrium 1938
96
4 Early Surrealist Explorations
On the West Coast of the United States, the "subjectively-organized"
paintings of Helen Lundeberg and Lorser Feitelson of the early 1930's
culminated in their joint exhibition of twenty California Post-Surrealist
paintings in the Hollywood Centaur Gallery in 1934. Other artists from
Northern and Southern California soon joined the new American
movement, and in 1936 the California Post-Surrealists were invited to
exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum for four months. From this substantial
avant-garde presentation, works by the founders of this movement
along with paintings by Knud Merrild were later presented in the
"Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism" exhibition of the same year at The
Museum of Modern Art in New York. For these pioneer painters of the
1930's it must seem ironic to have made works of art nearly half a
century ago that today might seem avant-garde, especially since after
their initial explorations many West Coast artists continually engaged
themselves with surrealism in one form or another, even when later
developments such as Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Minimal and
Conceptual Art arrived on the international art scene.
Source: Joseph E. Young, "Los
Angeles," Art International,
Volume XV, No. 4, April 20, 1971.
97
Checklist
Lorser Feitelson
50 Genesis, First Version, 1934, oil
on composition board, 24x30"
San Francisco Museum of Modem
Art, California, Gift of Helen Klokke
51 Magical Forms, 1948, oil on
canvas, 36x30"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Lorser
Feitelson, Los Angeles, California
Helen Lundeberg
52 Artist, Flowers and Hemispheres,
1934, oil on celotex panel, 23^8 x 30"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Helen Klokke
53 DoublePortraito/ the Artist in
Time, 1935, oil on fiberboard, 48x40"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Lorser
Feitelson, Los Angeles, California
Knud Merrild
54 Third Month, 1935, oil on
masonite, ISVsXlS'A"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Conrad Arensberg
Agnes Pelton
55 Orbits, 1934, oil on canvas,
361/2X30"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Concours d'Antiques, Art Guild, The
Oakland Museum Association
98
50 Lorser Feitelson Genesis, First Version 1934
52 Helen Lundeberg Artist, Flowers and Hemispheres 1934
54 KnudMerrild Third iWonfh 1935
55 Agnes Pelton Orbits 1934
99
5 Public Art of the 1930's
In 1930 the Federal Government moved into California with the Federal
Art Project and many of the more experienced artists were put to work
on decoration for public buildings. The mural exercised a disciplining
influence on the artists' work as it demanded specific subject matter
and the creation of a special design to fill an allotted space.
Among the interesting murals of this period remaining today are the
decoration at the Mother House at the Fleishhacker Zoo, executed by
Helen Forbes and Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli, the Beach Chalet
decorations by Lucien Labaudt, the murals by Piazzoni in the Public
Library, the decoration in the interior of the Aquatic Park Building,
now the Marine Museum, by Hilaire Hiler, and the beautiful slate relief
above the facade of the building by Sargent Johnson.
Stimulated by the interest in mural decoration, Charles Peter Weeks,
architect of the Mark Hopkins Hotel, commissioned Maynard Dixon
and Frank Van Sloun to execute murals for the Room of the Dons, and
Ray Boynton, just returned from a trip to Mexico, to do an encaustic in
the dining room. Later both Dixon and Van Sloun were given a
commission by Weeks to decorate the Sacramento Library.
Timothy Pflueger, the architect of 450 Sutter Street, who later became
President of the San Francisco Art Association, and in 1939-40 the head
of the Department of Fine Arts at the hiternational Exposition, was
instrumental in employing many artists by incorporating their work in
his buildings. He commissioned Stackpole to do the sculpture on the
outside of the Stock Exchange and several artists — Adaline Kent, Ruth
Cravath, Otis Oldfield, Bob Howard, and others — to decorate the
interior of the Stock Exchange Club, but in selecting an artist to execute
the fresco on the stairway, he and Bertram Alanson, President of the
Club, brought Diego Rivera from Mexico. Several years later Rivera was
again commissioned by William Gerstle to execute the murals for the
California School of Art.
Source: Beatrice Judd Ryan, "The
Rise of Modern Art in the Bay
Area," California Historical
Society Quarterly, Vol. XXXVIH,
No. 1, March 1959.
100
checklist
Maynard Dixon
56 Free Speech, 1934-1936, oil on
canvas, 36X40"
Lent by Brigham Young University,
Provo, Utah, Harold R. Clark
Memorial Collection
Sargent Johnson
57 Negro Woman, not dated,
lacquered cloth over wood,
28XI2V4XII"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Albert M.
Bender
Ralph Stackpole
58 Study /or San Francisco Stock
Exchange (man), not dated, cement,
10x5x21/2"
Lent by Hansel Hagel, Santa Rosa,
California
59 Study/or San Francisco Stock
Exchange (woman), not dated,
cement, IOX5X2V2"
Lent by Hansel Hagel, Santa Rosa,
California
Beniamino Bufano
60 Female Torso, not dated, black
gran ite , 2 2 1/4 x 1 0 V2 x 7 V2"
Lent by The Fine Arts Museums of
San Francisco: California Palace of
the Legion of Honor, Gift of Mr. and
Mrs. Budd Rosenberg
Millard Sheets
61 Angel's Flight, 1931, oil on
canvas, 5OV4X 40"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, Gift of Mrs. L.M.
Maitland
101
56 Maynard Dixon Free Speech 1934-1936
59 Ralph Stackpole Study /or San Francisco Stock
Exchange (woman) not dated
57 SdrgeTil Johnson Negro Woman not dated
102
61 Millard Sheets Angel's Flight 1931
60 Beniamino Bufano Female Torso not dated
103
6 Into Abstraction:
The Bay Region 1930-1945
During the years preceding World War II, years filled with economic
chaos and signs of war, painting and sculpture in the San Francisco
Bay Area continued in a traditional, almost reactionary, direction. The
art produced outside the federal art program, like that within it, was
tied to the American scene, or magical visions of it. Most of the Bay
Region artists practiced some form of realism, while a few developed
individual styles. Grace Clements, working in what she termed
"modern classicism," painted ordered architectural works, concerned
primarily with formal relationships. Matthew Barnes, a romantic,
produced eloquent moonlit scenes, set with ghostly buildings and
inhabited by solitary Ryderesque figures.
Around 1938, however, a change began to occur and the wave of
abstraction which had lain quietly beneath the swell of Social Realism
and American Regionalism in the country, began to make itself felt in
the Bay Area. Some artists, like Ruth Armer who had exhibited abstract
paintings as early as 1930, continued to work in the abstract tradition.
For others, abstraction was an entirely new adventure. These artists
tended to take several paths.
The artists connected with the University of California, Berkeley,
generally went toward Cubism. The influence of Hans Hofmann, a
great advocate of Cubism who had taught in Berkeley in 1930 and 1931,
continued to be felt in the works of those after him. David Park's
Woman in Red and White Robe shows quite directly the impact of
Cubism with its planar construction and ambiguous space sense. James
McCray, a student in the early thirties, also shows the effects of his
Berkeley years in his disciplined picture structuring and emphasis on
the horizontal and vertical.
Other artists, particularly those clustered around the California School
of Fine Arts, moved toward the surrealist end of abstraction. Charles
Howard, who had exhibited with the International Surrealist Group in
London in 1936, came to San Francisco in 1940 and remained there six
years before returning to England. His works, with their biomorphic
forms interlaced with linear elements, were widely exhibited during
his stay and their influence was considerable.
104
Adaline Kent and her husband, Robert Howard, brother of Charles,
both began to concern themselves with abstract problems. Kent, who
had worked in a realistic, cut-direct tradition derived from her Paris
training with Antoine Bourdelle, moved to three-dimensional works
using organic forms controlled geometrically and often overlaid with
simple linear tracings. In the early forties, Robert Howard worked
through strongly Cubist sculpture, then developed his large carved
wood sculptures which employed abstract forms jutting into space and
often used motion to underline the thrusts of these forms.
Clay Spohn moved toward Dada, experimenting with ideas he had
garnered in Paris during a visit in 1926-1927. In his exhibition.
Fantastic War Machines and Guerragraphs, held at the San Francisco
Museum of Art in 1942, he showed color drawings of his dream
reactions to World War II, fantasy forts and phantom tanks, all
realistically drawn, illustrations of dreams. Later in the forties his
images took on less realistic forms, and he employed abstract
curvilinear shapes, broadly painted.
With this background of abstraction in the Bay Region, the stage was
set for the emergence of Abstract Expressionism.
Katherine Church Holland
105
Checklist
Ruth Armer
62 Immaterial Forms, circa 1940, oil
on canvas, 26V2X38"
Lent by the artist
Matthew Barnes
63 Night Scene, circa 1932, oil on
canvas, 35x42"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Albert M. Bender
Memorial Fund Purchase
Grace Clements
64 Tokyo Restaurant, 1931, oil on
canvas, 34x36"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
the artist
Charles Howard
65 First War Winter, 1940, oil on
canvas, 24y8X34"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Purchase
Robert B. Howard
66 Semaphore, 1947, pearwood,
44x14x12"
Lent by the artist
67 Night Watch, 1950, metal,
gypsum, resins and wood,
106x56x31"
Lent by the artist
68 Study /or Custodian, 1952, wood,
metal, gypsum, polyvinyl acetate and
redwood dust, 16V4X7xl6"
Lent by the artist
Adaline Kent
69 Dark Mountain, 1945, plaster,
33V2XI2V2X8"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Purchase
70 Presence, 1947, magnesite,
44V2 XI 33/4x7"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of the Women's
Board and Membership Activities
Board
David Park
71 Woman in Red and White Robe,
1938, oil on canvas, 52 x 24"
Lent by Maxwell Galleries, Ltd., San
Francisco, California
Clay Spohn
72 The Rolling Fort, 1942, gouache
and pencil on paper, 27x33"
Lent by Milton T. Pflueger, San
Francisco, California
73 Conquistador and Thunderbird,
1946, oil on canvas, 36x56%"
Lent by the artist
106
62 Ruth Armer Immaterial Forms circa 1940
64 Grace Clements Tokyo Restaurant 1931
65 Charles Howard First War Winter 1940
63 Matthew Barnes Night Scene circa 1932
107
66 Robert B. Howard Semaphore 1947
72 ClaySpohn The RoJiing Fort 1942
69 AdalineKent Dark Mountain 1945
71 David Park Woman in Red and
White Robe 1938
108
The Romantic Surrealist
Tradition
The Romantic Surrealists
As far as the West Coast is concerned the Romantic Surrealist tradition
began with Rico Lebrun. His Italian training in classical draughts-
manship, a full knowledge of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, as well
as a compassionate nature, combined to form his powerful style which
dominated Los Angeles art thought for a decade in the 1940's. Lebrun's
ideas melded with those of the romantic Eugene Herman during a
period of mutual growth as teachers at the Jepson Art Institute, Los
Angeles, in 1947. Younger men at the Institute, Howard Warshaw and
William Brice, absorbed and developed these methods into their own
individual styles.
Two artists, Jack Zajac and Robert Cremean, successfully translated the
style into three-dimensional form.
A somewhat different approach, reaching toward abstract art, was
introduced to Los Angeles by Hans Burkhardt who developed many of
his ideas from years of close association with the dynamic Armenian
romantic Arshile Gorky.
HT.H.
Dynaton
Gordon Onslow-Ford, Lee Mullican and myself have come to express
the manifold expanse of transdimensional potentiality. Our points of
departure are not any aspects of reality, but awareness of the formative
powers which make and unmake reality. This awareness of the Dynaton
gives us the emotional knowledge of forms beyond dimensions, of infra
and ultra shapes.
I call our concept of painting metaplastic, because although our means
consist in direct plastic expression, our aims are not solutions of
formal problems, but a new meaning. The meaning is to be the image-
makers of a cosmic freedom which makes human consciousness find
its true place as the beam of the balance between the infinitely great
and the infinitely small.
Art, for us, has no business to preach nor to teach, but to complement
the quantitative understanding of science by a cosmography in terms of
quality. But we will not become prisoners of any concepts, not even of
our own. If the metaplastic idea ever came to degenerate into an "ism,"
we will be the first "anti-metaplasticians."
109
For us, a painting is beautiful when it makes the spectator partake
emotionally in the great structural rhythms, the tidal waves of form
and chaos, of being and becoming, which go beyond the accidents of
individual fate. Our images are not meant to shock nor to relax; they
are neither objects for mere aesthetic satisfaction nor for visual
experimentation. Our pictures are objects for that active meditation
which does not mean detachment from human purpose, but a state
of self-transcending awareness, which is not an escape from reality,
because it is an intuitive participation in the formative potentialities
of reality.
Source: Wolfgang Paalen, "Theory
of the Dynaton," Dynaton 1951,
book published to accompany
exhibition, A New Vision, San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1951.
110
checklist
Rico Lebrun
74 The MagdaJene, 1950, oil on wood
panel 64x48 1/4"
Lent by Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, California
Eugene Berman
75 Nike, 1943, oil on canvas,
583/8X383/8"
Lent by Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.
Howard Warshaw
76 The Spectator, 1953-1955, oil on
canvas, 70x72"
Lent by Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, California
William Brice
77 Figure and Pomegranates, 1959,
oil on canvas, 201/4x161/4"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Richard F.
Brown, Fort Worth, Texas
Hans Burkhardt
78 Abstraction, 1953, oil on canvas,
60x50"
Lent by the artist
Lee Mullican
79 The Splintering Lions, 1950, oil
on canvas, 50x40"
Lent by the artist
80 Head, 1954, painted wood
construction, 281/4x133/4x6"
Lent by the artist
Gordon Onslow Ford
81 The GreatHaunts, 1950, oil on
masonite, 48x76"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Extended anonymous
loan
Jack Zajac
82 Bound Goat with Two Stakes,
1958, bronze, 24X411/2X16"
Lent by Jodi Scully Gallery, Los
Angeles, California, and James Willis
Gallery, San Francisco, California
Robert Cremean
83 Main Fragment for a Disputed
Curia, 1962, laminated wood, metal
and cloth, 74x31x29"
Lent by Robert de la Vergne, Tomales,
California
111
%
n:
k
% '
74 Rico Lebrun The Magdalene 1950
75 Eugene Herman Nike 1943
77 William Brice
Figure and Pomegranates 1959
76 Howard Warshaw The Spectator 1953-1955
112
■t'
^
78 Hans Burkhardt Abstraction 1953
» I'lumiitlilf li.J_.JHi
80 LeeMullican Head 1954
79 LeeMullican The SpJintering Lions 1950
113
81 Gordon Onslow Ford The Great Haunts 1950
82 lackZajac Bound Goat with Two Stakes 1958
83 Robert Cremean Main Fragment /or a Disputed Curia 1962
114
8 Climax: Hard Edge Abstraction,
Los Angeles
Abstract Classicist painting is hard-edged painting. Forms are finite,
flat, rimmed by a hard clean edge. These forms are not intended to
evoke in the spectator any recollections of specific shapes he may have
encountered in some other connection. They are autonomous shapes,
sufficient unto themselves as shapes. These clean-edged forms are
presented in uniform flat colors running border to border. Ordinarily
color serves as a descriptive or emotive element in painting. Its relation
to the viewer tends to be more visceral than cerebral. But in these
paintings color is not an independent force. Color and shape are one
and the same entity. Form gains its existence through color and color its
being through form. Color and form here are indivisible. To deprive one
of the other is to destroy both. To clarify matters, eliminate semantic
confusion, it is helpful to unite the two elements in a single
word — color/orm .
The approach follows a track of ideas suggested by the pictures of
Malevitch and the constructivists, and Mondrian and the painters of De
Stijl. In the pictures of Malevitch and Mondrian there is a striving to
create an art of flat geometric shapes that is not fixed and stabile. It is
an art in which static elements are tensed, made to separate from each
other, advance forward from the picture surface and back again.
The California Abstract Classicists proceed from this intention of
Malevitch and Mondrian. They seek to fluctuate forms that are tightly
embraced together. Forms in their paintings are in continuous flux.
Forms are not frozen in an instant of time, nor are they constructed as a
building — firmly fixed in a stationary position. The paintings take
place in space-time. At one moment a form announces its presence, and
the next moment it slips away, only to reassert itself again. This
alternation between forms in focus and the same forms thrust into
periphery is precisely determined. The gears must interlock if the
paintings are "to work."
Source: Jules Lahgsner, catalog
essay for Four Abstract
Classicists, Los Angeles County
Museum, 1959.
Hard Edge painting is more closely associated with Southern
California, however a few Northern Californians around Berkeley were
experimenting with a more complex optical variant, here represented
by James McCray.
HT.H.
115
Checklist
John McLaughlin
84 Untitled (black/grey), 1946, oil on
canvas, 20V2XI7"
Lent by Nicholas Wilder, Los
Angeles, California
85 Untitled (yellow/black), 1951, oil
on mason ite, 31%x37%"
Lent by Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
86 No.l (blue), 1964, oil on canvas,
48x60"
Lent by Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
87 No. 7 (grey), 1974, oil on canvas,
48x60"
Lent by Nicholas Wilder, Los
Angeles, California
Lorser Feitelson
88 Geomorphic Metaphor,
1950-1951, oil on canvas, 58X82"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas C. McCray
89 Dichotomic — Organization, 1959,
oil on canvas, 50x60"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Lorser
Feitelson, Los Angeles, California
90 Hardedge Line Painting, 1963,
enamel on canvas, 72 x 60"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, Anonymous Gift
through the Contemporary Art
Council
Helen Lundeberg
91 Sunny Corridor, 1959, oil on
canvas, 20x24"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Lorser
Feitelson, Los Angeles, California
Karl Benjamin
92 I.F. Black, Grey, Umber, Red,
1958, oil on canvas, 62V2X42V4"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Ned C.
Pearlstein
James McCray
93 Reticulation, 1945, oil on canvas,
22x32"
Lent by Milton T. Pflueger, San
Francisco, California
116
86 John McLaughlin No. 1 (blue) 1964
91 Helen Lundeberg Sunny Corridor 1959
88 Lorser Feitelson Geomorphic Metaphor 1950-1951
117
93 James McCray Heticuiation 1945
Karl Benjamin I.F. Black, Grey. L'mhi
118
9 Clyflford Still
From the fall of 1941 until summer of 1943 he (Still) worked in war
industry, as a steel checker for the Navy in Oakland and later as a
materials release engineer for Hammond Aircraft in San Francisco. War
work did not allow much painting time but a number of exceptional
works were produced, some of which were included in his first
one-man exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1943. The
exhibition was organized by Grace McCann Morley and, even though
the exhibition wall label misspelled both of Still's names (Clifford
Stills)^, this event undoubtedly helped bring about the gift to the
museum. Of his eleven one-man exhibitions, three have been in San
Francisco. The other two took place at the California Palace of the
Legion of Honor in 1947 and at the Metart Gallery in 1950.
Another factor of real importance must be his influence as a teacher in
the Bay Area which continues to be felt. Still has been a teacher since
1933, when he began at Washington State College in Pullman. He
remained there in positions of increasing responsibility until 1941.
After completing his war work in 1943, he taught at the Richmond
Professional Institute, then a division of the College of William and
Mary in Richmond, Virginia, until 1945. So, when in 1946, after a year
in New York, he was asked to come to San Francisco to teach at the
California School of Fine Arts (now renamed the San Francisco Art
Institute), he was a seasoned professional. He taught there until the
summer of 1948, when he again went to New York to bring into being
an idea he had proposed to Douglas MacAgy and Mark Rothko in 1947.
The idea was to bring together a number of active artists in a teaching
group to aid younger men in the milieu of New York. The group became
known as the "Subjects of the Artist.'"*
By fall no action had been taken to put the idea into practice and Still
returned once more to San Francisco and the California School of Fine
Arts, where he planned and introduced a graduate painting class by
which the school became especially known throughout the world.
'From time to time Still would enter the classroom and begin to
extemporize about the "revolution" which was going on in painting,
insinuating that the center of it was precisely in the room where we all
119
were at the moment, and that we were engaged in some conspiratorial
movement together, subverting the value of Western art. The reactions
to a few moments of that kind of pep talk would send everyone back to
his easel with the renewed conviction that the making of abstract
painting was almost a secret weapon in the cause not only of beauty but
of truth as well.'^
Source: Henry T. Hopkins, "Clyfford
Still's Gift to the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art,"
American Art Review, Vol. Ill,
No. 1, January-February 1976.
Footnotes:
-'"Clyfford Still" appears on his birth certificate. The name was given to him by his father in honor
of a friend whose name bore this unique spelling.
••William Baziotes, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still and later sculptor David Hare
made up this group.
^Hubert Crehan, "Art Schools Smell Alike." This World. San Francisco Sunday E.xaminere-
Chronicle, October 4, 1970.
120
Checklist
Clyfford Still
94 UntitJed 1941-R (PH-169), 1941,
oil on brown denim, 58x251/2"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of the artist
95 UntitJed (PH-298), 1942, oil on
blue denim, 58y2X27V2"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of the artist
96 Untitled (PH-123), 1947, oil on
canvas, 69V2x39y2"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of the artist
97 Untitled 1947-H-No. 3 (PH-446),
1947, oil on canvas, 91x57"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of the artist
98 UntitJed 1947-S (PH-371), 1947,
oil on canvas, 84 x 71"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of the artist
99 Untitled, 1948, oil on canvas,
803/4 X 68%"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California,
Extended loan of Hassel Smith
100 Untitled (PH-84), 1952, oil on
canvas, 6OX47V2"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of the artist
121
99 c:lvllnnl Shll Untitled 1948
122
10 Expressionism, Abstract and
Figurative, in the Bay Area
1945-1956
Three events now seem to have been most instrumental in shaping the
course of the Abstract Expressionist chapter of San Francisco art. The
first and perhaps the most significant event was a sweeping change in
the California School of Fine Arts' faculty and educational philosophy.
Douglas MacAgy became Director and replaced most of the faculty
with artists who not only experimented with radically new ideas but
who encouraged their students to do the same. The next event that
occurred was the influx of ex-G.I.'s into its student body. The final
important factor was the post -World War II era itself.
Although he lived in the Bay Area during most of the 1940's, Clyfford
Still, a germinal CSFA teacher, had close contacts at that time with New
York abstract artists. He was not only familiar with the New York School
but influenced it considerably. The impact of his work was initiated by
his one-man exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century
gallery in 1946 and at Betty Parsons' gallery in 1947. It is not of primary
importance to establish whether Still was a California or New York
artist, but to emphasize that he was the most influential teacher at the
California School of Fine Arts in the late 40's. At the same time, it
should be recognized that he possessed one of the most acutely
perceptive outlooks on the role of the artist and his art to the society
and the marketplace in the United States. He was not only wired into
some of the most radical painting ideas of this century but also helped
to place the comparatively small group of American Abstract
Expressionists at the center of the international art scene. He, perhaps
more than any other figure, helped to unlearn the subservient attitude
that previous generations of Americans had towards
European art.
Another prophetic figure from the first generation of New York
Abstract Expressionists who taught at CSFA was Mark Rothko. His
ideas had less of an impact than Still's, primarily because he taught
only two summer sessions. His ideas were nevertheless considered
highly developmental to a significant degree by many of the students
and instructors there. A third precursor of a new abstraction at CSFA
was Ad Reinhardt who taught a summer session there in 1950. His
123
remarkable irreverence for anything that smacks of a messianic mission
for the artists helped to counterbalance some of the existential
hyperbole that occasionally inundated the school. Besides these three
heavies there were others who were lesser known, but not necessarily
less influential or important in their roles as instructors. Artists such as
Robert Howard, David Park, Clay Spohn, Hassel Smith, Edward Corbett
and Richard Diebenkorn taught until the Director, Douglas MacAgy,
resigned in the summer of 1950.
It can be said that during the years 1947-1953, the high point of
Abstract Expressionism in the Bay Area produced an intensity of
activity combined with an interchange of dialogues that at times
anticipated developments in the East. The local development of
Abstract Expressionism was relatively unknown on the East Coast
probably because this art scene is rarely documented or covered by
extensive national criticism and review.
Source: Terry St. John,
introduction to book A Period oj
Exploration, San Francisco
1945-1950, by Mary Fuller
McChesney, The Oakland
Museum, California, 1973.
124
Checklist
Jeremy Anderson
101 Untitled, 1953, redwood,
511/4x143/4x11"
Lent by the artist, courtesy
Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San
Francisco, California
102 Altar, 1963, redwood, pine,
privet and enamel, 89 x 31 x 33 V2"
Lent by the artist, courtesy
Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San
Francisco, California
103 Riverrun, 1965, enamel on
redwood and pine, 55x791/2x171/2"
Lent by University Art Museum,
Berkeley, University of California,
Gift of the University Art Museum
Council
For exhibition at San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art only
Ruth Asawa
104 Woven Wire Sculpture,
1954-1955, iron and galvanized zinc
wire, 138x17" diameter
Lent by the artist
Elmer BischoET
105 Two Figures at the Seashore,
1957, oil on canvas, 56% x se^A"
Lent by Sterling Holloway, Laguna
Beach, California
Ernest Briggs
106 Untitled, 1951, oil on canvas,
78X681/2"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Moses Lasky
Edward Corbett
107 Painting /or Puritans, 1956, oil
on canvas, 52 x 341/3"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Extended anonymous
loan
Richard Diebenkom
108 Untitled, 1949, oil on canvas
mounted on board, 36x32"
Lent by Mrs. F. Herbert Hoover, San
Francisco, California
109 Berkeley #4, 1953, oil on canvas,
551/4x48"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M.
Bransten, San Francisco, California
110 Berkeley #41, 1955, oil on
canvas, 283/8X28%"
Lent by Robert A. Rowan, Pasadena,
California
111 Cityscape 1, 1963, oil on canvas,
601/2x501/2"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Purchase from
contributions of Trustees and friends
in memory of Hector Escobosa,
Brayton Wilbur and J.D. Zellerbach
James Budd Dixon
112 Untitled, circa 1948, oil on
canvas, 48x37%"
Lent by Frank Lobdell, Palo Alto,
California
Edward Dugmore
113 1950-CS, 1950, oil on canvas,
61 X 541/2"
Lent by Gallery M, Washington, D.C.
Sam Francis
114 California, 1953, oil on canvas,
491/4x831/8"
Lent by the artist
John Hultberg
115 Untitled, 1949, oil on canvas,
40X2978"
Lent by Frank Lobdell, Palo Alto,
California
Jack Je£Ferson
116 Mission No. 11, 1955, oil on
canvas, 69x63"
Lent by Alvin Light, San Francisco,
California
117 January 1976, 1976, acrylic,
silver pencil and oil crayon on paper,
371/8x231/2"
Lent by Frank Lobdell, Palo Alto,
California
125
James Kelly
118 Untitled, 1951, oil and tacks on
canvas, 30x23V2" (sight)
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
William M. Roth
119 Assault on K-2, 1956, oil on
canvas, 84 x66y4"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Gump's, Inc.
Walter Kuhlman
120 Untitled, 1957, oil on canvas,
47X35"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
the artist
Frank Lobdell
121 5 October 1949, 1949, oil on
canvas, 72x42V2"
Lent by Jack Jefferson, San Francisco,
California
122 March 1954, 1954, oil on canvas,
70 X 651/2"
Lent anonymously
123 Black Edge II, 3 March 1962, oil
on canvas, 85V2X70"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Philip E.
Lilienthal, San Francisco, California
Seymour Locks
124 The Pressure Cooker, 1955,
wood, nails and paint, 45x12x16"
Lent by Fay and Seymour Locks, San
Francisco, California
Robert McChesney
125 Composition A#l, 1950, oil on
canvas, 37X49"
Lent by the artist
David Park
126 Rehearsal, 1951, oil on canvas,
45x353/4"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Anonymous Donor Program
127 Man in Tee Shirt, 1958, oil on
canvas, 60X50"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Harry W. Anderson
Deborah Remington
128 Untitled, 1955, oil on canvas,
30x36"
Lent by James Keilty, San Francisco,
California
Philip Roeber
1 29 Untitled , 1954, oil on canvas,
60x50"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. William M.
Roth, San Francisco, California
John Saccaro
130 Rock, Branch and Winter, 1952,
oil on canvas, 41V2X47V2"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
the artist in memory of James Budd
Dixon
Hassel Smith
131 The Nocturnal Prowl, 1945, oil
on canvas, 33V4X29%"
Lent by Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.
For exhibition at National Collection
of Fine Arts only
132 The Little Big Horn, 1952-1953,
oil on canvas, 85 x 70"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Gifford Phillips,
Santa Monica, California
133 Untitled, 1958, oil on canvas,
69X42"
Lent by Robert A. Rowan, Pasadena,
California
134 #8, 1961, oil on canvas,
693/4X68"
Lent by Irving Blum, New York, New
York
Julius Wasserstein
135 Untitled, 1952, oil on canvas,
60X38V4"
Lent by the artist, courtesy Rose
Rabow Galleries, San Francisco,
California
136 Untitled, 1959, oil on canvas,
68x34%"
Lent by the artist, courtesy Rose
Rabow Galleries, San Francisco,
California
126
101 Jeremy Anderson Untitled 1953
105 Elmer Bischoff TWo Figures at the Seashore 1957
104 Ruth Asawa Woven
Wire Sculpture
1954-1955
127
lUb Ernest Bnggs L'niitled I'Jjl
107 Edward Corbett Painting /or Puritans 1956
112 James Budd Dixon Untitled circa 1948
111 Richard Diebenkom City scape I 1963
128
113 Edward Dugraore 1950-CS 1950
116 Jack Jefferson Mission No. 11 1955
115 JohnHuItberg Untitled 1949
»;♦ *i-^^i*-v
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vf
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119 James Kelly Assault on K-2 1956
129
120 Walter Kuhlman Untitled 1957
122 Frank Lobdell March 1954 1954
125 Robert McChesney Composition A #1 1950
124 Seymour Locks The Pressure Cooker
1955
130
-i>*^*rr
126 David Park Rehearsal 1951
128 Deborah Remington Untitled 1955
1
i-
130 John Saccaro Rock, Branch and Winter 1952
K
129 Philip Roeber Untitled 1954
131
135 luliiis VVasserstein ilntithd 1952
132
11 Expressionism, Bay Area and
Los Angeles, after 1956
The Ferus Gallery opened its doors on March 15, 1957 with a group
exhibition which included works by Richard Diebenkorn, Hassel
Smith and Clyfford Still, as well as a host of younger Northern and
Southern California artists. As Gerald Nordland, the art critic for
Frontier magazine at the time, commented, "... the Syndell and Now
Galleries have joined forces." The Now Gallery was owned by Edward
Kienholz and the Syndell by Walter Hopps. Both Kienholz and Hopps
were extremely influential not only as art dealers — sales were virtually
non-existent — but as key figures who brought together the best
younger artists in the Southern California region as a group. Hopps,
Kienholz and, later, in the fall of 1958, Irving Blum and Sadye Moss
were to a large degree responsible for promulgating the notion among
patrons as well as artists that there indeed was a vital group of artists of
the highest ambition who lived and worked in California. In the spring
of 1957 it seemed necessary for both owners of the Ferus Gallery to
establish the fact that the young abstract-expressionist painters in
Southern California, including John Altoon, Billy Al Bengston, Craig
Kauffman, Edward Moses and Paul Sarkisian, were of equal artistic
merit as the better known artists of the San Francisco Bay Region,
including Jay DeFeo, Sonia Gechtoff, James Kelly and a handful of
others.
The high degree of competence exhibited by these young artists —
how intensely they understood the lessons of the fathers of Abstract-
Expressionism — will astonish many visitors to this miniature survey of
the early years of the Ferus Gallery. It has been my contention for the
past few years that the second and third generation of abstract-
expressionist artists in California compares favorably to other
developments in this area throughout the world, and in almost every
case is more serious, more engaging painting than any of the period
with the exception of the best of the older generation. In arriving at this
conclusion, which is justified by simple comparison of pictures
completed between 1953 and 1962 by artists living on both coasts of the
United States, as well as Europe and Japan, it appears that the original
animus so evident in the best early works of Still, de Kooning, Rothko,
Newman and Kline stimulated the highest later achievement on the
West Coast rather than elsewhere in the world. It is this very quality of
animosity, anarchy, even hatred, which animates even the sometimes
lyric achievements of the artists within this exhibition. The rhetorical
133
pictures of de Kooning's emulators, exhibited in Tenth Street galleries
on Manhattan Island, would for the most part not have been accepted
as student work in the better art schools on the West Coast in the
middle and late fifties. The artist's intentions as reflected in his art
became extremely muddled in New York and Europe in the fifties,
while in California a kind of moral criticism was practiced by the best
teacher-painters on the work of art students. With the students of
Clyfford Still it became evident that skill in manipulating paint was a
very real detriment to be overcome in order to reach a level where a
student's pictures embody his existential position as accurately as is
humanly possible. Painting was not judged in terms of innovative uses
of structure, color or form but rather how intensely it appeared, how it
revealed the character and morality of the artist. One can characterize
the difference on both coasts between hypothetical questions: the
young East Coast artist working in the fifties asked of himself, "How
can I find a combination of elements which will push painting forward
and at the same time give me an identity?" On the West Coast the
question would have been: "How can I find who I am through
painting?"
Source: James Monte, catalog
essay for Late Fifties at the Ferus,
Los Angeles County Museum of
Art, 1968.
134
Checklist
Northern California:
Arlo Acton
137 Come One, Come Two,
1963-1964, wood, 84V2X57X42"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of the Women's
Board
John Baxter
138 Samurai, not dated, wood, stone
and metal, 32x111/2x91/2"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
Mr. Victor Fischer
Richard Brodney
139 Bequest, 1953, oil on canvas,
30x341/8"
Lent by Private Collection, San
Francisco, California
Joan Brown
140 GirJ in Chair, 1962, oil on canvas,
60X48"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Robert H. Ginter
Claire Falkenstein
141 PointAs a Set #18,1965 (surface
reworked in 1976), copper tubing,
37x39" diameter
Lent by Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica,
California
Faralla
142 Column A^, 1960, latex on wood,
541/4x11x11"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
the artist in memory of Edna
Stoddard Siegriest
Sonia Gechtoff
143 Painting No. 4, 1956, oil on
canvas, 96x48"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
William M. Roth.
Julius Hatofsky
144 Voyage Continued 2, 1966,
oil on canvas, 72 x 72"
Lent by Smith Andersen Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Arthur Holman
145 Reflection , 1958, oil on canvas,
66x66"
Lent anonymously
Alvin Light
146 Untitled, 1957, wood and
pigment, 63x31x18"
Lent by the artist, courtesy Hansen
Fuller Gallery, San Francisco,
California
147 Untitled, September 1962, wood,
pigmented epoxy glue and oil,
119X37X34"
Lent by the artist, courtesy Hansen
Fuller Gallery, San Francisco,
California
Manuel Neri
148 Male Figure No. 1 . 1956, enamel
on plaster, chicken wire and wood,
611/2X18x17"
Lent by the artist, courtesy
Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San
Francisco, California
149 Standing Plaster Figure, 1959,
enamel on plaster, 591/2x22x161/4",
including base
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, William L. Gerstle
Fund Purchase
150 Untitled, 1970, fiberglass,
60x18x12"
Lent by Private Collection
Nathan Oliveira
151 Standing Man with Stick, 1959,
oil on canvas, 68%x60i/4"
Lent by The Museum of Modern Art,
New York, New York, Gift of Joseph
H. Hirshhorn,1959
135
Nell Sinton
152 PJatero #2, 1959, oil on canvas,
50x60"
Lent by Dr. and Mrs. K. Roost,
Hillsborough, California
Sam Tchakalian
153 Fia, 1965, oil on canvas, 74x84"
Lent by Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Carlos Villa
154 Feather Cape, 1972, analine dye
and feathers on silk, 66 x 144"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. C. David
Robinson, Sausalito, California
James Weeks
155 Two Children in a Garden, 1962,
oil on canvas, 43x45"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Francis V.
Keesling, Jr., San Francisco,
California
Paul Wonner
156 TheNewspaper, 1960, oilon
canvas, 47V4 x 541/4"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Hamilton and
Wells Collection
Southern California:
John Altoon
157 Hamburger and Gas Pump, 1959.
gouache on illustration board,
30x40"
Lent by Dr. and Mrs. Merle S. Click,
Los Angeles, California
158 Ocean Pork Series #11, 1962, oil
on canvas, 81 V2 x 84"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Purchase
Leonard Edmondson
159 Moon Curve, 1955, watercolor on
paper, 27x34"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Gifford Phillips,
Santa Monica, California
Charles Garabedian
160 Green China WaJ], 1970, latex
and resin on wood, 95V2X72V2X4"
Lent by the artist
Gilbert Henderson
161 Atavistic /mage, 1951, oil on
canvas, 56x36"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, Purchase Award,
Annual Exhibition of Artists of Los
Angeles and Vicinity
Ynez Johnston
162 Alpine Lake, 1956, watercolor on
paper, 12V4XIOV2"
Lent by jodi Scully Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
Craig Kaufiman
163 Tell Tale Heart, 1958, oil on
canvas, 68V2X49"
Lent by Vivian Kauffman, Los
Angeles, California
136
John Mason
164 Vertical Edge, 1961, stoneware,
64x16x17"
Lent by Hansen Fuller Gallery, San
Francisco. California
165 Cross Form, 1963, stoneware,
62x37x15"
Lent by Hansen Fuller Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Edward Moses
166 Untitled, 1958, enamel on paper,
391/4 X34V2"
Lent by the artist
For exhibition at San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art only
167 Untitled (roses), 1961, acrylic
and graphite on paper, 60x40"
Lent by the artist
For exhibition at San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art only
Richards Ruben
168 Augustin Autumn, 1957, oil on
canvas, 54V2X46y8"
Lent by Stanford University Museum
of Art, Stanford, California, Gift of the
Committee for Art at Stanford
James Strombotne
169 Juliet's Dream, 1965-1966, oil on
canvas, 48x59"
Lent by Jodi Scully Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
Peter Voulkos
170 Sitting Bull, 1959, glazed
stoneware, 69 x 37 x 37"
Lent by Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, California
171 Hiro 11, 1967, bronze,
96X372X72"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, T. B. Walker
Foundation Fund Purchase
On exhibition at Justin Herman Plaza,
The Embarcadero at Washington
Street, San Francisco
For exhibition at San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art only
137
137 Arlo Acton Come One, Come Two 1963-1964
138 John Baxter Samurai not dated
139 Richard Brodney Bequest 1953
140 loan Brown Girl in Chair 1962
138
141 Claire Falkenstein Point As a Set #18 1965
142 Faralla Coiumn IV 1960
143 Sonia Gechtoff Painting No. 4 1956
144 Julius Hatofsky Voyage Continued 2 1966
139
149 Manuel Neri Slanding Plfislur Figure 1959
140
151 Nathan Oliveira Standing Man with Stick 1959
^-^^'W-^mm/^'^
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152 NellSinton Platero #2 1959
153 Sam Tchakalian Fia 1965
154 Carlos Villa FeatherCape 1972
141
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ir)5 liimes Weeks Two Chi/dren in n Garden 1962
156 Paul Wonner The Newspaper 1960
^pn^
irjll Leonard Kdmondson Moon Curve 1955
157 lohnAltoon Hamburger and Gas Pump 1959
142
160 Charles Garabedian Green China Wall 1970
164 John Mason Vertical Edge 1961
162 Ynez Johnston Alpine Lake
1956
161 Gilbert Henderson Atavistic Image 1951
143
168 Richards Ruben August in Autumn 1957 170 Peter Voulkos Sitting Buli 1959
169 James Strombotne Juliet's Dream 1965-1966
144
12 Toward the Personal
The development in the field of ceramics is one of the first major events
on the West Coast that reflects a free and independent attitude of the
artists vis-a-vis the traditional and what is simultaneously taking place
on the East Coast. Ceramics had so far always been classed as applied
art. Rebelling against the inherited hierarchical division of media, the
artists began viewing ceramics in terms of its own specific merits.
They no longer looked upon it in terms of its usefulness but of the
possibilities inherent in the material. They were very bold in their
approach. The story goes that Voulkos, first among peers in the group,
at one point misread the scale of some reproductions showing
examples of Japanese ceramics he very much admired and, on that
basis, set out to free ceramics of its small dimensional proportions. This
required, however, the solution of some major technical problems. In
1954, Voulkos came to Los Angeles where he set up a ceramics center
at the Otis Art Institute; here he was joined by Mason, Price and
Bengston. Since there existed no hierarchical distance between
Voulkos and his colleagues, a fruitful exchange of ideas was possible.
Their joint endeavor resulted in the rediscovery of the essential
characteristics of the medium clay as a very manageable and plastic
material which lends itself to more than just the making of
symmetrically shaped functional pots.
The younger generation includes William T. Wiley and Bruce Nauman.
(Their work sometimes is termed 'funk-art.' The term 'funk' is taken
from music and denotes the combination of heterogeneous forms and
techniques.) Through Kaspar Konig, both artists came in contact, at a
relatively early stage, with the work of the German Joseph Beuys. Wiley
made a great number of aquarel drawings of landscapes in which there
are all kinds of bizarre objects or bizarre things are happening. The
scenery is overgrown with the conception of an artificial world which
finds its full expression in his later assemblage-like constructions. The
artist draws our attention to the unusual processes we can observe in
our backyards or which we can imagine. Wiley organized many
happenings somewhat on the line of the 'fluxus' activities in Europe.
145
Wayne Thiebaud is not so much concerned with the social
environment but rather with the identity of painting method and
subject (with him often foods such as pastries, cream puffs, ice creams,
et cetera). As stated above, in his method of painting and application of
paint, the influence of Clyfford Still, though greatly transformed, is still
traceable. In his composition, the serial element often plays an
essential part. We must, however, not overrate the Pop-image aspect of
his work: Thiebaud professes to be a realist, although he is aware that
realism rarely, if at all, concerns itself with the choice of these kinds of
objects, let alone in close-up form. Thiebaud had a telling influence on
painters like Mel Ramos. Edward Ruscha came to the art school as an
adman but, disappointed in commercial art, took up painting. His
activities are twofold: 1. paintings, prints, et cetera, 2. books which he
designs, publishes and distributes himself. He keeps these two
activities strictly apart. In his paintings, Ruscha applies the technique
of commercial advertising. Words like 'Space,' 'Smash,' 'Annie,' he
paints as is customary for advertisements: flat and schematic; they are
for him only variable elements.
Source: )an Leering, catalog essay
for Kompas 4, West Coast U.S.A.,
Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven,
Netherlands, 1969.
Translated from Dutch.
146
checklist
Northern California:
William Allan
172 Tentative Assault on Mt. Fear,
1971, acrylic on canvas, 74XIIIV2"
Lent by Richard Reisman, San
Francisco, California
Terry Allen
173 The Arizon'ia Spiritual, from
The Cowboy and the Stranger Series,
1968, colored ink, oil pastel, colored
pencil, graphite and contact lettering
on illustration board with plexiglass
box, fox head and Arizona State
patch; tape of song, " Arizon'ia
Spiritual" and map of Oklahoma
displacement on verso, 29x23x11/2"
Lent by Jo Harvey Allen, Fresno,
California
174 La Despedida fThe Parting],
from the Juarez Section of the /uarez
Series, 1974, colored ink, oil pastel,
colored pencil, graphite, contact
lettering, snapshots, burned balsa
wood and scraps of paper on
illustration board, 30x40"
Lent by M. Susan Lewis and Sonny
Palmer, Fresno, California
Robert Arneson
175 Typewriter, 1965, glazed
earthenware, 61/8x113/8x121/2"
Lent by University Art Museum,
Berkeley, University of California,
Gift of the artist
176 KiJn Man, 1971, terracotta and
glazed porcelain, 36x12" diameter
Lent by Gerald R. Hoepfner, Davis,
California
Robert Colescott
177 The End o/the Trail, 1976,
acrylic on canvas, 72 x 108"
Lent by the artist, courtesy John
Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco,
California
Jay DeFeo
178 The Eyes, 1958, graphite on
paper mounted on canvas,
415/8X865/8" *
Lent by the artist
179 Doctor Jazz, 1959, oil on paper
mounted on canvas, 132x42V2"
Lent by the artist
Roy De Forest
180 Equestrian Amazon, 1951, terra
cotta, 12x33/4x16"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Philip B. Starke,
San Jose, California
181 God's Country and the Woman,
1962-1963, wood, latex, oil and
polyester resin, 32x28V2X9"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Moses Lasky,
San Francisco, California
182 Country Dog Gentlemen, 1972,
polymer on canvas, 653/4 x 961/4"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Gift of Hamilton and
Wells Collection
William Geis
183 Tensor 1 , 1966, plaster,
fiberglass, vinyl, tempera and
enamel, 60x48x48"
Lent by University Art Museum,
Berkeley, University of California,
Gift of Dr. Samuel A. West
David Gilhooly
184 Elephant Ottoman #2,1966,
glazed and stained white
earthenware, vinyl and plywood,
81/2x21x221/2"
Lent by Professor and Mrs. R. Joseph
Monsen. Seattle, Washington
Wally Hedrick
185 Here's Art For 'Em, 1963, oil on
canvas, 1311/2x433/4"
Lent by the artist
Robert Hudson
186 Space Window, 1966,
automobile lacquer on steel,
69X60X57"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Philip E.
Lilienthal, San Francisco, California
147
187 Running Through the Woods,
1975, stuffed deer, wood, rock, globe,
metal, string, found objects and
acrylic, 77x62x50%"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. C. David
Robinson, Sausalito, California
Robert Kinmont
188 Broken thinker's chair repaired
with three dead birds, 1973, gouache
on birch and ash, steel, string and
birds, 37V2XI5V8XI6V2"
Lent anonymously
Fred Martin
189 Do You Know My Name, 1958,
pencil, watercolor and collage on
paper, series of twelve, 12x9" each
Lent by Hansen Fuller Gallery, San
Francisco, California
190 Landscapes, Diamond with Sun,
1959, pencil, watercolor, hide glue
and collage on paper, series of six,
9x12" each
Lent by Hansen Fuller Gallery, San
Francisco, California
191 Cock-Book, 1961, pencil,
watercolor, distemper and hide glue
on paper, series of six, 9 x 12" each
Lent by Hansen Fuller Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Jim Melchert
192 Silvery Heart, 1965, glazed
earthenware, 131/2x141/4x13"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen D.
Paine, Boston, Massachusetts
193 Game in Layers #2, 1969, glazed
earthenware, decals and plexiglass,
19X24X24"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Purchase
Don Potts
194 A Made Blade Loses a Cut Strut
Winner, 1965, wood and leather,
78X54X28"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art. California, Gift of Sally Lilienthal
Mel Ramos
195 Hunt/ortheBesf,1965,oilon
canvas, 47% X 30%"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Frederick R.
Weisman, Beverly Hills, California
Sam Richardson
196 Most of that iceberg is below the
water, 1969, plywood, polyurethane
foam, polyester resin, fiberglass,
polyester filler and nitro-cellulose
lacquers, 10xll%xll%"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W.
Anderson, Atherton, California
197 At this section 0/ land it is
autumn: on browning grass stands a
bush, 1970-1971, plastic, acrylic
lacquer and bush, 6V4X49%x3y8",
including plexiglass base
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W.
Anderson, Atherton, California
Peter Saul
198 Cowboy, 1974, acrylic on canvas,
72x56"
Lent by Rena Bransten, San
Francisco, California
Ursula Schneider
199 Here 6- There, 1973. vinyl,
acrylic and hair, 48x60"
Lent by Dr. and Mrs. Sandor Burstein,
San Francisco, California
Richard Shaw
200 Couch Landscape, 1965, acrylic
on white earthenware and wood,
11X26X11"
Lent by Rena Bransten, San
Francisco, California
148
Wayne Thiebaud
201 Five Hot Dogs, 1961, oil on
canvas, 18x24"
Lent by John Bransten, San Francisco,
California
202 Pies, 1961, oil on canvas, 24x 30"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W.
Anderson, Atherton, California
William T. Wiley
203 Columbus Re-Routed #3,1962,
oil on canvas, two panels, 71^x141"
overall
Lent by E. B. Crocker Art Gallery,
Sacramento, California, Cift of the
Crocker Art Gallery Association with
matching funds provided from the
National Endowment for the Arts
204 AJJ That Grass, 1966, acrylic on
canvas, 65 V4X 723/4"
Lent by Private Collection
205 American Rope Trick, 1968,
wood, rope and rock, 36 x 24 x 64"
Lent by Hansen Fuller Gallery, San
Francisco, California
206 HideAs a State 0/ Mind, 1971,
ink and watercolor on paper,
22V2X3OV4"
Lent by Des Moines Art Center, Iowa,
Dr. Maurice H. Noun Bequest Fund,
1971
Southern California:
Vija Celmins
207 Clouds, 1967, graphite on paper,
263/4x391/4"
Lent by Joni and Monte Gordon
Family, Los Angeles, California
208 Eraser, 1970, painted wood,
3X2OX6V2"
Lent by ]oni and Monte Gordon
Family, Los Angeles, California
James Eller
209 Rat Garage, circa 1956, painted
toy metal parking garage and toy
rubber rats, 13 x 14 V2 x 25"
Lent by Thomas Eatherton, Santa
Monica, California
Joe Goode
210 Happy Birthday, 1961, oil on
canvas with painted milk bottle,
68X68"; bottle, 83/4x33/3x33/8"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Extended loan of the
Janss Foundation
211 HnfitJed (staircase), 1965-1971,
wood and carpet, 48V4 x 70 x 49 V2"
Lent by the artist
212 Torn Cloud, 1975, oil on canvas,
60x60"
Lent by Private Collection, Los
Angeles, California
Lloyd Hamrol
213 BJondie, 1960, painted wood,
31X15x103/8"
Lent anonymously
149
Phillip Hefferton
214 Sinking George, 1962, oil on
canvas, 90x67"
Lent by Betty and Monte Factor
Family Collection, Los Angeles,
California
Jerry McMillan
215 Bronze Bag, 1971, bronze plating
on paper, 16x12x10"
Lent by The Fort Worth Art Museum,
Texas
Richard Pettibone
216 Andy Warhol. Pepper Pot. 1962.,
1964, oil on canvas, OxsVs",
Lent anonymously
Kenneth Price
217 Lou Minor Drake, 1960, glazed
earthenware, wood, glass and lace,
11x91/2X61/2"
Lent anonymously
218 L. Blue, 1961, glazed and
lacquered clay, 6x 7%x5V2"
Lent by the artist
219 SilverDome, 1961, lacquered
and glazed clay, 68V2X21%xl5",
including wood pedestal
Lent by James J. Meeker, Fort Worth,
Texas
Roland Reiss
220 Adventures in the Painted
Desert; A Murder Mystery, 1975-1976,
wood, stone, plastic, glass and metal,
12x48x48"
Lent by the artist
Edward Ruscha
221 Standard Station with lOc
Western, 1963, oil on canvas, 65 x 122"
Lent by James J. Meeker, Fort Worth,
Texas
222 City, 1968, oil on canvas, 55x48"
Lent by The Art Institute of Chicago,
Illinois, 20th Century Purchase Fund
150
172 William Allan Tentative Assault on Mt Fear 1971
176 Robert Arneson Kiln Man 1971
174 Terry Allen La Despedida (The ParlingJ 1974
177 Robert Colescott The End of the Trail 1976
151
178 layDeFeo The Eyes 1958
183 William Geis Tensor 1 1966
181 Roy De Forest God's Country and the Woman
1962-1963
184 David Gilhooly Elephant Otlumun #2 1966
152
186 Robert Hudson Space Windoiv 1966
185 WallyHedrick Here's Art For 'Em
1963
189 Fred Martin Detail from: Do
You Know My Name 1958
188 Robert Kinmont Broken thinker's chair
repaired with three dead birds 1973
153
192 Jim Melchert Silvery Heart 1965
194 Don Potts A Made Blade Loses a Cut Strut Winner
1965
196 Sam Richardson Most of that iceberg is below
the n-ater 1969
195 Mel Ramos Huiil for the Bi-st 1965
154
198 Peter Saul Cowboy 1974
199 Ursula Schneider Here S- There 1973
200 Richard Shaw Couch Landscape 1965 201 Wayne Thiebaud Five Hot Dogs 1961
155
203 William T.Wiley Columbus Re-Routed #3 1962
208 VijaCelmins Eraser 19/0
210 loeGoode Happy Birthday 1961
209 lames Eller Rat Garage circa 1956
156
213 Lloyd Hamrol BJondie 1960
216 Richard Pettibone Andy Warhol,
Pepper Pot. 1962. 1964
iJirniTTniLiiiiiiiiiiiunTiiDiiMrniiijiin
CERTS^IFIES THAT THERE 15 ON DEPOSIT IN THE TREASU_KY_OF uF OF OF
@)f'J^
215 lerry McMillan Bronze Bag
1971
214 Phillip Hefferton Sinking George 1962
157
219 Kenneth Price Silver Dome 1961 220 Roland Reiss Adventures in tlie Painted Desert; A Murder Mystery 1975-1976
221 Edward Ruscha Standurd Slulion with U)c Western 1963
158
13 Collage /Assemblage and the
Visual Metaphor
In California the style known as Assemblage is a covert art. It belongs to
a small, arcane group of underground artists who draw upon a common
source of literary, symbolic and visual metaphors which derive from a
shared ambience as well as a close personal friendship and empathy for
one another. All the artists in this exhibition are social critics of
extreme candor who compulsively mirror their reaction to
contemporary society. Critical to their work is the employment of
human detritus, discarded and worn out objects which replace the
conventional use of oil paint and canvas. The iconography informing
the work of these artists is very often oblique and can only be decoded
by the inner circle. For the most part, the artists in this exhibition are
more concerned with a life style than making works of art, though very
obviously their end product is distinctly art. Their art tends to be
biographical and is very often ephemeral in quality. Generally
speaking, these artists refuse to compromise their art for the sake of
permanence. The exception to this is Edward Kienholz who engineers
his work to a remarkable degree and bonds his surfaces with various
plastics. Wallace Herman, Ben Talbert and Fred Mason tend to keep
their work private. Bruce Conner who at one time sought public
exhibition now reverses his position and has recently sought to
repossess his work. George Herms appears to be completely indifferent
to the fate of his art once it leaves his hands. Of all these artists Edward
Kienholz has been the most active in attempting to force public
institutions to exhibit his work without censorship.
Source: John Coplans,
acknowledgment for
Assemblage in California, Art
Gallery, University of California,
Irvine, 1968.
159
Checklist
Northern California:
Paul Beattie
223 Dark Sun, 1965, collage:
printer's ink on paper, 11x9^8"
Lent by the artist
Bruce Conner
224 Rat Bastard #2,1959, wood,
nylon, nut shells, magazine
reproduction, marbles, wax and
feathers , 1 53/4 X 11 1/4 X 2 V2"
Lent by Charles Cowles
225 Child, 1959-1960, wax figure,
wood high chair, nylon, cloth, metal
and twine, 345/8x17x161/2"
Lent by The Museum of Modern Art,
New York, New York, Gift of Philip
Johnson, 1970
226 Globe, 1964, acrylic on world
globe and metal, 29 x 18%" diameter
Lent by Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Jess
227 Tricky Cad , circa 1959, collage:
newspaper on illustration board,
19x7"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Bruce Conner
228 Fig. 204. — Gastro-duodenostomy
(KocherJ, 1969, oil on canvas over
wood, 33X25"
Lent by The Art Institute of Chicago,
Illinois, 20th Century Purchase Fund
Harold Paris
229 Chai 14, 1969, vacuum-formed
polyvinyl, 8V2X20V2XI7V4"
Lent by University Art Museum,
Berkeley, University of California,
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Anton
Marguleas, San Francisco
Clay Spohn
230 Precious Objects, circa 1949,
metal and glass gum dispenser filled
with toothpicks, cigarette butts,
ashes, torn postcards, letter frag-
ments, rhinestones and cloth rose,
121/4x73/4x73/4"
Lent by the Collection of The
Oakland Museum, California, Gift of
the artist
Southern California:
Robert Alexander
231 Untitled, 1956, blood and typed
poem on paper mounted on
cardboard, 25VbX\7%" (sight)
Lent by Sid Zaro, Los Angeles,
California
Ed Bereal
232 Focke-WuI/FW 109, 1960, metal,
canvas, pipes, paint and nails,
21V4XI2X6"
Lent by Betty and Monte Factor
Family Collection, Los Angeles,
California
233 Stuka-/U 87, 1960, metal,
canvas, pipes, paint and nails,
14 V2X 11x31/2"
Lent by Betty and Monte Factor
Family Collection, Los Angeles,
California
Tony Berlant
234 The Heart ofthe Deep, 1970,
wood, polyester, tin, enamel, nails
and whale's tooth, IIV2X7V8XIO"
Lent by Edwin Janss, Thousand Oaks,
California
Wallace Barman
235 SeminaNos. 1-9.1955-1964,
assembled publication, each issue
containing loose sheets with poems,
drawings and photographs by various
artists, in various containers; nine
different sizes, from 73/3x4" to 11 x 9"
Lent by Hal Glicksman, Venice.
California
236 Untitled, 1956, ink on treated
paper mounted on canvas, 193/8 x 19 V4"
Lent anonymously
160
237 UntitJed, 1956-1957, ink on
treated paper mounted on canvas,
19V2XI9V2"
Lent by Mrs. Allen Bleiweiss, Los
Angeles, California
238 UntitJed, circa 1956-1957, ink on
treated paper mounted on canvas,
191/2x191/2"
Lent by Hal Glicksman, Venice,
California
239 UntitJed, 1965-1968, verifax
collage, 24x261/8"
Lent by Dean Stockwell, Topanga,
California
240 UntitJed , circa 1966, verifax
collage, 12x13"
Lent by Timothy Corcoran, Los
Angeles, California
241 Untitled, 1967, verifax collage
mounted on plywood, 48x451/4"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, The Kleiner
Foundation Gift of Contemporary Art
through the Contemporary Art
Council
242 UntitJed , circa 1967-1968,
verifax collage, 24 x 26"
Lent by Sid Zaro, Los Angeles,
California
243 UntitJed, 1973, wood, rock,
chain, paint, photograph and glass,
91/2x91/2x6"
Lent by Edwin Janss, Thousand Oaks,
California
Judy Chicago
244 Transformation Painting, 1973,
sprayed acrylic and felt-tip pen on
canvas, 40i/8x40V8"
Lent by Deborah Marrow and Michael
McGuire, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
William Dole
245 Printout, 1969, collage:
watercolor on paper, 171/2XI6"
Lent by Jodi Scully Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
Llyn Foulkes
246 FJanders, 1961-1962,
polyethylene, canvas, acrylic,
enamel, newspaper and wood, two
units: 54x36x14"; I6XI53/4"
Lent by Ernest and Eunice White, Los
Angeles, California
George Herms
247 Three Cross, 1961, wood, wood
cabinet door and metal faucet handle,
25x17x81/2"
Lent by Diana Zlotnick, Studio City,
California
248 Greet the Circus with a SmiJe,
1962, wood, dressmaker's dummy,
feathers, photographs, magazine
pages, cloth, metal, cushion and
found objects, 68 x 281/2 x 20"
Lent by Ed Gregson, Los Angeles,
California
Daniel La Rue Johnson
249 UntitJed, 1961, painted wood,
wax and doll's head, 5% x 45/3 x 3%"
Lent anonymously
Edward Kienholz
250 George Warshington in Drag,
1957, painted wood relief,
311/2x35x3"
Lent anonymously
251 Jane Doe, 1959, wood sewing
chest with fur-rimmed drawers, head
and neck of female mannequin, skirt
of white bridal dress and oil,
42X27X16"
Lent by Laura Lee Stearns, Los
Angeles, California
For exhibition at San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art only
252 /ohn Doe, 1959, two halves of
armless male mannequin, child's
perambulator and oil, 41x19x34"
Lent by Sterling HoUoway, Laguna
Beach, California
161
253 The Illegal Operation, 1962,
fiberglassed shopping cart, furniture,
concrete, medical implements and
rug, 59x48x54"
Lent by Betty and Monte Factor
Family Collection, Los Angeles,
California
For exhibition at the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art only
Fred Mason
254 Super Ball , 1960, wood, basket,
doll's plaster arms and legs, hair,
feathers, mirror, cloth and dried rose,
26X201/2X5"
Lent by the artist
255 Up's Brother, 1963, wood,
rubber, leather holster, metal, doll's
body, lace, magazine reproduction,
photographs, cardboard, glove and
dried rose, 30xl3V2x5"
Lent by the artist
Arthur Richer
256 Semper Fi, 1957, oil on canvas,
65X45"
Lent by George Herms, Los Angeles,
California
Betye Saar
257 Black Girl's Window, 1969, wood
window frame, glass, color etchings,
ink on paper, daguerreotype, cloth,
paint and found objects, 35y4Xl8xlV2"
Lent by the artist
258 The Time Inbefween, 1974, wood
box, magazine reproductions, leather
glove, fan, jewelry and found objects,
31/4x111/2x8" (closed)
Lent by the artist
Ben Talbert
259 The Ace, 1961-1962, artist's
easel, bicycle wheel, airplane wings,
photograph, paper collage and oil,
96x50x38"
Lent by Hal Glicksman, Venice,
California
260 Registered Trademark, 1963,
collage: magazine reproductions and
colored and printed paper on paper,
103/4x81/4" (sight)
Lent by )ohn E. Talbert, West Covina,
California
261 Someone Pulled Out the Plug,
1963, collage: newspaper and
magazine reproductions on paper,
101/4 X 71/8"
Lent by )ohn E. Talbert, West Covina,
California
Stephan von Huene
262 Totem Tone II, 1970, wood,
leather, plexiglass, metal and
pneumatic valves, 871/2x30^8x20"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. William M.
Roth, San Francisco, California
162
223 PaulBeattie Dark Sun 1965
225 Bruce Conner Child 1959-1960
229 Harold Paris Choi 14 1969
227 Jess Tricky Cad
circa 1959
163
230 Clay Spohn Precious Objects
circa 1949
234 Tony Berlant The Heart of
the Deep 1970
232 EdBereal Focke-Wul/FW 109 1960
231 Robert Alexander Untitled 1956
164
* V
■ -, -J -■
■ ■■^l
. • ■ T
245 William Dole Printout 1969
243 Wallace Barman Untitled 1973
i44 )udy Chicago Transformation Painting 1973
246 Llyn Foulkes Flanders 1961-1962
165
■aan
248 George Herms Greet the Circus with
a Smile 1962
249 Daniel La Rue lohnson Untitled
1961
254 Fred Mason Super Ball 1960
252 Edward Kienholz John Doe 1959
166
256 Arthur Richer Semper Fi 1957
258 Betye Saar The Time Inbetween
1974
262 Stephan von Huene Totem Tone 11 1970
259 BenTalbert The Ace 1961-1962
167
4 Color and Field Abstraction
Color has played a major role in California painting and sculpture in
both the Bay Area and Southern California from the very beginning of
this century. In Oakland, in the 1920's, the Society of Six saturated their
tiny canvases with joyful color reminiscent of the French Fauves.
Stanton Macdonald-Wright, along with Morgan Russell and others,
founded the international movement of Synchromism in Paris in 1912,
which was based upon scientifically worked chromatic scales of color.
Macdonald-Wright brought his ideas back to Los Angeles in 1919.
Recent history shows that while color has been important to Northern
California artists, especially its unique use in the sculpture of Seymour
Locks, Jeremy Anderson, Manuel Neri and Robert Hudson, it remained
for Los Angeles artists to give color a position of primacy in their work.
In the 1930's Peter Krasnow and Oskar Fischinger were using geo-
metric modules to contain their clean, opaque and transparent color
studies. By the late 1940's the Los Angeles Abstract Classicists, John
McLaughlin and Lorser Feitelson, had achieved a color and form
expression which rivalled the sophistication of Josef Albers.
Of the next generation probably Billy Al Bengston was the first to reach
beyond traditional oil paint on canvas to achieve new and strikingly
heightened color effects. Multiple sprayed layers of automobile
lacquer on primed masonite gave his work the highly reflective but
translucent surface of a surfboard. Kenneth Price and later John
McCracken would utilize similar effects in their work.
Robert Irwin's minimal line paintings of the early 1960's started him on
an extended journey of extracting the essence of light and its colors
from a variety of new materials for artists including spun aluminum,
plexiglass, cast acrylic and, most recently, fabric scrim.
168
Craig Kauffman's vacuum-formed plastic wall units, paint-coated from
the back, allow light to penetrate the surface and bounce back
shimmering color sequences. The cast acrylic work of Peter Alexander,
DeWain Valentine and Frederick Eversley provide similarly enhanced
optical effects through translucency.
Larry Bell, by applying vacuumed-attached colorants to glass surfaces,
reaches for the ultimate cognizance of light and color in harmonious
conjunction.
Based on the work of these experimentors, young artists such as Jim
Turrell, Maria Nordman, Michael Asher, Eric Orr and others are
stretching light and color into fully saturated environmental chambers.
In a more traditional vein the brilliant color handling and grand scale
of Sam Francis, Ronald Davis, Tom Holland and the recent work by
Richard Diebenkorn combine to absorb the viewer into expansive fields
the Fauves could only dream of.
HT.H.
169
checklist
Northern California:
Fletcher Benton
263 SynchroneticC-2500-S,1969,
stainless steel, plexiglass and motor,
631/2x713/8X6%", including
plexiglass base
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W.
Anderson, Atherton, California
Tony DeLap
264 Tango Tangles III, 1966, lacquer
on wood and fiberglass, 39x39x39"
Lent by Long Beach Museum of Art,
California
Tom Holland
265 Untitled, from Berkeley
Series, 1970, epoxy on fiberglass,
9IX67V2"
Lent by The Fort Worth Art Museum,
Texas, Gift of Mr. J. J. Meeker
David Jones
266 Untitled , 1976, lacquer on steel,
wood and fiberglass, 78V4X93V4"
Lent by the artist
Gregg Renfrow
267 Untitled, 1976, polymer and
fibermesh, two panels, 69x99"
overall
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Eugene C.
Payne, III, San Francisco, California
For exhibition at San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art only
David Simpson
268 Red V\Iave, 1965, co-polymer on
canvas, 66x66"
Lent by La Jolla Museum of
Contemporary Art, California
Southern California:
Peter Alexander
269 Untitled, 1968, cast polyester
resin, 661/2 X6V4X6V4"
Lent by University Art Museum,
Berkeley, University of California
Charles Arnold!
270 Boggie, 1973, acrylic on tree
branches, 96X96"
Lent by Robert A. Rowan, Pasadena,
California
Larry Bell
271 Conrad Hawk, 1962, acrylic
polymer on canvas and glass,
601/8X6578X33/4"
Lent by the artist
272 Untitled, 1968, coated glass with
vaporized metallic compounds and
metal, 18i/8X18i/bX 181/3"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Extended loan of
Rena Bransten
273 Untitled, 1968, coated glass with
vaporized metallic compounds and
metal, 36x36x36"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. C. David
Robinson. Sausalito, California
Billy Al Bengston
274 Bridgette, 1959-1960, oil on
canvas, 171/3x13"
Lent anonymously
275 Buster, 1962, oil and sprayed
lacquer on masonite, 60 x 60"
Lent by La Jolla Museum of
Contemporary Art, California
276 Lady /rem Louisiana, 1968,
acrylic lacquer on metal,
12x111/4x11/2"
Lent by The Fort Worth Art Museum,
Texas, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew P.
Fuller
170
Ronald Davis
277 #110 Frame, 1969, polyester
resin and fiberglass, 50y2X 140V2"
Lent by Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
278 Bridge through Frame, 1976,
acrylic on canvas, 114x 122V2"
Lent by Berta and Frank Gehry, Santa
Monica, California
Richard Diebenkom
279 Ocean Park #53, 1972, oil on
canvas, 100x76"
Lent by San Antonio Museum
Association, Texas, Purchased with
aid of funds from the National
Endowment for the Arts and the
Brown Foundation
Laddie John Dill
280 Untitled, 1975, cement, polymer
and glass on plywood, 84x60"
Lent by James Corcoran Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
Frederick Eversley
281 Untitled , 1971 , cast polyester
resin, 36V2" diameterx9y8"
Lent by the artist
Sam Francis
282 Blue BaJJs 1,1960, oil on canvas,
119x1611/2"
Lent by the artist
283 Upper Yellow, 1967, acryUc on
canvas, 865/8X1575/8"
Lent by the artist
Robert Irwin
284 A Bed ojYKoses, 1962, oil on
canvas, 66x65"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Sid R. Bass, Fort
Worth, Texas
285 Untitled, 1964-1966, oil on
bowed convex canvas, 84x84"
Lent by Melinda Wortz, Pasadena,
California
286 Untitled, 1968, sprayed
plexiglass, 53" diameter x 24"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, T. B. Walker
Foundation Fund Purchase
Richard Jackson
287 Untitled, 1976, canvas, wood
and acrylic on wall, two walls,
166X103" each
Courtesy Daniel Weinberg Gallery,
San Francisco, California
Work created for site
Craig Kaufiman
288 Untitled VtlaW Relief, 1967,
vacuum-formed plexiglass,
50x72x15"
Lent by Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, California, Gift of the Kleiner
Foundation
171
John McCracken
289 Column (blue), 1975, polyester
resin, 90 X20V2XIOV2"
Lent by Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
Edward Moses
290 Hagamatama, 1972, acrylic on
canvas and plastic resin, 84 x 108"
Lent by Edwin Janss, Thousand Oaks,
California
Peter Plagens
291 The Grave of Reason , 1976, oil
and acrylic on canvas, 68x90"
Lent by Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New
York, New York
Michael Todd
292 Ako's Enso, 1976, varnished,
welded steel, 114x112x50"
approximately
Lent by the artist, courtesy The
Zabriskie Gallery, New York, New
York
For exhibition at National Collection
of Fine Arts only
293 Untitled, 1976, varnished,
welded steel, 114x112x50"
Lent by the artist, courtesy Nicholas
Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles,
California
For exhibition at San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art only
DeWain Valentine
294 Triple Disk, 1966, fiberglass
reinforced plastic, 72x84x72"
Lent by the artist
Guy Williams
295 Untitled, 1960, oil on canvas,
96x66"
Lent by the artist
Tom Wudl
296 Untitled, 1972, acrylic polymer
and gold leaf on perforated rice paper
imbedded with maple and bamboo
leaves, laminated with polymer,
72X60"
Lent by the Grinstein Family, Los
Angeles, California
Richard Yokomi
297 Untitled, 1975, acrylic on
synthetic canvas, 82y2x80"
Lent by Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
172
263 Fletcher Benton Synchronetic C-2500-S 1969
266 David Jones Untitled 1976
265 Tom Holland Untitled, from Berkeley Series 1970
264 Tony DeLap Tango Tangles III 1966
173
2liH David Simpson Hed Wave 19ii5
269 Peter Alexander Untitled 1968
^Ii7 Cii'HK Ki'iilnnv Cnlillcd 1976
270 Charles Arnoldi Boggie 1973
174
1
1
279 Richard Diebenkorn Ocean Park #53 1972
!;■
272 Larry Bell Untitled 1968
275 Billy Al Bengston Buster 1962
175
280 Laddie lohn Dill Untitled 1975
288 Craig Kauffman Untitled Wall Relief 1967
287 Richard |ackson Untitled 1976
176
289 John McCracken Column (blue) 1975 290 Edward Moses Hagamatama 1972
291 Peter Plagens The Grave o/ Reason 1976
293 Michael Todd Untitled 1976
177
295 Guy Williams Untitled 1960
297 Richard Yokomi Untilied 1975
29(5 ■lomVVudl Untitled 1972
178
15 New Realism and The
Visionaries
New Realism
"Beyond the Actual" implies more than the considerable skill of faith-
fully rendering the factual literalness of a given subject. The artist is
not a camera. The mind's eye is quite a different thing than the camera's
lens as the image registered on the retina is always conditioned by
human experience. Nevertheless, high fidelity to the actual subject
appears to be unusually prevalent among a majority of these painters
but it is a state best considered a means to another end. Most feel the
reality of their work, its meaning, is reached beyond the literal ... in this
sense, it is para-realistic!
Located in major metropolitan cities: San Francisco, Oakland, Los
Angeles, and Sacramento, the works of these artists initially seem to
have much in common. A number of them are close friends, yet each
works independently; and collectively, their works cannot be
categorized as a school of painting with a common structure and
purpose.
If reasons exist which tend to unite these painters, they lie more in
what has been rejected i.e., expressionism, the non-objective and
abstract, and perhaps in technical aspects of their style. For example,
use of the oil medium by the majority indicates the speed of com-
pleting a painting is of secondary importance for many spend
hundreds of hours in completing a painting.
Source: Donald Brewer, catalog
essay for Beyond the ActuaJ-
Contemporary California Realist
Painting, Pioneer Museum and
Haggin Galleries, Stockton,
California, 1970.
179
The Visionaries
A strong, richly fertile undercurrent in the San Francisco area has been
felt by a group of Bay Area painters who are utilizing it to produce a
highly refreshing style of art. This new style is characterized by its
intense introspective and spiritual qualities, its instructive nature and
its dazzling technical skill. This "movement" has already been labeled
visionary painting.
To a degree this development has received ripples from earlier San
Francisco movements. Conventions found in the forms of the poster-
makers and psychedelic artists, content of the vast rock-music and
light show performances, as well as the symbolism of Eastern and
primitive religions and ancient occult societies, all have contributed
raw source material.
Yet the innovations produced by these visionaries have not come about
only through immersion in these spiritual streams. They are often
nourished through feeding upon, or reacting to, the events of past art
history through the expansion or development of all but forgotten
forms and concepts. The imagery and content within the work of these
artists contain visual footnotes which refer to the contributions of other
schools.
Most immediate of these is a surface resemblance to the work of the
surrealist, metaphysical and fantasy painters of the early part of our
century. The difference between them lies not so much in method and
technique but in motives and what today might be called group
dynamics.
The intensity and profusion of symbols which represent the
subconscious are a measure of the San Francisco's group faith in the
richness of its content. They simply want to use it to reach, touch, and,
if possible, change people. They are more like emissaries projecting the
more human possibilities of other realities.
Perhaps reversing the idea of the earlier surrealists, these visionaries
convey the sense that the conscious world is now that dark "Other
Side;" conversely, the unconscious world — their primary source — is
the only possible channel to a new alternate reality. They are trying to
show the delight and mystery of this shadow land's erotic and sensual
nature.
Source: Donald Brewer, catalog
essay for Other Landscapes and
Shadow Land, University of
Southern California Art Galleries,
Los Angeles, 1971.
180
checklist
New Realism
Northern California:
Robert Bechtie
298 '60 T-Bird, 1967-1968, oil on
canvas, 72x983/4"
Lent by University Art Museum,
Berkeley, University of California
Ralph Goings
299 Paul's Corner, 1970, oil on
canvas, 48x75%"
Lent by Max Palevsky, Los Angeles,
California
Howard Hack
300 Window #21, F. Uri Meat Co.,
1967, oil on canvas, 84% x 109"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Extended loan of Mr.
and Mrs. Harry V/. Anderson
Richard McLean
301 Still Li/e with Black Jockey,
1969, oil on canvas, 60x60"
Lent by Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, New York
Joseph Raffael
302 Water Painting IV, 1973, oil on
canvas, 78xll4"
Lent by Private Collection, San
Francisco, California
Southern California:
Robert Graham
303 #2 Mirror, 1971-1973, bronze and
mirror, edition of 6, 10y4X29y8X23y8"
Lent by the artist
304 Single Figure, 1973-1976, bronze,
edition of 3, 66x9x9"
Lent by the artist
Maxwell Hendler
305 BeerbottJe, 1968-1969, oil on
canvas, 9X10"
Lent by the artist
Paul Sarkisian
306 Untitled, 1970, acrylic on canvas,
1171/4x141"
Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Gene A. Estribou,
Big Sur, California
James Valerio
307 Swan Lake and SignoreJJi's
Lament, 1974, oil on canvas, 96x112"
Lent by the artist
181
The Visionaries
Northern California:
Tom Akawie
308 Pyramid Sunset, 1974,
airbrushed acrylic on masonite,
9V2" diameter
Lent by the artist
309 PoIlyAnn Bakery, 1975,
airbrushed acrylic on masonite,
7x11"
Lent by the artist
Nick Hyde
310 Urp, 1972-1973, oil on canvas,
84x61 1/4"
Lent by the artist
Bill Martin
311 /Autumn, 1974-1976, oil on
canvas, 55" diameter
Lent by Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New
York, New York
Norman Stiegelmeyer
312 The Fluorescent Dancer Enters
the Temple of the Golden Skull, 1967,
acrylic on canvas, 65V2X67%"
Lent by the artist
Gage Taylor
313 Holy Grove, 1975, oil on canvas,
48" diameter
Lent by Gallery Rebecca Cooper,
Washington, D.C.
Southern California:
ClififMcReynolds
314 A New Earth (11 Peter 3:13). 1976,
oil on canvas, 40x40"
Lent by Gallery Rebecca Cooper,
Washington, D.C.
182
298 Robert Bechtle '60 T-Bird 1967-1968
300 Howard Hack Window #21, F. Uri Meal Co. 1!)()7
iiiiiiiiili^^
301 Richard McLean Stili Li/e with Black Jockey
1969
^S#^^!
^jf'-^W-r-.-t
302 Joseph Kdll.i. I IVuter Painting (V 1973
183
304 Robert Graham Single Figure
1973-1976
306 Paul Sarkisian Untitled 1970
305 Maxwell Hendler Beerbollle 1968-1969
307 James Valerio Sivan Lake and Signorelli's Lament 1974
184
311 Bill Martin Autumn 1974-1976
313 Gage Taylor Holy Grove 1975
312 Norman Stiegelmeyer The Fluorescent Dancer
Enters the Temple of the Golden Skull 1967
314 Cliff McReynolds A New Earth (JJ Peter 3;I3J
1976
310 Nick Hyde Urp 1972-1973
185
16 Conceptual, Environmental and Performance
Conceptual art, performance art and environmental art, each have a
quickly increasing group of practitioners and supporters in California
as they do in the rest of the world, for it is this aspect of California art,
both Southern and Northern, which has been absorbed most com-
pletely into the international spectrum. Tom Marioni, founder of the
Museum of Conceptual Art in San Francisco, Terry Fox, Bruce
Nauman, Chris Burden, Michael Asher and others are probably better
known in Italy, Germany and Yugoslavia than they are in California or
the United States in general.
The seeds of the ideas now flowering in these movements were
planted in the 1920's in Europe. They were seedlings when used by
Rauschenberg, Dine, Oldenburg, Tinguely, Cage and Kienholz in the
1950's and 1960's. But, the harvesters, as participators and audiences,
are the anti-object, post-museum generation of the 1970's. And, while
it is understandable and seemingly desirable that internationalism
should dominate the thinking of this generation there is still visible the
vestigal remains of a sense of place as evidenced in the following
statement. (H.T.H)
"In the spaces created by Nauman, Orr, Wheeler, Asher, Irwin, Turrell
and Nordman it is not in fact possible to escape the identity of one's
body. Everything is reduced to perceiving a phenomenon which
swings from within to without and vice versa, without settling on any
object or crystallized and quantified product. By reducing references to
quantified images to a maximum and polarizing the sense upon simple
events of sound and light, these artists want the body's periphery to cut
down its attention to external objects and to 'convey' itself towards
inward processes, so that the person's enteroceptive sensitivity will
then exalt the visceral sensations and their ways of association and
experience.
186
These spaces, unlike European ones which are laden with optical and
visual complications, being permeated with emptiness and nothing-
ness, immobility and non-images, do in fact bring on a state of
concentration and inward meditation. They seem to take one into
non-matter, but this sensation turns out to be 'full of things,' chief
among which are initially the elementary and minimal presence of
light and sound, and then oneself. After having felt and tested the
minimum alterations of the effects of light and sound, one feels the
need to be alone with oneself, to sit down quietly, without moving, and
to wait for something to happen. In this way one attains what is called
the 'alfa state' — a 'calm, watchful, relaxed state, open to every pleasant
experience,' in which 'one remains watchful, widening one's attention
in all directions.' In this state, the visitor draws the experience into his
own orbit of attention, so that the space, in its within and in its without,
is merged together and the experience rediscovers itself."
Source: Germano Celant,
"Arte Ambientale Californiana,"
Domus, No. 547, June 1975.
Translated from Italian.
187
Checklist
Northern California:
Terry Fox
315 Our li/e /lows 800 times slower
than a fly's /One minute for us is 12
hours/orthe/iy, 1971-1976, black and
white photographs and glass jar,
series of 54 photographs, 72 x 72"
overall; glass jar, 10x7" diameter
Lent by the artist
Howard Fried
316 Synchromafic Baseball,
1971-1976, documentation of event,
San Francisco, California, September 5,
1971, black and w^hite photographs
and photostats, 46x53"
Lent by the artist
Tom Marioni
317 Announcement of artist's
appointment as Director of San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1973, offset
lithography on card, 3% x 5%"
Lent anonymously
Bruce Nauman
318 Untitled, 1965, fiberglass,
83 X 48x31/2"
Lent by Private Collection
319 Window orWall Sign, 1967, blue
and peach neon tubing, 59x55"
Lent by Leo Castelli Gallery, New
York, New York
320 Untitled, 1974, pencil on paper,
28x41"
Lent by Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
Darryl Sapien
321 Sel/-Portrait, 1976, colored
pencil and graphite on acetate, two
drawings, 30y2X30V2"each
Lent by the artist
322 Studies for "Within the
Nucleus," 1976, performance at San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art,
California, March 27, 1976;
performers: Darryl Sapien and
Michael Hinton, colored pencil and
graphite on acetate, two drawings,
43X32" each
Lent by Austin Conkey, San
Francisco, California
323 Documentation of Within the
Nucleus, 1976, performance at San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art,
California, March 27, 1976;
performers: Darryl Sapien and
Michael Hinton, six color
photographs.
a) 171/4x111/2"
b) 171/4x111/4"
c) 14X11"
Lent by the artist
d) 11x14"
e) 171/8X113/8"
f) 171/8x111/4"
Southern California:
Michael Asher
324 Preliminary Drawing of
Construction Detail for Documenta 5 ,
1972, pencil on paper, 22x30"
Lent by The Claire Copley Gallery,
Inc., Los Angeles, California
John Baldessari
325 ...no ideas have entered this
work, 1966-1968, acrylic on canvas,
671/2x561/2"
Lent by Sonnabend Gallery, New
York, New York
188
Chris Burden
326 Prelude to 220, or 110, 1971,
documentation of performance at F
Space, Los Angeles, California,
September 10-12, 1971, black and
white photographs, 4/5 and 5/5, two
photographs, 13V8XlOV8"each
Lent by Riko Mizuno Callery, Los
Angeles, California
327 Bed Piece, 1972, documentation
of performance on Market Street,
Venice, California, February 18-
March 10, 1972, black and white
photograph, 5/5, 1034x13%"
Lent by Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
328 7A7, 1973, documentation of
performance near Los Angeles
International Airport, California,
January 5, 1973, black and white
photograph, 5/5, 133/4X1034"
Lent by Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los
Angeles, California
329 Chris Burden 71-73, 1974, text
and 53 photographs in binder
documenting artist's events and
performances from 1971 to 1973,
36/50,115/8X111/4"
Lent by Hansen Fuller Gallery, San
Francisco, California
Newton Harrison
330 Outcome from Notations on the
Ecosystem o]i\ie Western Salt Works
(with the inclusion o/ brine shrimpj,
1971, presented at Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, California,
1971, photographs, collage, graphite,
ink and oil on canvas, 73V2X55V2"
Lent by the artist
Allen Ruppersberg
331 Sel/-Portrait and Sculpture,
1973, cardboard box and paper,
13x121/2x91/2"
Lent by The Claire Copley Gallery,
Inc., Los Angeles, California
332 Reading and Drawing Pages
1-250, 1975, pencil on paper, series of
five drawings with 50 sheets of paper
behind each drawing, 22V2X 281/2"
each
Lent by The Claire Copley Gallery,
Inc., Los Angeles, California
DeWain Valentine
333 Catenary Light, 1970-1971,
documentation of installation in
artist's studio, Venice, California,
color photograph, 39^x593/4"
Lent by the artist
William Wegman
334 Cotto, 1969, black and white
photograph, 1/10, IO1/2XIO3/4"
Lent by Edward Ruscha, Los Angeles,
California
335 Dog/Milk, 1970, black and white
photographs, 1/2, two photographs,
131/2x101/2" each
Lent by Edward Ruscha, Los Angeles,
California
336 Bedroom, 1972, black and
white photograph, 1/1, 14xll"
Lent by Edward Ruscha, Los Angeles,
California
337 Bubbles, 1972, black and white
photograph, 1/1, 14xll"
Lent by Edward Ruscha, Los Angeles,
California
338 WaVi AvjokeWialj Asleep .V^Tl.
black and white photographs, 1 /2,
two photographs, 14X11" each
Lent by Edward Ruscha, Los Angeles,
California
339 Sweater Writing, 1972, black and
white photograph, 1/1, 14xll"
Lent by Edward Ruscha, Los Angeles,
California
Douglas Wheeler
340 Un/inished Plan fLight and
Soundless SpaceJ, 1973, graphite and
colored pencil on graph paper,
19X34"
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, California, Anonymous Gift
189
316 Howard Fried Synchwmatic Baseball 1971-1976
Thr Bnnid of Tnttlrti of TAf San Fnnntttt Miurum of Art
a'f plfMtd to nnitiiuntf llir appt'iilntm at Tlmmai •Vanoni
01 [t'ttnor, /dniMrt './•?'
317 Tom Marioni Announcement of artist's appointment as Directorof
San Francisco Museum of Art 1973
3 1 5 Terry Fox Our Li/e Flows 800 Times
Slower... 1971-1976
190
319 Bruce Nauman Window or Wall Sign 1967
IHJHTPh/
>
L
V.
\-^
y,
>
^■^
UtOXVltlUOMCLEIC .\C[1)
It
•^*^-.
,^>
-1 i
i^
m
TiZl Darryl Sapien Sludies for "Within the Nucleus"
1976
191
Miili.ii'l Aslu 1 lnst,ill,ilii)n shot, September 1974. The daire
Copley Gallery. Inc.. Los Angeles. California (Not in exhibition)
EVERYTHING IS PURGED FROM THIS PAINTING
BUT ART, NO IDEAS HAVE ENTERED THIS M/ORK.
32R Chris Burden Prelude lo 220. or 110 1971
325
lohn Baldessari
1966-1968
. . no ideas hove entered this work
192
330 Newton Harrison Outcome from Notations on the Ecosystem
ofthe Western Saltworks 1971
lim Turrell Installation shot. Prado, 1967, Pasadena Art Museum.
California (Not in exhibition)
Maria Nordman Installation shot. Saddleback
Mountain. September 25-October 28. 1973. Art Gallery.
University of California. Irvine (Not in exhibition)
331 Allen Ruppersberg SeI/-Porfrait and Sculpture
1973
193
333 DeVVain Valentine Catenary Light 1970-1971
334 William VVegman Cotto 1969
340 Douglas Wheeler Un/inished Plan (Light and Soundless Space) 1973
194
Biographies
Arlo Acton
Born 1933, Knoxville, Iowa. Studied
at Washington State University,
Pullman, B.A., 1958; California
School of Fine Arts (now San
Francisco Art Institute), M.F.A., 1959.
Settled in San Francisco, 1958.
Resides, North San Juan, California.
First one-man exhibition held at
Holies Gallery, San Francisco, 1962.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Hansen Gallery, San Francisco, 1967,
1968; Esther Robles Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1969. Group exhibitions
include Troisieme Biennale de Paris,
Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de
Paris, 1963 (cat.); Funk, University
Art Museum, University of
California, Berkeley, 1967 (cat.);
American Sculpture of the Sixties,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1967 (cat.).
Tom Akawie
Born 1935, New York. Moved to
Los Angeles, 1937. Studied at Los
Angeles City College, 1953-1956;
Olympic Art Guild, Los Angeles,
1955-1956; University of California,
Berkeley, B.A., 1959; M.A., 1963.
Lived in Northern California except
for 1965-1966, Los Angeles. Resides,
Berkeley, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Comara Gallery,
Los Angeles, 1965. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Art Institute, 1968; California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1971. Group exhibitions
include Art '65: Lesser Known and
Unknown Painters, American
Express Pavilion, New York World's
Fair, New York, 1965 (cat.); Spray,
Santa Barbara Museum of Art,
California, 1971 (cat.); Alternative
Realities, Museum of Contemporary
Art, Chicago, 1976 (cat.).
Peter Alexander
Born 1939, Los Angeles. Studied
at University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, 1957-1960; Architect's
Association, London, 1960-1962;
University of California, Berkeley,
1962-1963; University of Southern
California, Los Angeles, 1963-1964;
University of California, Los Angeles,
B.A., 1965; M.F.A., 1968. Resides,
Malibu, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Bowers Museum,
Santa Ana, California, 1964.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, 1968,
1969, 1970; Nicholas Wilder Gallery,
Los Angeles, 1970. Group exhibitions
include 14 Sculptors: The Industrial
Edge, Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1969 (cat.);
Transparency, Reflection, Light,
Space: Four Artists, UCLA Art
Galleries, University of California,
Los Angeles, 1971 (cat.); Documenta 5,
Kassel, Germany, 1972 (cat.); A
View Through. The Art Galleries,
California State University, Long
Beach, 1975 (cat.).
Robert Alexander
Born 1922, Chicago, Illinois. No
formal art training. Also works under
names "alexander" and "baza".
Moved to Los Angeles, 1933. Lived in
San Francisco, 1957-1960. Resides,
Venice. California. First one-man
exhibition held at Coronet-Louvre
Theatre, Los Angeles, 1955.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
room environment for Action^,
Syndell Studio/Now Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1956. Group exhibitions
include Directions in Collage:
California, Pasadena Art Museum,
California, 1962; Late Fifties at the
Ferus, Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, 1968 (cat.); Collage and
Assemblage in Southern California,
The Los Angeles Institute of
Contemporary Art, 1975.
196
William Allan
Born 1936, Everett, Washington.
Came to California, 1954. Studied at
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute), B.F.A.,
1958. Left California, 1959; returned
1966. Resides, Mill Valley, California.
First one-man exhibition held at Scott
Galleries, Seattle, Washington, 1964.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art (SECA
Grant Exhibition), 1970 (cat.);
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1974 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Slant Step Show,
Berkeley Gallery, San Francisco,
1966; Funk, University Art Museum,
University of California, Berkeley,
1967 (cat.); Separate Realities, Los
Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 1973
(cat.); America 1976, United States
Department of the Interior,
Washington, D.C., 1976 (cat.).
Terry Allen
Born 1944, Wichita, Kansas. Spent
childhood and high school years in
Lubbock, Texas. Came to California,
1961. Studied at Chouinard Art
Institute, Los Angeles, B.A., 1966.
Resides, Fresno, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Michael
Walls Gallery, San Francisco, 1968
(also 1970, 1973 [Los Angeles], 1974
[New York]). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Museum of
Contemporary Art, Chicago, 1971
(cat.); Contemporary Arts Museum,
Houston, Texas, 1975 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include The Spirit of the
Comics, Institute of Contemporary
Art, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, 1969 (cat.); Surrealism
is A Jive and Well in the West, Baxter
Art Gallery, California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, 1972 (cat.);
Extraordinary Realities, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1973 (cat.); Great American Rodeo,
Fort Worth Art Museum, Texas, 1976
(cat,).
John Altoon
Born 1925, Los Angeles. Studied at
Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles,
1947-1949; Art Center School, Los
Angeles, 1949-1950; Chouinard Art
Institute, Los Angeles, 1950. Died
1969, Los Angeles. First one-man
exhibition held at Santa Barbara
Museum of Art, California, 1951 .
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1967
(cat.), 1969; Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1971 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include American
Drawings, The Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, New York,
1964 (cat.); Late Fifties at the Ferus,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1968 (cat.); Spray, Santa Barbara
Museum of Art, California, 1971
(cat.); Eight from California, National
Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C., 1974
(cat.).
Jeremy Anderson
Born 1921, Palo Alto, California.
Studied at California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1946-1950. Resides, Mill
Valley, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Metart Gallery, San
Francisco, 1949. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1966 (cat.); Museum
of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 1975
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
IVlobiJes and Articulated Sculpture,
California Palace of the Legion of
Honor, San Francisco, 1948 (cat.);
American Sculpture of the Sixties,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
California, 1967 (cat.); Continuing
Surrealism, La Jolla Museum of Art,
California, 1971 (cat.).
197
Ruth Armer
Born 1896, San Francisco. Studied at
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute); The Art
Students League of New York; New
York School of Fine and Applied Art.
Resides, San Francisco. First
one-woman exhibition held at
Vickery, Atkins and Torrey, San
Francisco, 1922. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1936; Quay Gallery,
San Francisco, 1972, 1975. Group
exhibitions include American
Painting Today 1950, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, 1950 (cat.); IIIBienaJ, Museu de
Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1955
(cat.); Art: USA: 58, Madison Square
Garden, New York, 1958 (cat.).
Robert Arneson
Born 1930, Benicia, California.
Studied at California College of Arts
and Crafts, Oakland, B.A., 1954; Mills
College, Oakland, M.F.A., 1958.
Resides, Davis, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Oakland
Art Museum, California, 1960.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Hansen Fuller Gallery, San Francisco,
1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1974, 1975, 1976; Museum of
Contemporary Art, Chicago, and San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1974 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Dada,
Surrealism and Their Heritage, The
Museum of Modern Art, New York,
1968 (cat.); Contemporary Ceramic
Art: Canada, U.S.A., Mexico and
Japan, The National Museum of
Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan, 1971, and
The National Museum of Modern Art,
Tokyo, Japan, 1972 (cat.); Clay,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
Downtown Branch, New York, 1974
(cat.).
Charles Arnold!
Born 1946, Dayton, Ohio. Came to Los
Angeles, 1965. Studied at Chouinard
Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1968.
Lived in New York, 1970. Resides,
Venice, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Riko Mizuno
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1971.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles,
1974, 1975; Robert Elkon Gallery, New
York, 1975. Group exhibitions include
Fifteen Los Angeles Artists, Pasadena
Art Museum, California, 1972 (cat.);
Documenta 5 , Kassel, Germany, 1972
(cat.); Fifteen Abstract Artists, The
Santa Barbara Museum of Art,
California, 1974 (cat.).
Ruth Asawa
Born 1926, Norwalk, California.
Studied at Milwaukee State Teachers
College, Wisconsin, 1943-1945; Black
Mountain College, North Carolina,
1946-1949. Settled in San Francisco,
1949. Resides, San Francisco. First
one-woman exhibition held at The
Tin Angel Gallery, San Francisco,
1953 (with Jean Varda). Subsequent
solo exhibitions include Peridot
Gallery, New York, 1954, 1956, 1958;
M.H. de Young Memorial Museum,
San Francisco, 1960; San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1973 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Recent Sculpture
USA , The Museum of Modern Art,
New York, 1959 (cat.); Cookies and
Breads: The Baker's Art, Museum of
Contemporary Crafts, New York, 1965
(cat.); Public Sculpture /Urban
Environment, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1974 (cat.).
198
Michael Asher
Born 1943, Los Angeles. Studied at
University of California, Irvine,
B.F.A., 1966. Resides, Venice,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at La Jolla Museum of Art,
California, 1969. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Lisson Gallery,
London, England, 1973; Otis Art
Institute Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975;
The Floating Museum, San
Francisco, 1976. Group exhibitions
include Spaces, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1969 (cat.);
Documenta 5, Kassel, Germany, 1972
(cat.); XXXVm Biennale, Venice,
Italy, 1976 (cat.).
John Baldessari
Born 1931, National City, California.
Studied at University of California,
Berkeley, 1954-1955; San Diego State
College, California, B.A., 1953; M.A.,
1957; University of California, Los
Angeles, Otis Art Institute, Los
Angeles, Chouinard Art Institute, Los
Angeles, 1957-1959. Resides, Santa
Monica, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Art Center in La
Jolla, California, 1960 (also 1966).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Nova Scotia College of Art and
Design, Halifax, 1971; Ileana
Sonnabend, 1973 (Paris). 1974 (New
York). Group exhibitions include
Information, The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1970 (cat.);
Documenta 5, Kassel, Germany, 1972
(cat.); (photoj (photo)^. . . (photoj".
University of Maryland Art Gallery,
College Park, 1975 (cat.); Southland
Video Anthology, Long Beach
Museum of Art, California, 1975
(cat.).
Matthew Barnes
Born 1880, Kilmarnock, Scotland.
Trained as an ornamental plasterer.
Came to San Francisco, 1906. Died
1951, San Francisco. First one-man
exhibition held at The Modern
Gallery, San Francisco, 1928.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Kleeman Gallery, New York, 1944;
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1944,
1952; Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery, San
Francisco, 1947 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Exhibition of
American Painting, M.H. de Young
Memorial Museum and California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1935 (cat.); Contemporary
Art, Golden Gate International
Exposition, San Francisco, 1939
(cat.); Romantic Painting in America,
The Museum of Modern Art, New
York, 1943 (cat.).
John Baxter
Born 1912, San Francisco, California.
Studied at University of California,
Los Angeles, A.B., 1933. Lived in San
Francisco Bay Area except 1951-1955
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Died
1966, Oakland, California. First
one-man exhibition held at San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1947 (also
1967; cats.). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include M.H. de Young
Memorial Museum, San Francisco,
1961 (cat.); California Palace of the
Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1963
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Abstract and Surrealist American
Art /Fifty-Eighth Annual Exhibition
of American Paintings and Sculpture,
The Art Institute of Chicago, 1947
(cat.); The Art of Assemblage , The
Museum of Modern Art, New York,
1961 (cat.); Contemporary American
Painting and Sculpture, Krannert Art
Museum, University of Illinois,
Urbana,1963 (cat.).
199
Paul Beattie
Born 1924, Bay City, Michigan,
Studied at The Society of Arts and
Crafts, Detroit, Michigan, 1945-1947;
Sonoma State University, Rohnert
Park, California, B.A., 1973;
University of California, Berkeley,
M.A., 1976. Came to San Francisco,
1955; moved to Healdsburg,
California, 1963. Resides, Healdsburg.
First one-man exhibition held at
Hansa Callery, New York, 1954.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
6 Gallery, San Francisco, 1955. Group
exhibitions include Batman Gallery,
San Francisco, 1963, 1964; Collage
and Assemblage in Southern
California, The Los Angeles Institute
of Contemporary Art, 1975 (cat.); The
Sky Show, Otis Art Institute, Los
Angeles, 1975.
Robert Bechtle
Born 1932, San Francisco, California.
Studied at California College of Arts
and Crafts, Oakland, 1950-1954,
1956-1958, B.A., 1954; M.F.A., 1958.
Resides, Berkeley, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Berkeley
Gallery, Berkeley, 1965. Subsequent
solo exhibitions include O.K. Harris
Gallery, New York, 1971, 1974; E.B.
Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento,
California, 1973 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Realism Now,
Vassar College Art Gallery,
Poughkeepsie, New York, 1968 (cat.);
Documenta 5 , Kassel, Germany, 1972
(cat.); Image, Color and Form, The
Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, 1975
(cat.); America 1976, United States
Department of the Interior,
Washington, D.C., 1976 (cat.).
Larry Bell
Born 1939, Chicago, Illinois. Came to
California in 1945. Studied at
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles,
1957-1959. Moved to Talpa, New
Mexico in 1973. Resides, Talpa, New
Mexico. First one-man exhibition
held at Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles,
1962 (also 1963, 1965). Subsequent
solo exhibitions include Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1972 (cat.);
Marlborough Gallery, Rome, Italy,
1972 (cat.); Fort Worth Art Museum,
Texas, in cooperation with the Santa
Barbara Museum of Art, California,
1976 (cat: Santa Barbara Museum of
Art). Group exhibitions include VIII
BienaJ, Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao
Paulo, Brazil, 1965 (cat.);
Transparency, Reflection, Light,
Space: Four Artists, UCLA Art
Galleries, University of California,
Los Angeles, 1971 (cat.); 1 1 Los
Angeles Artists, The Arts Council of
Great Britain, Hayward Gallery,
London, 1971 (cat.); 200 Years of
American Sculpture, Whitney
Museum of American Art, 1976 (cat.).
Billy Al Bengston
Born 1934, Dodge City, Kansas.
Moved to Southern California, 1948.
Studied at Los Angeles City College,
1953, 1954; Los Angeles State
College, 1954-1955; California
College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland,
1955-1956; Otis Art Institute, Los
Angeles, 1957. Resides, Venice,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles,
1958 (also 1960, 1961, 1962).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1968 (cat.); Galerie Neuendorf, 1970,
1972 (Hamburg, Germany), 1970,
1971 (Cologne, Germany). Group
exhibitions include VUIBienal,
Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo,
Brazil, 1965 (cat.); Ten From Los
Angeles, Seattle Art Museum
Pavilion, 1966 (cat.); Abstract
Expressionist Ceramics, Art Gallery,
University of California, Irvine, 1966
(cat.); Pop Art. Whitney Museum of
American Art. New York, 1974 (cat.).
200
Karl Benjamin
Born 1925, Chicago, Illinois. Came
to California, 1946. Studied at
Northwestern University, Evanston,
Illinois, 1943; University of Redlands,
Redlands, California, B.A., 1949;
Claremont Graduate School,
Claremont, California, M.A., 1960.
Resides, Claremont, California.
First one-man exhibition held at
University of Redlands, 1953 (also
1956, 1962). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Long Beach
Museum of Art, California, 1958;
Utah Museum of Fine Arts,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City,
1970. Group exhibitions include Four
Abstract Classicists, Los Angeles
County Museum of Art and San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1959 (cat.);
Geometric Abstraction in America,
Whitney Museum of American
Art, New York, 1962 (cat.); The
Responsive Eye, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1965 (cat.).
Fletcher Benton
Born 1931, Jackson, Ohio. Studied
at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio,
B.A., 1956. Came to San Francisco
c. 1958. Resides, San Francisco. First
one-man exhibition held at The Attic,
San Francisco, 1958. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1970 (cat.); The de
Saisset Art Gallery and Museum,
University of Santa Clara, California,
1975 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
Art '65: Young American ScuJpture-
East to West, American Express
Pavilion, New York World's Fair, New
York, 1965 (cat.); American Sculpture
of the Sixties, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1967 (cat.); Kinetics,
The Arts Council of Great Britain,
Hayward Gallery, London, 1970
(cat.); Public Sculpture /Urban
Environment, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1974 (cat.).
Ed Bereal
Born 1937, Los Angeles. Studied at
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles,
1958-1962, B.FA., 1962. Resides, Los
Angeles. Group exhibitions include
The Objectmakers, Pomona College,
Claremont, California, 1961; War
Babies, Huysman Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1961; The Negro in
American Art, UCLA Art Galleries,
University of California, Los Angeles,
1966 (cat.); The Betty and Monte
Factor Family Colection , Pasadena
Museum of Modern Art, California,
1973 (cat.); University of CaJi/ornia,
Irvine, 1965-1975 , La Jolla Museum of
Contemporary Art, California, 1975
(cat.).
Tony Berlant
Born 1941, New York. Came to
California, 1946. Studied at
University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, 1959-1960; University of
California, Los Angeles, M.A., 1963;
M.F.A., 1964. Resides, Santa Monica,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at David Stuart Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1963 (also 1965, 1967).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Wichita Art Museum, Kansas, 1971;
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1973 (cat.); Phyllis Kind
Gallery, Chicago, 1974. Group
exhibitions include Pop Art USA,
Oakland Art Museum, California,
1963 (cat.); American Sculpture of
the Sixties, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1967 (cat); Human
Concern /Personal Torment; The
Grotesque in American Art, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1969 (cat.).
201
Ben Berlin
Born 1887, Washington, D.C. Lived in
Los Angeles from c. 1914. Died 1939,
Los Angeles. Group exhibitions
include Independent Artists of Los
AngeJes, Taos Building, Los Angeles,
1923 (cat.); Southern Cali/ornia Art
Project, Los Angeles Museum, 1939
(cat); Fifty Paintings by Thirty-Seven
Painters o/theLos AngeJes Area,
UCLA Art Galleries, University of
California, Los Angeles, 1961 (cat.);
Arts of Southern California -XIV:
Early Moderns, Long Beach Museum
of Art, California, 1964 (cat.).
Eugene Berman
Born 1899, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Studied with P.S. Naumoff and
S. Grusenberg, St. Petersburg,
1915-1918; Academie Ranson, Paris,
1920-1925. Moved to Paris, 1918.
Visited California, 1935; settled in
California, 1940. Died 1972, Rome,
Italy. First one-man exhibition held
at Galerie Granoff, Paris, 1927.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Julien Levy Gallery, New York, 1932,
1933, 1935, 1936. 1937, 1939, 1941,
1943, 1946, 1947; The histitute of
Modern Art, Boston, Massachusetts,
1941 (cat.); The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1945 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Neo-Romantic
Exhibition (with Berard, Tchelitchew,
Leonide Berman, Therese Debains),
Druet Gallery, Paris, 1926; Salon
d'Automne, Paris, 1923; Milestones of
American Painting in Our Century,
The Institute of Contemporary Art,
Boston, 1949 (cat.); Human
Concern /Personal Torment: The
Grotesque in American Art, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1969 (cat.). Ref: Levy, Julien. Eugene
Berman. New York and London:
American Studio Books, n.d.
Wallace Berman
Born 1926, Tompkinsville, New York.
No formal art training. Lived in Los
Angeles area except 1957 lived in San
Francisco. Died 1976, Los Angeles.
First one-man exhibition held at
Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles, 1957.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1968 (cat.); The Jewish Museum, New
York, 1968 (cat.). Group exhibitions
include Assemblage in Cali/ornia,
Art Gallery, University of California,
Irvine, 1968 (cat.); Poets of the
Cities INew York and San Francisco
1950-1965 , Dallas Museum of Fine
Arts and Pollock Galleries, Southern
Methodist University, Dallas, Texas,
1974 (cat.); Art as a Muscular
Principle. John and Norah Warbeke
Gallery, Mount Holyoke College,
South Hadley, Massachusetts, 1975
(cat.).
Elmer BischofF
Born 1916, Berkeley, California.
Studied at University of California,
Berkeley, 1934-1939, B.A., 1938; M.A.,
1939. Resides, Berkeley, California.
First one-man exhibition held at
California Palace of the Legion of
Honor, San Francisco, 1947.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Staempfli Gallery, New York, 1960,
1962, 1964, 1969 (cats.); The Oakland
Museum, California, 1975 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Abstract
and Surrealist American Art /Fifty-
Eighth Annual Exhibition of
American Painting and Sculpture,
The Art histitute of Chicago, 1947
(cat.); Contemporary Bay Area
Figurative Painting, The Oakland Art
Museum, California, 1957 (cat.); A
Period of Exploration, San Francisco
1945-1950, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1973 (cat.).
202
William Brice
Born 1921, New York. Studied at The
Art Students League of New York;
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles.
Resides, Los Angeles. First one-man
exhibition held at Santa Barbara
Museum of Art, 1947 (also 1958; cat.).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Downtown Gallery, New York, 1949;
The Art Gallery, University of
California, San Diego, 1967 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include
Americans Under 36, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, 1950; III Bienal , Museu de Arte
Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1955
(cat.); American Painting 1966,
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,
Richmond, 1966 (cat.); Selected
Artists-'67, Des Moines Art Center,
Iowa, 1967 (cat.).
Nick Brigante
Born 1895, PaduUa, Italy. Came to
Southern California, 1897. Studied at
Art Students League, Los Angeles,
1913-c. 1917. Resides, Hollywood,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Stendahl Galleries, Los
Angeles, 1937 (cat.). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Los Angeles Art
Association, 1963; PacifiCulture
Foundation, Pasadena, California,
1971; Silvan Simone Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1974 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Independent
Artists o/ Los Angeles, Taos Building,
Los Angeles, 1923 (cat.); Then and
Now. Los Angeles Art Association,
1950; Watercolor USA , The
Springfield Art Museum, Springfield,
Missouri, 1964 (cat.); Nine Senior
Southern California Painters, The Los
Angeles Institute of Contemporary
Art, Los Angeles, 1974 (cat.).
Ernest Briggs
Born 1923, San Diego, California.
Studied at Rudolph Schaeffer School
of Design, San Francisco, 1946-1947;
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute),
1947-1951. Left California for New
York, 1953. Resides, New York. First
one-man exhibition held at Metart
Gallery, San Francisco, 1949.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
California School of Fine Arts, San
Francisco, 1956 (cat.); Howard Wise
Gallery, New York, 1960, 1962, 1963.
Group exhibitions include Vanguard
1955, The Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis, 1955 (cat.); 12
Americans, The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1956 (cat.); Large
Scale American Paintings, The
Jewish Museum, New York, 1967; A
Period of Exploration, San Francisco
1945-1950, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1973 (cat.).
Richard Brodney
Born 1925, New York. Came to
San Francisco, 1944. Studied at
University of Wisconsin, Madison;
University of California, Berkeley;
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute),
1951-1952. Moved to New York, 1956.
Resides, Berkeley Heights, New
Jersey. One-man exhibition held at
Stryke Gallery, New York, 1963.
Group exhibitions include Bart Perry,
Roy De Forest, RelfCase, Richard
Brodney, California School of Fine
Arts, San Francisco, 1952; From San
Francisco; A New Language in
Painting, Kaufmann Art Gallery,
YM-YWHA, New York, 1954; Action,
Merry-go-round Building, Santa
Monica Pier, Santa Monica,
California, 1955 (cat.); group
exhibition. Summit Art Center,
Summit, New Jersey, 1976.
203
Joan Brown
Born 1938, San Francisco. Studied at
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute),
1955-1960, B.FA., 1959; M.RA., 1960.
Resides, San Francisco. First
one-woman exhibition held at 6
Gallery, San Francisco, 1957 (with
Mike Nathan). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Staempfli
Gallery, New York, 1960, 1961, 1964
(cats.); San Francisco Museum of Art,
1971 (cat.); University Art Museum,
University of California, Berkeley,
1974 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
Young America 1960, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1960 (cat.); Funk, University Art
Museum, University of California,
Berkeley, 1967 (cat.); Art as a
Muscular Principle, )ohn and Norah
Warbeke Gallery. Mount Holyoke
College, South Hadley,
Massachusetts, 1975 (cat.).
Beniamino Bufano
Born 1898, San Fale, Italy. Studied at
The Art Students League of New
York, 1913-1915. Came to San
Francisco, 1915. Travelled in Europe
and China, 1916-1921. Settled in San
Francisco, 1921. Died 1970, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at Arden Galleries, New York,
1925. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include San Francisco Museum of
Art, 1935, 1936, 1937; California
Academy of Sciences, San Francisco,
1974. Group exhibitions include
SaJon d'Automne, Paris, 1927;
CaJi/ornia Art Today, Golden Gate
International Exposition, San
Francisco, 1940 (cat.); Public
Sculpture /Urban Environment, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1974
(cat.). Ref: Fry, Roger, Henry Miller
and others. Bufano. Florence, Italy,
1936.
Chris Burden
Born 1946, Boston, Massachusetts.
Studied at Pomona College,
Claremont, California, B.A., 1969;
University of California, Irvine,
M.F.A., 1971. Resides, Venice,
California. First one-man exhibition,
5-Day Locker Piece , held at
University of California, Irvine, 1971.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Bed Piece, Market Street Program,
Venice, California, 1972; Riko Mizuno
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1973, 1975;
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York,
1974, 1975, 1976. Group exhibitions
include Southland Video Anthology,
Long Beach Museum of Art,
California, 1975 (cat.); University of
California, Irvine, 1965-1975, La )olla
Museum of Contemporary Art,
California, 1975 (cat.); Bodyworks,
Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago, 1975 (cat.). Ref: Burden,
Chris, designer and publisher. Chris
Burden. Venice, California: privately
printed, 1974.
Hans Burkhardt
Born 1904, Basel, Switzerland.
Studied at Cooper Union School of
Art and Architecture, New York,
1925-1928; Grand Central School of
Art, New York, 1928-1929; Arshile
Gorky Studio, New York, 1929-1936.
Came to California, 1937. Resides, Los
Angeles. First one-man exhibition
held at Stendahl Galleries, Los
Angeles, 1939. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include The San Diego
Art Institute, San Diego, California,
1966 (cat.); Long Beach Museum of
Art, California, 1972 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Abstract and
Surrealist American Art /Fifty-Eighth
Annual Exhibition of American
Painting and Sculpture, The Art
Institute of Chicago, 1947 (cat.);
American Painting Today 1950, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, 1950 (cat.); Nine Senior
Southern California Painters, The Los
Angeles Institute of Contemporary
Art, 1974 (cat.).
204
Vija Celmins
Born 1939, Riga, Latvia. Came to
California, 1963. Studied at lohn
Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis,
Indiana, B.F.A., 1962; University of
California, Irvine, M.F.A., 1965.
Resides, Venice, California. First
one-woman exhibition held at
Dickson Art Center, University of
California, Los Angeles, 1965.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles,
1970, 1973; Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1973 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include 24 Young
Los Angeles Artists, Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1971 (cat.);
American Drawings 1963-1973 ,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1973 (cat.); University of
California, Irvine, 1965-1975, La )olla
Museum of Contemporary Art,
California, 1975 (cat.).
Judy Chicago
Born 1939, Chicago, Illinois. Moved
to Southern California, 1957. Studied
at University of California, Los
Angeles, B.A., 1962; M.A., 1964.
Resides, Santa Monica, California.
First one-woman exhibition held at
Art Center in La Jolla, California,
1961. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Rolf Nelson Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1966, 1967; Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1969 (cat.);
California State University, Fullerton,
1970 (at which time the artist
changed her name from Gerowitz to
Chicago). Group exhibitions include
Primary Structures, The Jewish
Museum, New York, 1966 (cat.);
American Sculpture o/the Sixties,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1967 (cat.); Womanhouse, Los
Angeles, 1972 (made in collaboration
with members of the Feminist Art
Program, California Institute of
the Arts, Valencia; cat.); Public
Sculpture /Urban Environment, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1974
(cat.).
William Clapp
Born 1879, Montreal, Quebec. Came
to California, 1885. Studied with
William Brymner, Montreal,
1900-1904; at Academie )ulian,
Academie Colarossi, Academie de la
Grande Chaumiere, Paris. Returned to
Oakland, California, 1917. Died 1954,
Oakland. Group exhibitions include
annual exhibitions of the "Society of
Six", Oakland Art Gallery, California,
1923-1928; Art Exhibition by
California Artists, California
Building, Golden Gate International
Exposition, San Francisco, 1939
(cat.); Society of Six, The Oakland
Museum, California, 1972 (cat.);
Impressionism in Canada 1895-1935,
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1973
(cat.).
Grace Clements
Born 1905, Oakland, California.
Studied in New York, 1925-1930.
Settled in Los Angeles, 1931. First
one-woman exhibition held at Los
Angeles Museum, 1931 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Post-Surrealist
Exhibition, San Francisco Museum of
Art, 1935; Southern California Art
Project, Los Angeles Museum, 1939
(cat.); Between Two Wars, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1942 (cat.); 3rd Group Show, Los
Angeles Museum, 1944.
205
Robert Colescott
Born 1925. Oakland, California.
Studied at University of California,
Berkeley, A.B., 1929; M.A.. 1952;
Atelier Fernand Leger. Paris,
1949-1950. In Pacific Northwest.
1952-1964; Egypt, 1964-1967; France,
1967-1969. Settled in California, 1970.
Resides. Oakland. California. First
one-man exhibition held at
Miller-Pollard, Seattle, Washington,
1953 (also 1954). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Portland Art
Museum, Oregon, 1958. 1966; Razor
Gallery, New York. 1975. Group
exhibitions include Le Salon de Mai,
Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de
Paris, 1950 (cat.); American Painting
Today, Grand Rapids Art Gallery,
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1961 (cat.);
A Third World Painting/Sculpture
Exhibition, San Francisco Museum of
Art, 1974 (cat.).
Bruce Conner
Born 1933, McPherson, Kansas.
Studied at University of Wichita.
Kansas. 1951-1952; University of
Nebraska, Lincoln, 1952-1956, B.RA.,
1956; Brooklyn Museum Art School,
1956; University of Colorado,
Boulder, 1957. Came to San
Francisco, 1957. Resides, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at East & West Gallery, San
Francisco. 1958. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include The Rose Art
Museum, Brandeis University,
Waltham, Massachusetts. 1965 (cat.);
Institute of Contemporary Art,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia. 1967 (cat.); The Fine
Arts Museums of San Francisco: M.H.
de Young Memorial Museum, 1974
(cat.). Group exhibitions include The
Art o/Assemblage, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1961 (cat.);
American Sculpture of the Sixties,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1967 (cat.); Poets of the Cities INew
York and San Francisco 1950-1965,
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and
Pollock Galleries, Southern Methodist
University. Dallas. Texas, 1974 (cat.).
Edward Corbett
Born 1919, Chicago, Illinois. Studied
at California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute), 1937-
1941. Left San Francisco, 1951. Died
1971, Provincetown, Massachusetts.
First one-man exhibition held at Pat
Wall Gallery, Monterey, California.
1948. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Grace Borgenicht Gallery,
New York. 1956. 1959, 1961, 1962,
1964, 1967, 1970, 1973; San Francisco
Museum of Art. 1969 (cat.); The
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
1973 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
Abstract and Surrealist American
Art/Fi/ty-Eighth Annual Exhibition
of American Painting and Sculpture,
The Art Institute of Chicago, 1947
(cat.); 15 Americans. The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1952 (cat.);
American Landscape: A Changing
Frontier, National Collection of Fine
Arts, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C, 1966 (cat.).
206
Robert Cremean
Bom 1932, Toledo, Ohio. Studied at
Alfred University, Alfred, New York,
1950-1952; Cranbrook Academy of
Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan,
B.A., 1954; M.F.A., 1956. Lived in
Southern California, 1956-1958;
moved to Northern California, 1958;
in Europe, 1969-1972. Resides,
Tomales, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Toledo Museum
of Art, Ohio, 1955. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include California Palace
of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1961; The California Arts
Commission (circulating exhibition),
Sacramento, 1966 (cat.); The Fine Art
Museums of San Francisco: M.H. de
Young Memorial Museum, 1976
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Pacemakers, Contemporary Arts
Museum, Houston, Texas, 1957 (cat.);
Annual Exhibition o/ Contemporary
American Sculpture, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1960, 1964 (cats.); XXXA^BiennaJe,
Venice, Italy, 1968 (cat.).
Ronald Davis
Born 1937, Santa Monica, Califorrna.
Studied at University of Wyoming,
Laramie, 1955-1956; California
School of Fine Arts (now San
Francisco Art Institute), 1960-1964;
Yale University-Norfolk School of
Music and Art, Norfolk, Connecticut,
1962 (summer). Settled in Southern
California, 1965. Resides, Los
Angeles. First one-man exhibition
held at Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1965 (also 1967, 1969, 1973).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, 1968,
1969, 1971, 1974, 1975; Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery, 1975 (with
Tom Holland; cat.); The Oakland
Museum, California, 1976 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include A New
Aesthetic, Washington Gallery of
Modern Art, Washington, D.C., 1967
(cat.); 4. Documenta, Kassel,
Germany, 1968 (cat.); Painting, New
Options , Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1972 (cat.);
American Art; Third Quarter
Century, Seattle Art Museum
Pavilion, Washington, 1973 (cat.).
Jay DeFeo
Born 1929, Hanover, New Hampshire.
Came to California c. 1931. Studied at
University of California, Berkeley,
1946-1951, B.A., 1950; M.A., 1951.
Resides, Larkspur, California. First
one-woman exhibition held at Dilexi
Gallery, San Francisco, 1959.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles, 1960;
Pasadena Art Museum, California,
1969 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
Sixteen Americans , The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1959 (cat.);
New Works /Seven Bay Area Artists,
The Oakland Museum, California,
1971; Poets of the Cities /New York
and San Francisco 1950-1965, Dallas
Museum of Fine Arts and Pollock
Galleries, Southern Methodist
University, Dallas, Texas, 1974 (cat.).
Roy De Forest
Born 1930, North Platte, Nebraska.
Came to San Francisco, 1950. Studied
at California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute), 1950-
1952; San Francisco State College,
1952-1953, 1956-1958, B.A., 1953;
M.A., 1958. Resides, Port Costa,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at East & West Gallery, San
Francisco, 1955. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Dilexi Gallery,
San Francisco, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1967;
Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York,
1966, 1972, 1975; San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1974 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include IIIBienal, Museu
de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
1955 (cat.); The Spirit of the Comics,
Institute of Contemporary Art,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, 1969 (cat.);
Extraordinary Realities, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1973 (cat.).
207
Tony DeLap
Born 1927, Oakland, California.
Studied at California College of Arts
and Crafts, Oakland, 1946, 1947
(summers); Academy of Advertising
Art, San Francisco, 1948; Claremont
Graduate School, Claremont,
California, 1949-1950. In San
Francisco Bay Area 1951-1965; moved
to Southern California, 1965. Resides,
Corona del Mar, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Gump's
Gallery, San Francisco, 1954 (with
Paul Darrow). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Art Gallery,
University of California, Irvine, 1969
(cat.); Art Galleries, California State
University, Long Beach, 1974 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include The
Responsive Eye, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1965 (cat.);
American Sculpture of the Sixties,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1967 (cat.); Public Sculpture /Urban
Environment, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1974 (cat.).
Richard Diebenkom
Born 1922, Portland, Oregon. Studied
at Stanford University, Stanford,
California, 1940-1943, 1949, B.A.,
1949; University of California,
Berkeley, 1943; California School of
Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1946; University of New
Mexico, Albuquerque, 1950-1951,
M.A., 1951. Returned to San
Francisco Bay Area in 1953. Moved to
Santa Monica, California, 1966.
Resides, Santa Monica. First one-man
exhibition held at California Palace of
the Legion of Honor, San Francisco,
1948. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Washington Gallery of
Modern Art, Washington, D.C., 1964
(cat.); San Francisco Museum of Art,
1954, 1972 (cat.); Marlborough Fine
Art (London) Ltd., London, 1973
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Younger American Painters, The
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York, 1954; Contemporary Bay
Area Figurative Painting, The
Oakland Art Museum, California,
1957 (cat.); Abstract Painting in the
70's, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
1972 (cat.); Twenty-five Years of
American Painting, 1948-1973, Des
Moines Art Center, Iowa, 1973 (cat.).
Laddie John Dill
Born 1943, Long Beach, California.
Studied at Chouinard Art Institute,
Los Angeles, 1964-1968, B.F.A., 1968.
Resides, Venice, California. FirSt
one-man exhibition held at
Sonnabend Gallery, New York, 1971
(also 1972). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Riko Mizuno
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1973; )ames
Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, 1974,
1975. Group exhibitions include New
Works for New Spaces , Walker Art
Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
1971 (cat.); Fifteen Abstract Artists,
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art,
California, 1974 (cat.); A View
Through, The Art Galleries,
California State University, Long
Beach, 1975 (cat.).
208
James Budd Dixon
Born 1900, San Francisco. Studied at
University of California, Berkeley;
Mark Hopkins Institute, San
Francisco; California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1945-1947. Died 1967, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at San Francisco Museum of Art,
1939. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Area Arts Gallery, San
Francisco, 1953. Group exhibitions
include 3rd Annual Exhibition of
Painting. California Palace of the
Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1949
(cat.); Action. Merry-go-round
Building, Santa Monica Pier, Santa
Monica, California, 1955 (cat.); San
Francisco 9, Contemporary Arts
Museum, Houston, Texas, 1962 (cat.);
A Period of Exploration, San
Francisco 1945-1950, The Oakland
Museum, California, 1973 (cat.).
Maynard Dixon
Born 1875, Fresno, California. Came
to San Francisco Bay Area, 1893.
Studied at California School of
Design, San Francisco, briefly in
1893; otherwise self-taught. Lived in
San Francisco and the Southwest,
except for a period in New York,
1907-1912. Died 1946, Tucson,
Arizona. Began exhibiting c. 1895.
One-man exhibitions include
Macbeth Galleries, New York, 1923,
1924; M.H. de Young Memorial
Museum, 1956, 1968; The Fresno Art
Center, California, 1975 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Panama-Pacific
International Exposition, San
Francisco, 1915 (cat.). Exhibition of
American Painting, M.H. de Young
Memorial Museum and California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1935 (cat.); Western Scene,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1975 (cat.). Ref: Burnside, Wesley
Maynard Dixon. Provo, Utah:
Brigham Young University Press,
1974.
William Dole
Born 1917, Angola, Indiana. Studied
at Olivet College, Olivet, Michigan,
A.B., 1938; University of California,
Berkeley, M.A., 1947. Stayed in
Berkeley until 1949. Settled in Santa
Barbara, California, 1949. In Florence,
Italy 1955-1957. Resides, Santa
Barbara, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Santa Barbara
Museum of Art, California, 1951 (also
1954, 1958 [cat.], 1962, 1968).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Art Gallery, University of California,
Santa Barbara, 1965 (cat.); Los
Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 1976
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Directions in Collage: California,
Pasadena Art Museum, California,
1962; Contemporary American
Painting and Sculpture, Krannert Art
Museum, University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana, 1965, 1967 (cat.);
Collage and Assemblage in Southern
California, The Los Angeles Institute
of Contemporary Art, 1975 (cat.).
Edward Dugmore
Born 1915, Hartford, Connecticut.
Came to San Francisco, 1948. Studied
at Hartford Art School, Hartford,
Connecticut, 1934-1938; California
School of Fine Arts (now San
Francisco Art histitute), 1948-1950;
University of Guadalajara, Mexico,
1951-1952. Moved to New York, 1952.
Resides, New York. First one-man
exhibition held at Metart Gallery, San
Francisco, 1949. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Stable Gallery,
New York, 1953, 1954, 1956; Green
Mountain Gallery, New York, 1971,
1973. Group exhibitions include
Vanguard 1955 , Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1955 (cat.);
American Abstract Expressionists
and Imagists, The Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, New York,
1961 (cat.); A Period of Exploration,
San Francisco 1945-1950, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1973
(cat.).
209
Leonard Edmondson
Born 191R, Sacramento, California.
Studied at University of California,
Berkeley, A.B., 1940; M.A., 1942.
Settled in Pasadena, California, 1947.
Resides, Pasadena. First one-man
exhibition held at Landau Gallery,
Los Angeles, 1950 (also 1953, 1955,
1958, 1960). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include The Pasadena Art
Institute, California, 1953; San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1967 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Younger
American Painters, The Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, New York,
1954 (cat.); IIIBienal, Museu de Arte
Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1955
(cat.); Graphics '71 West Coast
U.S.A., University of Kentucky Art
Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky, 1970
(cat.).
lames Eller
Born 1943, Hollywood, California.
Group exhibitions include Pop Art
USA , Oakland Art Museum, 1963
(cat,); Collage and Assemblage in
Southern California, The Los Angeles
Institute of Contemporary Art, 1975
(cat.).
Frederick Eversley
Born 1941, Brooklyn, New York.
Studied at Carnegie Institute
of Technology, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, B.S., Electrical
Engineering,1963; Institute Allende,
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico,
1963. Came to California in 1963.
Resides, Venice, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Phyllis
Kind Gallery, Chicago, 1970.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1970 (cat.); Santa Barbara
Museum of Art, California, 1976
(cat.). Group exhibitions include A
Plastic Presence, Milwaukee Art
Center, Wisconsin, 1970 (cat.);
Contemporary Black Artists in
America, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1971 (cat.);
8 Artistes A/ro-Americains, Musee
Rath, Geneva, Switzerland,
1971 (cat.).
Claire Falkenstein
Born 1908, Coos Bay, Oregon. Studied
at University of California, Berkeley;
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art histitute), 1939.
Came to California c. 1922. Resides,
Venice, California. First one-woman
exhibition held at San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1940 (also 1941, 1942,
1949). Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Institute of Contemporary
Arts, London, 1953; Fondation
Maeght, St. Paul de Vence, France,
1968; The Fresno Art Center,
California, 1969 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Abstract and
Surrealist American Art /Fifty-Eighth
Exhibition of American Painting and
Sculpture, The Art Institute of
Chicago, 1947 (cat.); Mobiles and
Articulated Sculpture, California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1948 (cat.); Etats-Unis
Sculpture de XX'Siecle, Musee
Rodin, Paris, 1965 (cat.); Public
Sculpture /Urban Environment, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1974 (cat.
Faralla
210
Born 1916, Brooklyn, New York.
Came to C^alifornia, 1934. Studied at
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute), B.F.A.,
1955; San Francisco State College,
1956. Resides, San Francisco. First
one-man exhibition held at Pasadena
Art Institute, California, 1947.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
M.H. de Young Memorial Museum,
San Francisco, 1963 (cat.); San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1966, 1975
(cats.). Group exhibitions include
Contemporary California Sculpture,
Oakland Art Museum/Kaiser Center,
California, 1963; White on White,
De Cordova Museum. Lincoln,
Massachusetts, 1965 (cat.);
Monotypes in California, The
Oakland Museum, California,
1972 (cat.).
Lorser Feitelson
Born 1898, Savannah, Georgia.
Studied with Karl Teft, 1913. Settled
in Southern California, 1927. Resides,
Los Angeles. First one-man
exhibition held at Daniel Gallery,
New York, 1924. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include The Pasadena Art
Institute, California, 1952; Los
Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 1972
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism, The
Museum of Modern Art, New York,
1936 (cat.); Four Abstract Classicists,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
and San Francisco Museum of Art,
1959 (cat.); Geometric Abstraction in
America, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1962 (cat.);
Avant-Garde: Painting and Sculpture
in America 1910-1925, Delaware Art
Museum, Wilmington, Delaware,
1975 (cat.).
Oskar Fischinger
Born 1900, Gelnhausen, Germany.
Came to Hollywood to make films,
1936. Began painting, 1936. Died
1967, Los Angeles. First one-man
exhibition held at Karl Nierendorf
Gallery, New York, 1938. Subsequent
solo exhibitions include San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1953; Long
Beach Museum of Art, California,
1970 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
Art in Cinema (avant-garde film
series), San Francisco Museum of Art,
1947 (cat.); Abstract and Surrealist
American Art /Fifty-Eighth Annual
Exhibition of American Painting and
Sculpture, The Art Institute of
Chicago, 1947 (cat.); Arts of Southern
California-XrV: Early Moderns, Long
Beach Museum of Art, California,
1964 (cat.).
Llyn Foulkes
Born 1934, Yakima, Washington.
Studied at Central Washington
College of Education, EUensburg,
Washington, 1953; University of
Washington, Seattle, 1954; Chouinard
Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1957-1959.
Came to California, 1957. Resides, Los
Angeles. First one-man exhibition
held at Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles,
1961. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Pasadena Art Museum,
California, 1962; Galerie Darthea
Speyer, Paris, 1970, 1975; Newport
Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach,
California, 1974 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include United States of
America IV Paris Biennale, Musee
d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris,
1967 (cat.); Separate Realities, Los
Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 1973
(cat.); Seventy-First American
Exhibition, The Art Institute of
Chicago, 1974 (cat.); Current
Concerns, The Los Angeles Institute
of Contemporary Art, 1975 (cat.).
Terry Fox
Born 1943, Seattle, Washington.
Self-taught. Came to San Francisco,
1963. Lived in Paris, 1967. Returned
to San Francisco, 1968; resides, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at Gallery Reese Palley, San
Francisco, 1970 (also 1971).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Gallery Reese Palley, New York, 1971,
1972; Ileana Sonnabend, Paris, 1972;
University Art Museum, University
of California, Berkeley, 1972 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Sound
Sculpture As, Museum of Conceptual
Art, San Francisco, 1970; Project: Pier
18, The Museum of Modern Art, New
York, 1971; Prospect 71: Projections,
Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf, Germany,
1971; Video Art, Institute of
Contemporary Art, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1975
(cat.).
211
Sam Francis
Born 1923, San Mateo, California.
Studied with David Park, San
Francisco, 1945-1946; University of
California, Berkeley, B.A., 1949; M.A.,
1950. Lived in San Francisco Bay
Area, 1946-1950; in Europe and the
Orient, 1950-1961. Moved to Santa
Monica in 1962 where he has resided
up to the present time, with the
exception of one year in Japan,
1973-1974. First one-man exhibition
held at Galerie du Dragon, Paris,
1952. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern,
Switzerland, 1959, 1966, 1973 (cats.);
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
Texas, 1967 (cat.); Albright-Knox Art
Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 1972
(cat.). Group exhibitions include 12
Americans, The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1956 (cat.); New
American Painting, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1958 (cat.);
First International Print Exhibition,
National Museum of Modern Art,
Tokyo, Japan, 1962; Post-Painterly
Abstraction, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1964 (cat.); American
Art: Third Quarter Century, Seattle
Art Museum Pavilion, Washington,
1973 (cat.). Ref: Selz, Peter. Sam
Francis. New York: Harry N. Abrams,
Inc., 1975.
Howard Fried
Born 1946, Cleveland, Ohio. Studied
at Syracuse University, Syracuse,
New York, 1964-1967; San Francisco
Art Institute, B.F.A., 1968; University
of California, Davis, M.FA., 1970.
Resides, San Francisco. First
one-man exhibition held at The Art
Company, Sacramento, California,
1969. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include de Saisset Museum and Art
Gallery, University of Santa Clara,
California, 1972; San Jose State
University Art Gallery, California,
1974 (with Paul Kos). Group
exhibitions include Documenta 5,
Kassel, Germany, 1972 (cat.); Video
Art, Institute of Contemporary Art,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, 1975 (cat.); Exchange
DFW/SFO, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, 1976 (cat.).
Charles Garabedian
Born 1923, Detroit, Michigan. Came
to Los Angeles, 1933. Studied at
University of California, Santa
Barbara, 1947-1948; University of
Southern California, Los Angeles,
1949-1950, B.A., 1950; University of
California, Los Angeles, 1957-1961,
M.A., 1961. Resides, Santa Monica,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Ceeje Gallery, Los Angeles,
1965 (also 1967). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Fine Arts Gallery,
California State University,
Northridge, 1974 (cat.); Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1976 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
6 Painters of the Rear Guard , Ceeje
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1964; 1975
Biennial Exhibition; Contemporary
American Art, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1975 (cat.);
Critical Perspectives in American
Art, Fine Arts Center Gallery,
University of Massachusetts,
Amherst (United States
Representation, XXXVIIIBiennale,
Venice, Italy), 1976 (cat.).
212
August Gay
Born 1891, Rabou, France. Came to
Alameda, California, 1900. Studied at
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute),
1918-1919. Settled in Monterey,
California, 1919. Died 1949, Carmel,
California. Group exhibitions include
annual exhibitions of the "Society of
Six", Oakland Art Gallery, California,
1923-1928; The Monterey Group,
Beaux Arts Galerie, San Francisco,
1927; Opening Exhibition /Fifty-Fifth
Annual Exhibition of the San
Francisco Art Association, San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1935 (cat.);
Society o/Six, The Oakland
Museum, California, 1972 (cat.).
Sonia GechtofF
Born 1926. Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania. Studied at Philadelphia
Museum School of Art, 1946-1950,
B.F.A., 1950. Came to San Francisco,
1951. Studied at California School of
Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art
histitute), 1952. Left California, 1958.
Resides, New York. First one-woman
exhibition held at Dubin Gallery,
Philadelphia, c. 1948. Subsequent
solo exhibitions include Ferus
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1957, 1959;
Poindexter Gallery, New York, 1959,
1960; Gallery One, Montclair State
College, Upper Montclair, New
Jersey, 1974 (cat.). Group exhibitions
include Younger American Painters,
The Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum, New York, 1954 (cat.); VI
Bienal, Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao
Paulo, Brazil, 1961 (cat.); Women
Choose Women, The New York
Cultural Center, New York, 1973
(cat.).
William Geis
Born 1940, Salina, Kansas. Came to
California, 1955. Studied at California
School of Fine Arts (now San
Francisco Art Institute), 1959-1963,
B.F.A., M.F.A., 1963. Resides,
Woodacre, California. First one-man
exhibition held at BoUes Gallery, San
Francisco, 1962 (with Carlos Villa).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Art Institute, 1966
(with Bruce Nauman), 1970 (with
Manuel Neri); Nancy Hoffman
Gallery, New York, 1973; Berkeley Art
Center, California, 1976 (with Marty
Keane). Group exhibitions include
Funk, University Art Museum,
University of California, Berkeley,
1967 (cat.); American Sculpture of
the Sixties, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1967 (cat.); 1973
Biennial Exhibition: Contemporary
American Art, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1973 (cat.);
Public Sculpture /Urban Environ-
ment, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1974 (cat.).
Selden Gile
Born 1877, Stowe, Maine. Came to
California, 1903. Lived in Oakland
and Belvedere, California. Studied
briefly at California School of Arts
and Crafts, Berkeley. Died 1947,
Marin County, California. One-man
exhibitions include Beaux Arts
Galerie, San Francisco, 1928 (with
Amy D. Flemming); Charles
Campbell Gallery, San Francisco,
1975, 1976. Group exhibitions
include annual exhibitions of the
"Society of Six", Oakland Art Gallery,
California, 1923-1928; Opening
Exhibition /Fifty-fifth Annual
Exhibition of the San Francisco Art
Association, San Francisco Museum
of Art, 1935 (cat.); Society of Six, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1972
(cat.).
213
David Gilhooly
Born 1943, Auburn, California.
Studied at University of California,
Davis, B.A., 1965; M.A., 1967. Moved
to Canada, 1969. Resides, Aurora,
Ontario. First one-man exhibition
held at Richmond Art Center,
California, 1965. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1967; Hansen Fuller
Gallery, San Francisco. 1971, 1972,
1973, i974, 1976; Art Gallery, York
University, Toronto, Ontario, 1972
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Funk, University Art Museum,
University of California, Berkeley.
1967 (cat.); Clayuorks; 20
Americans, Museum of Contempo-
rary Crafts, New York, 1971 (cat.);
Contemporary' Ceramic Art: Canada.
U.S.A., Me.xico and Japan, The
National Museum of Art, Kyoto,
[apan, 1971 , and The National
Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 1972
(cat.); Clay. Whitney Museum of
American Art, Downtown Branch,
New York, 1974 (cat.).
Ralph Goings
Born 1928. Corning. California.
Studied at California College of Arts
and Crafts, Oakland, 1950-1953,
B.FA., 1953; Sacramento State
College, California, 1956. Lived in
Sacramento until 1975. Resides,
Charlottesville, New York. First
one-man exhibition held at Artists'
Cooperative Gallery, Sacramento,
California, 1960 (also 1962, 1968).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Candy Store Gallery, Folsom,
California, 1966; O.K. Harris Works of
Art. New York, 1970, 1973. Group
exhibitions include The Highway,
Institute of Contemporary Art,
University of Pennsylvania, Phila-
delphia, 1970 (cat.); Documenta 5,
Kassel, Germany, 1972 (cat.);
Photo-Realism, The Arts Council of
Great Britain. Serpentine Gallery,
London, 1973 (cat.); Super Realism,
The Baltimore Museum of Art,
Maryland, 1975 (cat.).
Joe Goode
Born 1937, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. Came to California, 1958.
Studied at Chouinard Art Institute,
Los Angeles, 1959-1961. Resides,
Hollywood, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Dilexi Gallery, San
Francisco, 1962. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include The Fine Arts
Patrons of Newport Harbor, Pavilion
Gallery, Balboa, California, 1968 (with
Ed Ruscha; cat.); Fort Worth Art
Center Museum, Texas, 1972 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Six More.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1963 (cat.); Ten From Los Angeles,
Seattle Art Museum Pavilion,
Washington, 1966 (cat.); Surrealism
is Alive and Well in the West. Baxter
Art Gallery, California Institute of
Technology. Pasadena. 1972 (cat.);
American Pop Art, Whitney Museum
of American Art, New York, 1974
(cat.).
Robert Graham
Born 1938, Mexico City, Mexico.
Came to California, 1950. Studied at
San lose State College, California,
1961-1963; San Francisco Art
Institute, 1963-1964. Moved to
Southern C^alifornia. 1965; lived in
England and New York. 1967-1972.
Resides, Venice, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Lanyon
Gallery. Palo Alto, California, 1964.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles,
1966, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1975 (cat.);
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas,
1972 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
Annual Exhibition o/ Con temporary
American Art. Whitney Museum of
American Art. New York, 1966. 1969,
1971 (cats.); Three Americans.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
London, 1971 (cat.); Separate
Realities, Los Angeles Municipal Art
Gallery, 1973 (cat.).
214
Howard Hack
Born 1932, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Studied at Mills College. Oakland,
California, 1949; California College of
Arts and Crafts, Oakland, 1956-1957;
University of San Francisco, B.S.,
1962. Resides, San Francisco. First
one-man exhibition held at Holies
Gallery, San Francisco, 1962 [also
1963). Subsequent solo exhibitions
include M.H. de Young Memorial
Museum, San Francisco, 1967; Santa
Barbara Museum of Art, California,
1972. Group exhibitions include
Third Winter Invitational, California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1961 (cat.); Annual
Exhibition o/Contemporary
American Painting, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1965, 1967 (cats.); Howard Hack/
Sylvia Lark /Leonard Sussman, San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1975 (cat.).
Lloyd Hamrol
Born 1934, San Francisco. Studied at
University of California, Los Angeles,
B.A., 1959; M.A., 1963. Resides, Santa
Monica. First one-man exhibition
held at Rolf Nelson Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1966. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include La Jolla Museum
of Art, California, 1968; Pomona
College Art Gallery, Claremont,
California, 1970. Group exhibitions
include American Sculpture of the
Sixties, Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, 1967 (cat.); Invisible Painting
and Sculpture, Richmond Art Center,
California, 1969 (cat.); Public
Sculpture /Urban Environment, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1974
(cat.); Three L.A. Sculptors, The Los
Angeles Institute of Contemporary
Art, 1975 (cat.).
Newton Harrison
Born 1932, New York. Studied at Yale
University, New Haven, Connecticut,
B.RA., 1964; Yale University,
Graduate School of Fine Arts, M.F. A.,
1965. Came to California, 1967.
Resides, Lalolla, California. First
one-man exhibition held at 10/4
Group Gallery, New York, 1961.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York,
1975. Group exhibitions include Art
and Technology, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1971 (cat.);
Exhibition 10, Contemporary Arts
Museum, Houston, Texas, 1972 (cat.);
Earth Air Fire Water: Elements of Art,
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
Massachusetts, 1974 (cat.); 1 1 Los
Angeles Artists, The Arts Council of
Great Britain, Hayward Gallery,
London, 1971 (cat.).
Jidius Hatofsky
Born 1922, Ellenville, New York.
Studied at The Art Students League
of New York, 1946-1950; Academie de
la Grande Chaumiere, Paris,
1950-1951; The Hans Hofmann
School of Fine Arts, New York,
1951-1952. In New York until 1961,
when settled in San Francisco.
Resides, San Francisco. First
one-man exhibition held at
Avant-Garde Gallery, New York, 1957.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Egan Gallery, New York, 1960, 1963;
San Francisco Art Institute, 1970;
Smith Andersen Gallery, San
Francisco, 1976. Group exhibitions
include Annual Exhibition of
Contemporary American Painting,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York. 1958 (cat.); Contemporary
American Painting and Sculpture,
Krannert Art Museum, University of
Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, 1965
(cat.); Painting as Painting,
University Art Museum, University
of Texas, Austin, 1968 (cat.).
215
Wally Hedrick
Born 1928, Pasadena, California.
Studied at Otis Art Institute, Los
Angeles; California College of Arts
and Crafts, Oakland; California
School of Fine Arts (now San
Francisco Art Institute), 1951-1955;
San Francisco State College, M.A.,
1957. Resides, San Geronimo,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Pasadena Art Center,
California, 1950. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include California School
of Fine Arts, 1956 (cat.], 1967 (then
San Francisco Art Institute); The Fine
Arts Patrons of Newport Harbor,
Pavilion Gallery, Balboa, California,
1967 (with Sam Tchakalian; cat.).
Group exhibitions include Sixteen
Americans, The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1959 (cat.); The
Construction as an Object of Illusion,
San Francisco Art Institute, 1962;
Poets of the Cities INew York and San
Francisco 1950-1965, Dallas Museum
of Fine Arts and Pollock Galleries,
Southern Methodist University,
Dallas, Texas, 1974 (cat.).
Phillip Hefferton
Born 1933, Detroit, Michigan.
Studied at the Society of Arts and
Crafts, Detroit, 1955-1957. Came to
Los Angeles, c. 1960. Resides,
Davenport, California. One-man
exhibitions include Rolf Nelson
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1964; Eugenia
Butler Gallery, Los Angeles, 1971.
Group exhibitions include The New
Painting of Common Objects,
Pasadena Art Museum, California,
1962; Six More, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1963 (cat.); American
Pop Art, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1974 (cat.).
Gilbert Henderson
Born 1925, Los Angeles, California.
Studied at California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1949-1950; Otis Art
Institute, Los Angeles, 1951; Jepson
Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1951.
Resides, Los Angeles. First one-man
exhibition held at Associated
American Galleries, Beverly Hills,
California, 1949. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Ferus Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1957; Grippi Gallery, New
York, 1965; Molly Barnes Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1969. Group exhibitions
include Action, Merry-go-round
Building, Santa Monica Pier, Santa
Monica, California, 1955; Artists of
Los Angeles and Vicinity (Annual
Exhibition), Los Angeles County
Museum, 1953 (cat.); Focus on Light,
New Jersey State Museum Cultural
Center, Trenton, 1967 (cat.).
Maxwell Hendler
Born 1938, St. Louis, Missouri.
Studied at University of California,
Los Angeles, M.F.A., 1962. Resides,
Venice, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Ceeje Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1962 (with Arleen Goldberg;
also 1965). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Eugenia Butler
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1969; The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, 1974. Group exhibitions include
22 Realists, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1970 (cat.);
1 1 Los Angeles Artists, The Arts
Council of Great Britain, Hayward
Gallery, London, 1971 (cat.); Separate
Realities, Los Angeles Municipal Art
Gallery, 1973 (cat.); America as Art,
National Collection of Fine Arts,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D.C., 1976 (cat.).
216
George Harms
Born 1935, Woodland, California.
Lived in Southern California:
Hermosa Beach, 1956-1957; Topanga,
1962, 1965-1973; Los Angeles from
1973. Lived in Northern California:
Larkspur, 1958-1962; Mill Creek (near
Healdsburg), 1963-1965. Resides, Los
Angeles. First one-man exhibition
held at Hermosa Beach, California
("Secret Exhibition"), 1957.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Batman Gallery, San Francisco, 1961;
Memorial Union Art Gallery,
University of California, Davis, 1973
(cat.). Group exhibitions include The
Art of Assemblage, The Museum of
Modern Art, New^ York, 1961 (cat.);
Assemblage in California, Art
Gallery, University of California,
Irvine, 1968 (cat.); Art as a Muscular
Principle, )ohn and Norah Warbeke
Gallery, Mount Holyoke College,
South Hadley, Massachusetts, 1975
(cat.).
Tom Holland
Born 1936, Seattle, Washington.
Studied at Willamette University,
Salem, Oregon, 1954-1956; University
of California, Santa Barbara, 1957;
University of California, Berkeley,
1957-1959. Resides, Berkeley,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Universidad Catolica de
Chile, Santiago, Chile, 1969.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1972
(cat.); Richmond Art Center,
California, 1975 (cat.); Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery, 1975 (with
Ron Davis; cat.). Group exhibitions
include Off the Stretcher, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1971
(cat.); Painting: New Options, Walker
Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
1972 (cat.); 34th Biennial of
Contemporary American Painting,
The Corcoran Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C., 1975 (cat.).
Arthur Holman
Born 1926, Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Studied at University of New Mexico,
B.F.A., 1951; The Hans Hofmann
School of Fine Arts, New York, 1951;
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute), 1953.
Settled in San Francisco, 1953;
resides, Lagunitas, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Esther
Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, 1960.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
M.H. de Young Memorial Museum,
San Francisco, 1963 (cat.); William
Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, 1971,
1972, 1974, 1975, 1976. Group
exhibitions include Paintings by Art
Holman and David Simpson;
Sculpture by John R. Baxter, San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1959;
Contemporary American Painting
and Sculpture, Krannert Art
Museum, University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana, 1963 (cat.); Art
on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Gallery,
University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill, 1965.
Charles Howard
Born 1899, Montclair, New )ersey.
Came to Berkeley, California, 1902.
Studied at University of California,
Berkeley, B.A., 1921. Lived in New
York and Europe, 1922-1940. In San
Francisco 1940-1946, then returned to
England. Resides, Italy. First one-man
exhibition held at the Whitney Studio
Club, New York, 1926. Subsequent
solo exhibitions include California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1946 (cat.), 1953;
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London,
1956 (cat.); McRoberts and Tunnard
Limited, London, 1963 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include International
Surrealist Exhibition, New
Burlington Galleries, London, 1936;
Abstract Painting and Sculpture in
America, The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1951 (cat.); British Art
and the Modern Movement
1930-1940, The Welsh Committee of
the Arts Council of Great Britain, The
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff,
1962 (cat.).
217
Robert B. Howard
Born 1896, New York. Came to
Berkeley, California, 1902. Studied at
California School of Arts and Crafts,
Berkeley, 1915-1916; The Art
Students League of New York,
1916-1917. Resides, San Francisco.
First one-man exhibition held at The
Print Rooms, San Francisco, 1922.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1963
(cat.); San Francisco Art histitute,
1956 (then California School of Fine
Arts), 1973 (cat.). Group exhibitions
include Abstract and Surrealist
American Art /Fifty-Eighth Annual
Exhibition of American Painting and
Sculpture, The Art Institute of
Chicago, 1947 (cat.); IBienal, Museu
de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
1951, and III Bienal, 1955 (cats.);
Public Sculpture /Urban
Environment, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1974 (cat.).
Robert Hudson
Born 1938, Salt Lake City, Utah. Came
to San Francisco, 1957. Studied at
San Francisco Art histitute, B.F.A.,
1961; M.KA., 1963. Resides,
Sausalito, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Richmond Art
Center, California, 1961. Subsequent
solo exhibitions include San
Francisco Art Institute, 1965; San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1973
(with Richard Shaw; cat.). Group
exhibitions include Funk, University
Art Museum, University of
California, Berkeley, 1967 (cat.); 14
Sculptors: The Industrial Edge,
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, 1969 (cat.); The Condition
of Sculpture, The Arts Council of
Great Britain, Hayward Gallery,
London, 1975 (cat.).
John Hultberg
Born 1922, San Francisco. Studied
at Fresno State College, California,
1939-1943; California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1947-1949; The Art
Students League of New York,
1949-1951. Resides, New York.
First one-man exhibition held at
Contemporary Gallery, Sausalito,
California, 1949. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Martha Jackson
Gallery, New York, since 1955; The
Roswell Museum and Art Center,
Roswell, New Mexico, 1963 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include XXVIII
Biennale, Venice, Italy, 1956 (cat.);
Contemporary Urban Visions, New
School Art Center, New York, 1966
(cat.); American Painting 1970,
Virginia Museum, Richmond, 1970
(cat.).
Nick Hyde
Born 1943, San Francisco, California.
Studied at San Francisco Academy of
Art, B.A., 1967; San Francisco Art
Institute, M.F.A., 1971. Resides, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at Sun Gallery, San Francisco,
1969 (with Dena Petit). Group
exhibitions include Other
Landscapes and Shadow Land,
University of Southern California Art
Galleries, Los Angeles, 1971 (cat.);
Imaginary Painting from San
Francisco, California State
University, San Jose, 1973 (cat.);
Phantasmal Visions, Gallery Rebecca
Cooper, Washington, D.C., 1975.
218
Robert Irwin
Born 1928, Long Beach, California.
Studied at Otis Art Institute, Los
Angeles, 1948-1950; Jepson Art
Institute, Los Angeles, 1951;
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles,
1951-1952. Lived in Europe in 1954
and 1958. Resides, Westwood,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Felix Landau Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1957. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Ferus Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964; Fort
Worth Art Center Museum, Texas (in
cooperation with The Corcoran
Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and
the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam,
Netherlands], 1969 (with Doug
Wheeler; cat.); Museum of
Contemporary Art, Chicago, 1975
(cat.). Group exhibitions include The
Responsive Eye, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1965 (cat.);
Transparency, Reflection, Light,
Space; Four Artists, UCLA Art
Galleries, University of California,
Los Angeles, 1971 (cat.); 200 Years of
American Sculpture, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1976 (cat.); Critical Perspectives in
American Art, Fine Arts Gallery,
University of Massachusetts,
Amherst (United States
Representation, XXXVIIIRiennaJe,
Venice, Italy), 1976 (cat.).
Richard Jackson
Born 1939, Sacramento, California.
Studied at Sacramento State College,
California, 1959-1961. Resides,
Pasadena, California. First one-man
exhibition held at E.B. Crocker Art
Gallery, Sacramento, California, 1961.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Bykert Gallery, New York, 1973; Riko
Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles, 1974,
1975. Group exhibitions include
Thirty-second Biennial Exhibition of
Contemporary American Painting,
The Corcoran Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C., 1971 (cat.); John
BaJdessari /Frances Barth IRichard
fackson I Barbara Munger IGary
Stephan, Contemporary Arts
Museum, Houston, Texas, 1972 (cat.);
Both Kinds; Contemporary Art from
Los AngeJes, University Art Museum,
University of California, Berkeley,
1975 (cat).
Jack Jefferson
Born 1921, Lead, South Dakota.
Studied at University of Iowa, Iowa
City, 1940-1942; California School of
Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1946-1950. Settled in San
Francisco, 1946. Resides, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at Metart Gallery, San Francisco,
1949. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include M.H. de Young Memorial
Museum, San Francisco, 1960, 1962
(cat.); Smith Andersen Gallery, San
Francisco, 1976. Group exhibitions
include Large Scale Drawings by
Modern Artists, California Palace of
the Legion of Honor, San Francisco,
1950 (cat.); A Period o/ Exploration,
San Francisco 1945-1950, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1973
(cat.); 1975 Biennial Exhibition;
Contemporary American Art,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1975 (cat.).
219
Jess
Born 1923, Long Beach, California.
Studied at California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, B.S.,
Chemistry, 1948; California School of
Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1949-1951. Resides, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at "The Place", San Francisco,
1954. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include San Francisco Museum of
Art, 1968 (cat.); Museum of
Contemporary Art, Chicago, 1972
(cat.); The Museum of Modern Art,
New York, 1974. Group exhibitions
include The Art o/AssembJage, The
Museum of Modern Art, New York,
1961 (cat.); The Spirit of the Comics,
Institute of Contemporary Art,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, 1969 (cat.); Poets of the
Cities INew York and San Francisco
1950-1965, Dallas Museum of Fine
Arts and Pollock Galleries, Southern
Methodist University, Dallas, Texas,
1974 (cat.).
Daniel La Rue Johnson
Born 1938, Los Angeles. Studied at
Chouinard Art Institute, B.F.A.; with
Alberto Giacometti in Paris. Resides,
Los Angeles. First one-man
exhibition held at Pasadena
Community Center, California, 1953.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Chouinard Art Institute, 1956; Rolf
Nelson Gallery, Los Angeles, 1964.
Group exhibitions include Directions
in CoJJage: California, Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1962; Boxes,
Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles, 1964
(cat.); The Negro in American Art,
UCLA Art Galleries, University of
California, Los Angeles, 1966 (cat.);
Dimensions of Black, La )olla
Museum of Art, California, 1966
(cat.).
Sargent Johnson
Born 1888, Boston, Massachusetts.
Studied at California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1919-1923 (with Ralph
Stackpole and Beniamino Bufano),
1940-1942, 1958 (summer). Died 1967,
San Francisco. One-man exhibition
held at The Oakland Museum,
California, 1971 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include California Art
Today, Golden Gate International
Exposition, San Francisco, 1940
(cat.); The Negro in American Art,
UCLA Art Galleries, University of
California, Los Angeles, 1966 (cat.);
Dimensions of Black. La Jolla
Museum of Art, La Jolla, California,
1970 (cat.); New Deal Art: California,
de Saisset Art Gallery and Museum,
University of Santa Clara, California,
1976 (cat.).
Ynez Johnston
Born 1920, Berkeley, California.
Studied at University of California,
Berkeley, B.F A., 1941 ; M.F A., 1946.
Settled in Southern California, 1953.
Resides, Los Angeles. First one-
woman exhibition held at San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1943
(also 1967; cat.). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1956 (cat.); )odi Scully
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1971, 1973,
1976. Group exhibitions include
Bunce /Johnston IMundt: New Talent
Exhibition, The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1950 (cat.); Ill Bienal,
Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo,
Brazil, 1955 (cat.); Graphics '71 West
Coast, U.S.A., University of Kentucky
Art Gallery, Lexington, 1970 (cat.);
American Artists '76; A Celebration,
Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute.
San Antonio, Texas, 1976 (cat.).
220
David Jones
Craig Kaufi&nan
James Kelly
Adaline Kent
Born 1948, Columbus, Ohio. Came
to San Francisco, 1970. Studied at
Kansas City Art Institute, B.F.A.,
1970; University of California,
Berkeley, M.A., 1971; M.F.A., 1973.
Resides, San Francisco. First
one-man exhibition held at San Jose
State University, California, 1971.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art (SECA
Grant 1974], 1974 (cat.); Michael
Walls Gallery, New York, 1975. Croup
exhibitions include The MetaJ
Experience, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1971 (cat,); Market Street
Program , Pasadena Museum of
Modern Art, California, 1973; 1975
Biennial Exhibition; Contemporary
American Art, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1975 (cat.).
Born 1932, Los Angeles. Studied at
University of Southern California,
School of Architecture, Los Angeles,
1950-1952; University of California,
Los Angeles, 1952-1956, M.A., 1956.
Extended stays in San Francisco,
1959-1960; New York, 1970-1971; and
Europe, 1956, 1960-1961, 1975 and
1976. Resides, Laguna Beach,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Felix Landau Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1953. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Pace Gallery,
New York, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970
(cat.), 1973; Pasadena Art Museum,
California, 1970 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include United States of
America /V Paris Biennale, Musee
d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris,
1967 (cat.); Los AngeJes 6, Vancouver
Art Gallery, British Columbia, 1968
(cat.); 14 Sculptors: The Industrial
Edge, Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1969 (cat.);
Transparency, Reflection, Light,
Space: Four Artists, UCLA Art
Galleries, University of California,
Los Angeles, 1971 (cat.).
Born 1915, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Studied at
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts,
Philadelphia, 1938; Barnes
Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania,
1941 ; California School of Fine Arts
(now San Francisco Art Institute),
1951-1954. Left California, 1958.
Resides, New York. First one-man
exhibition held at "The Place", San
Francisco, 1954. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include The Stryke
Gallery, New York, 1963; East
Hampton Gallery, 1965, 1968 (with
Sonia Gechtoff). Group exhibitions
include Action, Merry-go-round
Building, Santa Monica Pier, Santa
Monica, California, 1955 (cat.);
American Paintings 1945-1957, The
Minneapolis Institute of Arts,
Minnesota, 1957 (cat.); The Last Time
I Saw Ferus, Newport Harbor Art
Museum, Newport Beach, California,
1976 (cat.).
Born 1900, Kentfield, California.
Studied at Vassar College,
Poughkeepsie, New York, B.A., 1923;
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute),
1923-1924; with Antoine Bourdelle,
Paris, 1924. Died 1957, Marin County,
California. First one-woman
exhibition held at the Art Center,
San Francisco, 1934 (with Harriet
Whedon). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1948, 1958 (cat.);
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York,
1949, 1953, 1956. Group exhibitions
include Mobiles and Articulated
Sculpture, California Palace of the
Legion of Honor, San Francisco,
1948 (cat.); Abstract Painting and
Sculpture in America, The Museum
of Modern Art, New York, 1951 (cat.);
Le Dessin Confemporain aux
Etats-Unis, Musee National d'Art
Moderne, Paris, 1954 (cat.). Ref:
MacAgy, Jermayne, Alice C. Kent
and Robert B. Howard, eds. Auto-
biography from the Notebooks and
Sculpture of Adaline Kent. Houston,
Texas: privately printed, 1958.
221
Edward Kienholz
Born 1927, Fairfield, Washington.
Studied at Eastern Washington
College of Education, Cheney;
Whitworth College, Spokane,
Washington. Resides Hope, Idaho,
and Germany. First one-man
exhibition held at Syndell Studio,
Los Angeles, 1956. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1966 (cat.); 11
Tableaux, organized by the Institute
of Contemporary Arts, Nash House,
London, for the Moderna Museet,
Stockholm, Sweden, 1971 (cat.).
Croup exhibitions include The Art of
Assemblage, The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1961 (cat.); American
Sculpture of the Sixties, Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1967 (cat.);
Dada, Surrealism and Their
Heritage, The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1968 (cat.); 200 Years
of American Sculpture, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1976 (cat.).
Robert Kinmont
Born 1937, Los Angeles. Studied
Japanese calligraphy, Sumi-e, and oil
painting, privately in Los Angeles;
San Francisco Art Institute, B.F.A.,
1970; University of California, Davis,
M.FA., 1971. Lived in Seattle,
Washington, 1962-1964. Came to San
Francisco, 1965. Resides, Bishop,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Gallery Reese Palley, San
Francisco, 1971 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Slant Step Show,
Berkeley Gallery, San Francisco,
1966; Idea-Document, Paula Cooper
Gallery, New York, 1969; Extra-
ordinary Realities, Whitney Museum
of American Art, New York, 1973
(cat.); Robert Bogan /Robert
Kinmont //ock Reynolds, San
Francisco Art Institute, 1974 (cat.);
Word Works, Too, Art Gallery, San
Jose State University, California, 1975
(cat.).
Peter Krasnow
Born 1890, Ukraine, Russia. Studied
at The School of The Art Institute of
Chicago to 1916. Came to Los
Angeles, 1922. Resides, Los Angeles.
First one-man exhibition held at
Whitney Studio Club, New York,
1922. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include California Palace of the
Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1931
(cat.); Lang Galleries, Scripps
College, Claremont, California, 1964
(cat.); Los Angeles Municipal Art
Gallery, 1975 (cat.). Group exhibitions
include III Bienal , Museu de Arte
Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1955
(cat.); Peter Krasnow, Max Band,
Boris Deutsch, Westside Jewish
Community Center, Los Angeles,
1965; Nine Senior Southern
California Painters, The Los Angeles
Institute of Contemporary Art, 1974
(cat.).
Walter Kuhlman
Born 1918, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Studied at St. Paul School of Art,
1936-1939; University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, B.A., 1941; California
School of Fine Arts (now San
Francisco Art Institute), 1947-1950;
Academie de la Grande Chaumiere,
Paris, 1950-1951. Resides, Sausalito,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1940.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
California Palace of the Legion of
Honor, San Francisco, 1956, 1964; de
Saisset Art Gallery, University of
Santa Clara, California, 1969 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Iff Bienal,
Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo,
Brazil, 1955 (cat.); Pacemakers,
Contemporary Arts Museum,
Houston, Texas, 1957 (cat.); Recent
American Paintings, University Art
Museum, University of Texas, Austin,
1964 (cat.); A Period of Exploration,
San Francisco 1945-1950, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1973
(cat.).
222
Lucien Labaudt
Born 1880, Paris, France. Studied in
London, 1901-1904. Settled in San
Francisco, 1911. Died 1943, India.
One-man exhibitions include
California Palace of the Legion of
Honor, San Francisco, 1933; San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1944 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Salon des
Independents, Paris, 1921-1926
(annually; cats.); Painting and
Sculpture from 16 American Cities,
The Museum of Modern Art, New
York, 1933 (cat.); Post-Surrealist
Exhibition, San Francisco Museum of
Art, 1935; Contemporary Art, Golden
Gate International Exposition, San
Francisco, 1939 (cat.).
Rico Lebrun
Born 1900, Naples, Italy. Studied at
National Technical School, Naples,
1910-1917; National Technical
Institute, Academy of Fine Arts,
Naples, 1919-1921. Settled in
Southern California in 1938. Died
1964, Malibu, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Faulkner
Memorial Art Gallery, Santa Barbara,
California, 1941. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1940; Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1950, 1967
(cat.); Santa Barbara Museum of Art,
California, 1971 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Americans 1942,
The Museum of Modern Art, New
York, 1942 (cat.); Abstract and
Surrealist American Art /Fi/ty-Eighth
Annual Exhibition of American
Painting and Sculpture, The Art
Institute of Chicago, 1947 (cat.); XXV
BiennaJe, American Painting Today,
Venice, Italy, 1950 (cat.); Master-
pieces o/ReJigious Art, The Art
Institute of Chicago, 1954 (cat.).
Alvin Light
Born 1931, Concord, New Hampshire.
Came to San Francisco, 1951. Studied
at California School of Fine Arts
(now San Francisco Art Institute),
1951-1953, 1956-1961, B.F.A., 1959;
M.F.A., 1961. Resides, San Francisco.
First one-man exhibition held at
Spatsa Gallery, San Francisco, 1959.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
M.H. de Young Memorial Museum,
San Francisco, 1965 (cat.); San
Francisco Art Institute, 1971. Group
exhibitions include American
Sculpture of the Sixties, Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1967 (cat.);
Public Sculpture /Urban Environ-
ment, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1974 (cat.); 1975 Biennial
Exhibition: Contemporary American
Art , Whitney Museum of American
Art, New York, 1975 (cat.).
Frank Lobdell
Born 1921, Kansas City, Missouri.
Moved to Sausalito, California, 1946.
Studied at St. Paul School of Fine
Arts, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1938-1939;
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute),
1947-1950; Academie de la Grande
Chaumiere, Paris, 1950. Resides, Palo
Alto, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Lucien Labaudt
Gallery, San Francisco, 1949 (with
George Stillman). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Ferus Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1962; Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1966 (cat.); San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1969 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include IIIBienal,
Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo,
Brazil, 1955 (cat.); Kompas 4,
Stedelijk van Abbemuseum,
Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 1969
(cat.); Contemporary American
Painting and Sculpture 1974,
Krannert Art Museum, University of
Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, 1974
(cat.).
223
Seymour Locks
Born 1919, Chicago, Illinois, (lame to
California, 1931. Studied at San |ose
State College, California, A.B.;
Stanford University, Stanford,
California, M.A., 1946. Resides, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at Lucien Labaudt Gallery,
San Francisco, 1955 (also 1957).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1960
(with William Wiley); San Francisco
Art Institute, 1974. Group exhibitions
include From San Francisco: A New
Language in Painting, Kaufmann Art
Gallery, YM-YWHA, New York, 1954;
The Art of Assemblage. The Museum
of Modern Art, New York, 1961 (cat.);
A Period o/ExpJoration, San
Francisco 1945-1950, The Oakland
Museum, California, 1973 (cat.).
Maurice Logan
Born 1886, San Francisco. Studied
at The Partington Art School, San
Francisco; Mark Hopkins kistitute of
Art, San Francisco, c. 1907-1914; The
School of The Art Institute of
Chicago; California School of Arts
and Crafts, Berkeley. Resides,
Oakland, California, One-man
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1940; Oakland Art
Gallery, California, 1944; M,H. de
Young Memorial Museum, San
Francisco, 1957. Group exhibitions
include Impressionistic Paintings
by Western Artists, Los Angeles
Museum, 1924; 200 Years of Water-
color Painting in America , The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, 1966 (cat.); Society of Six. The
Oakland Museum, California, 1972
(cat.); California White Paper
Painters /1930's-1970's, Art Gallery,
California State University, Fullerton,
1976 (cat.).
Helen Lundeberg
Born 1908, Chicago, Illinois. Came to
Pasadena, California, 1912. Studied
with Lorser Feitelson, 1930-1933.
Resides, Los Angeles. First
one-woman exhibition held at
Stanley Rose Gallery, Hollywood,
California, 1933. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include The Pasadena Art
Institute, California, 1953; La JoUa
Museum of Contemporary Art,
California, 1971 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Fantastic Art,
Dada, Surrealism , The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1936 (cat.);
Geometric Abstraction in America ,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1962 (cat.); Nine Senior
Southern California Painters, The Los
Angeles Institute of Contemporary
Art, 1974 (cat.); American Artists '76:
A Celebration. Marion Koogler
McNay Art Institute, San Antonio,
Texas, 1976 (cat.).
Stanton Macdonald-Wright
Born 1890, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Came to Santa Monica, California,
1900. Studied at Art Students League,
Los Angeles, 1904-1905; La Sorbonne,
Paris, 1907-1909; and briefly at
Academic Colarossi, Academie Julian
and Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. Died
1973, Los Angeles. First one-man
exhibition held at Neue Kunstsalon,
Munich, Germany, 1913 (first
Synchromist exhibition, with Morgan
Russell). Subsequent solo exhibitions
include National Collection of Fine
Arts, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C., 1967 (cat.); UCLA
Art Galleries/The Grunwald Graphic
Arts Foundation, University of
California, Los Angeles, 1970 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Pioneers
of IVfodern Art in America, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1946 (cat.); Roots of Abstract Art in
America 1910-1930. National
Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.. 1965
(cat.); Avant-Garde: Painting and
Sculpture in America 1910-1925.
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington,
1975 (cat.).
224
Tom Marioni
Born 1937, Cincinnati, Ohio. Studied
at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music,
1954-1955; Cincinnati Art Academy,
Ohio, 1955-1959. Settled in San
Francisco, 1959. Founder and
Director of Museum of Conceptual
Art, San Francisco, 1970 to present.
Resides, Berkeley, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Bradley
Memorial Museum of Art, Columbus,
Georgia, 1963. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Richmond Art
Center, California, 1968 (cat.); The
Oakland Museum, California, 1970;
and/or, Seattle, Washington, 1976.
Group exhibitions include Sound
Sculpture As , Museum of Conceptual
Art, San Francisco, 1970; Fish, Fox,
Kos, de Saisset Art Gallery and
Museum, University of Santa Clara,
Santa Clara, California, 1971 ; South
of the Slot, 63 Bluxome Street, San
Francisco, 1974 (cat.).
Bill Martin
Born 1943, South San Francisco,
California. Studied at San Francisco
Art Institute, B.FA., 1968; M.F.A.,
1970. Resides, Woodacre, California.
First one-man exhibition held at San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1973 (cat.).
Subsequent solo exhibition held at
Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York,
1976. Group exhibitions include
Other Landscapes and Shadow Land ,
University of Southern California Art
Galleries, Los Angeles, 1971 (cat.);
Baja, San Francisco Museum of Art,
1974 (cat.); Alternative Realities,
Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago, 1976 (cat.).
Fred Martin
Born 1927, San Francisco. Studied at
University of California, Berkeley,
B.A., 1949; California Secondary
Teaching Credential, 1951; M. A.,
1954; California School of Fine Arts
(now San Francisco Art Institute),
1949-1950. Resides, Oakland,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Contemporary Gallery,
Sausalito, California, 1949.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Royal Marks Gallery, New York, 1965,
1966, 1968, 1970; San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1973 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include The Construction
as an Object of Illusion, San
Francisco Art Institute, 1962;
Extraordinary Realities, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1973 (cat.); Art as a Muscular
Principle, lohn and Norah Warbeke
Gallery, Mount Holyoke College,
South Hadley, Massachusetts, 1975
(cat.).
Xavier Martinez
Born 1869, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Came to San Francisco, 1893. Studied
at California School of Design, San
Francisco, 1893-1897; Ecole des
Beaux Arts, Atelier Gerome, Paris,
1897-1899; Academy of Eugene
Carriere, Paris, 1900-1901. Returned
to San Francisco, 1901. Lived in San
Francisco Bay Area until 1942 when
he moved to Carmel, California. Died
1943, Carmel. One-man exhibitions
include Vickery Gallery, San
Francisco, 1905, 1909; The Print
Rooms, San Francisco, 1922;
California College of Arts and Crafts,
Oakland, 1941, 1967; The Oakland
Museum, California, 1974 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include
Panama-Pacific International
Exposition, San Francisco, 1915
(cat.); Opening Exhibition IFifty-Fifth
Annual Exhibition of the San
Francisco Art Association , San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1935 (cat.);
The Color of Mood: American
Tonalism 1880-1910, M.H. de Young
Memorial Museum and California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1972 (cat.); California
Design 1910, Pasadena Center,
California, 1974 (cat.).
225
Fred Mason
Born 1938, El Monte, California.
Studied at Immaculate Heart College,
Los Angeles, 1955-1958. Resides,
Venice, California. Group exhibitions
include Directions in Collage;
California, Pasadena Art Museum,
California, 1962; The Contained
Object, Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, 1966; Assemblage in
California , Art Gallery, University of
California, Irvine, 1968 (cat.); Collage
and Assemblage in Southern
California , The Los Angeles Institute
of Contemporary Art, 1975 (cat.).
John Mason
Born 1927, Madrid, Nebraska. Came
to Los Angeles, 1949. Studied at Otis
Art histitute, Los Angeles, 1949-1951 ,
1954; Chouinard Art Institute, Los
Angeles, 1951-1954. Resides, Los
Angeles. First one-man exhibition
held at Gump's Gallery, San
Francisco, 1956. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Ferus Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963;
Pasadena Art Museum, California,
1960, 1974 (then Pasadena Museum of
Modern Art; cat.); Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1966 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Abstract
Expressionist Ceramics, Art Gallery,
University of California, Irvine, 1966
(cat.); American Sculpture of the
Sixties, Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, 1967 (cat.); Sculpture Off the
Pedestal, Grand Rapids Art Museum,
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1973 (cat.);
200 Years of American Sculpture,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1976 (cat.).
Arthur Mathews
Born 1860, Markesan, Wisconsin.
Settled in Oakland, California, 1867.
Studied with Henry Bruen, Oakland,
1875-1880; Academie Julian with
Gustave Boulanger and Jules
Lefebvre, Paris, 1885-1886. Returned
to San Francisco, 1889. Died 1945,
San Francisco. First one-man
exhibition held at Vickery Gallery,
San Francisco, 1890 (also 1905).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, San
Francisco, 1898; The Oakland
Museum, California, 1972 (with Lucia
Mathews; cat.). Group exhibitions
include the Salon, Paris, 1887, 1888,
1889 (cats.); Panama-Pacific
International Exposition, San
Francisco, 1915 (cat.); California Art
in Retrospect: 1850-1915, Golden
Gate International Exposition, San
Francisco, 1940 (cat.); California
Design 1910, Pasadena Center,
California, 1974 (cat.).
Lucia Mathews
Born 1870, San Francisco. Studied at
Mills College, Oakland, California,
1892-1893; Mark Hopkins histitute
of Art, San Francisco, 1893-1894;
Academie Carmen, Paris, 1899. Lived
in San Francisco until 1951 when
moved to Los Angeles. Died 1955, Los
Angeles. Retrospective exhibition of
the work of Arthur and Lucia
Mathews held at The Oakland
Museum, California, 1972 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Spring
Exhibition, Mark Hopkins Institute
of Art, San Francisco, 1896, 1906;
Panama-Pacific International
Exposition, San Francisco, 1915
(cat.); California Art in Retrospect;
1850-1915, Golden Gate International
Exposition, San Francisco, 1940
(cat.); California Design 1910,
Pasadena Center, California, 1974
(cat.).
226
Robert McChesney
Born 1913, Marshall, Missouri.
Studied at Washington University, St.
Louis, Missouri, 1933-1934; Otis Art
Institute, Los Angeles, 1936. Came to
San Francisco c. 1938. Resides,
Petaluma, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Raymond &
Raymond, San Francisco, 1944.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1949;
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute), 1957
(cat.); Capricorn Asunder, San
Francisco Art Commission Gallery,
1974 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
Abstract and Surrealist American
Art /Fifty-Eighth Annual Exhibition
of American Painting and Sculpture,
The Art histitute of Chicago, 1947
(cat.); niBienal, Museude Arte
Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1955
(cat.); A Period o/Exploration, San
Francisco 1945-1950, The Oakland
Museum, California, 1973 (cat.).
John McCracken
Born 1934, Berkeley, California.
Studied at California College of Arts
and Crafts, Oakland, 1958-1965,
B.F.A., 1962. Moved to Venice,
California, 1965; moved to New York,
1968. Resides, Venice, California.
First one-man exhibition held at
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles,
1965 (also 1967, 1968). Subsequent
solo exhibitions include Robert Elkon
Gallery, New York, 1966, 1967, 1968,
1972, 1973; Ileana Sonnabend, Paris,
1969, 1970. Group exhibitions
include Primary Structures, The
Jewish Museum, New York, 1966
(cat.); Ten From Los Angeles, Seattle
Art Museum Pavilion, Washington,
1966 (cat.); A New Aesthetic,
Washington Gallery of Modern Art,
Washington, D.C., 1967 (cat.); Unitary
Forms, San Francisco Museum of Art,
1970 (cat.).
James McCray
John McLaughlin
Born 1912, Niles, California. Studied
at University of California, Berkeley,
B.A., 1934; M.A., 1935; Barnes
Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania,
1937-1939. Resides, Walnut Creek,
California. One-man exhibitions held
at California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute), 1955
(cat.); Berkeley Rotary Art and
Garden Center, California, 1968 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Abstract
and Surrealist American Art /
Fifty-Eighth Annual Exhibition of
American Painting and Sculpture,
The Art Institute of Chicago, 1947
(cat.); New Works by Ruth Armer,
Leah Rinne Hamilton, James McCray,
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1950;
American Water Colors, Drawings
and Prints, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, 1952 (cat.).
Born 1898, Sharon, Massachusetts.
Self-taught. Settled in Dana Point,
California, 1946. Died 1976, Dana
Point. First one-man exhibition held
at Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, 1952.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
The Pasadena Art histitute, 1956,
1963 (then Pasadena Art Museum;
cat.); The Corcoran Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C., 1968 (cat.); Art
Gallery, California State University,
Fullerton, 1975 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Four Abstract
Classicists, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art and San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1959 (cat.);
Geometric Abstraction in America,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1962 (cat.); 1 1 Los Angeles
Artists, The Arts Coimcil of Great
Britain, Hayward Gallery, London,
1971 (cat.); Nine Senior Southern
California Painters, The Los Angeles
Institute of Contemporary Art, 1974
(cat.).
227
Richard McLean
Born 1934, Hoquiam, Washington.
Studied at California College of Arts
and Crafts, Oakland, 1955, 1958,
B.F.A., 1958; Mills College, Oakland,
1960-1962, M.F.A., 1962. Resides,
Oakland, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Lucien Labaudt
Gallery, San Francisco, 1957.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Berkeley Gallery, Berkeley, California,
1964, 1966, 1968 (Berkeley Gallery
moved to San Francisco, February,
1966); O.K. Harris Works of Art, New
York, 1971 , 1973. Group exhibitions
include 22 Realists, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1970 (cat.); Documenta 5, Kassel,
Germany, 1972 (cat.); Photo-Realism,
The Arts Council of Great Britain,
Serpentine Gallery, London, 1973
(cat.); Super ReaJism , The Baltimore
Museum of Art, Maryland, 1975 (cat.).
Jerry McMillan
Born 1936, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. Came to California, 1958.
Studied at Chouinard Art histitute,
Los Angeles, 1958-1960. Resides,
Pasadena, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1966.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines,
Iowa, 1970 (cat.); Newport Harbor Art
Museum, Balboa, California, 1972
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Photography into Sculpture, The
Museum of Modern Art, New York,
1970; Surrealism is Alive and WeJJ in
ihe West, Baxter Art Gallery,
California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, 1972 (cat.); A Drawing
Show, Newport Harbor Art Museum,
Balboa, California, 1975 (cat.);
Collage and Assemblage in Southern
California , The Los Angeles Institute
of Contemporary Art, 1975 (cat.).
Cliff McReynolds
Born 1933, Amarillo, Texas. Studied
at San Diego State College, California,
B.A., 1959; M.A., 1960. First one-man
exhibition held at Art Center in La
JoUa, California, 1959 (also 1967, then
La )olla Museum of Art). Subsequent
solo exhibitions include San Diego
City College, California, 1971; Gallery
Rebecca Cooper, New York, 1976.
Group exhibitions include Drawings
USA 75, Minnesota Museum of Art,
Saint Paul, 1975 (cat.); AhevvxaXive
Realities, Museum of Contemporary
Art, Chicago, 1976 (cat.); Mind-
scapes — 5 Cali/ornia Artists,
Oshkosh Public Museum, Wisconsin,
1976 (cat.).
Jim Melchert
Born 1930, New Bremen, Ohio.
Studied at Princeton University, A.B.
1952; University of Chicago, M.F.A.,
1957; Montana State University,
Missoula, 1958, 1959 (summers);
University of California, Berkeley,
M. A., 1961 . Came to Berkeley,
California, 1959. Resides, Oakland,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Richmond Art Center,
California, 1961. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Art Institute, 1970; San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1975 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Abstract
Expressionist Ceramics, Art Gallery,
University of California, Irvine, 1966
(cat.); Documenta 5, Kassel,
Germany, 1972 (cat.); Public
Sculpture /Urban Environment, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1974
(cat.).
228
Knud Merrild
Born 1894, Island of Jutland,
Denmark. Studied at Arts and Crafts
School, Copenhagen, 1914-1916;
briefly at Royal Academy of Fine
Arts, Copenhagen, 1917. Settled in
Los Angeles, 1923. Returned to
Copenhagen, 1954. Died 1954,
Copenhagen. First one-man
exhibition in United States held at
Santa Fe Museum, New Mexico, 1923.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Hollywood Gallery of Modern Art,
California, 1935 (cat.); Modern
Institute of Art, Beverly Hills,
California, 1948 (cat.); Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1965 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include
Post-Surrealist Exhibition, San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1935;
Fantastic Art, Dada, and Surrealism ,
The Museum of Modern Art, New
York, 1936 (cat.); Americans 1942,
The Museum of Modern Art, New
York, 1942 (cat.).
Edward Moses
Born 1926, Long Beach, California.
Studied at University of California,
Los Angeles, B.A., 1956; M.A., 1958.
Resides, Venice, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Ferus
Gallery, 1958 (also 1959, 1961, 1963).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Pomona College Art Gallery,
Montgomery Art Center, Claremont,
California, 1971 (cat.); Andre
Emmerich Gallery, New York, 1974,
1975; Los Angeles County Museum of
Art, 1976 (cat.). Group exhibitions
include Documenta 5, Kassel,
Germany, 1972 (cat.); American Art:
Third Quarter Century, Seattle Art
Museum Pavilion, Washington, 1973
(cat.); Current Concerns, The Los
Angeles Institute of Contemporary
Art, 1975 (cat.); 18 UCLA Faculty
Artists, Frederick S. Wight Art
Gallery, University of California, Los
Angeles, 1975 (cat.).
Lee Mullican
Bruce Nauman
Born 1919, Chickasha, Oklahoma.
Studied at Abilene Christian College,
Abilene, Texas, 1937; University of
Oklahoma, Norman, 1939-1942;
Kansas City Art Institute, Missouri,
1942. Moved to San Francisco in
1947; moved to Southern California in
1951. Resides, Arroyo Seco, New
Mexico. First one-man exhibition
held at San Francisco Museum of Art,
1949 (also 1965; cats.). Subsequent
solo exhibitions include Willard
Gallery, New York, 1950, 1952 (cat.);
UCLA Art Galleries, University of
California, Los Angeles, 1969 (cat.);
Rose Rabow Galleries, San Francisco,
1955, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1970, 1974.
Group exhibitions include A New
Vision, (Dynaton group), San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1951 (cat.);
American Painting Today 1950, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, 1950 (cat.); IIIBienal, Museu de
Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1955
(cat.); The Institute o/ Creative Arts,
Art Galleries, University of
California, Santa Barbara, 1969 (cat.).
Born 1941, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Studied at University of Wisconsin,
Madison, B.S., 1964; University of
California, Davis, M.FA., 1966. Came
to California, 1964; lived in Northern
California, 1964-1968. Moved to
Pasadena, California, 1969, where he
currently resides. First one-man
exhibition held at Nicholas Wilder
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1966 (also 1969,
1970, 1974). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Leo Castelli
Gallery, New York, 1968 (cat.), 1969,
1970, 1971, 1973, 1975; Los Angeles
County Museum of Art in cooperation
with the Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1973 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Eccentric
Abstraction, Fischbach Gallery, New
York, 1966; Documenta 5 , Kassel,
Germany, 1972 (cat.); When Attitudes
Become Form, Kunsthalle, Bern,
Switzerland, 1969 (cat.); 200 Years of
American Sculpture, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1976 (cat.).
229
Manuel Neri
Born 1930, Sanger, California.
Studied at San Francisco City
College, 1950-1951 ; University of
California, Berkeley, 1951-1952;
California College of Arts and Crafts,
Oakland, 1952-1953, 1955-1957;
Archie Bray Foundation, Helena,
Montana, 1953 (summer); California
School of Fine Arts (now San
Francisco Art Institute), 1957-1959.
Resides, Benicia, California. First
one-man exhibition held at 6 Gallery,
San Francisco, 1957. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1971 (cat.); The
Oakland Museum, California, 1976
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Abstract Expressionist Ceramics, Art
Gallery, University of California,
h-vine, 1966 (cat.); Funk, University
Art Museum, University of
California, Berkeley, 1967; 1970
Annua) Exhibition: Contemporary
American Sculpture, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1970 (cat.).
Maria Nordman
Born 1943, Goerlitz, Silesia, Germany,
Came to California, 1961. Studied at
University of California, Los Angeles,
1961-1967, B.F.A., M.F.A. Currently
resides, Santa Monica, California.
One-woman exhibitions include
University of California, Irvine, 1973
(cat.); piece executed at 4th and
Howard Streets, San Francisco, 1975.
Group exhibitions include 15 Los
Angeles Artists, Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1972 (cat.);
Art /Environment 1915-1976, Italian
Pavilion, XXXVIIIBiennale, Venice,
Italy, 1976 (cat.).
Nathan Oliveira
Born 1928, Oakland, California.
Studied at California College of Arts
and Crafts, Oakland, 1947-1952,
M.F.A. , 1952; Mills College, Oakland
(with Max Beckmann), 1950
(summer). Resides, Stanford,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Eric Locke Gallery, San
Francisco, 1957. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include UCLA Art
Galleries, University of California,
Los Angeles, 1963 (cat.); San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1969 (cat.);
The Oakland Museum, California,
1973 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
New Images of Man , The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1959 (cat.);
Art Since 1950, Seattle World's Fair,
Seattle, Washington, 1962 (cat.);
Pioneering Printmakers, Fine Arts
Gallery of San Diego, California, 1974
(cat.).
Gordon Onslow Ford
Born 1912, Wendover, England.
Studied at Dragon School, Oxford;
Royal Naval College, Dartmouth;
Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
Associated with the Surrealist group
in Paris, London, and New York,
1938-1943. Came to San Francisco,
1947. Resides near Inverness,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Karl Nierendorf Gallery, New
York, 1946. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1948 (cat.), 1959
(with Richard Bowman), 1964, 1970;
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria,
British Columbia, 1971 (cat.);
Pyramid Galleries, Ltd., Washington,
D.C., 1975 (cat.). Group exhibitions
include A New Vision (Dynaton
group), San Francisco Museum of
Art, 1951 (cat.); Dada, Surrealism
and Their Heritage, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1968 (cat.);
Surrealitdt-BiJdrealitdt 1924-1974 ,
Stadtische Kunsthalle, Diisseldorf,
Germany, 1974 (cat.). Ref: Onslow-
Ford, Gordon. Painting in the Instant.
New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.,
1964.
230
Harold Paris
Born 1925, Edgemere, Long Island,
New York. Studied at Atelier 17, New
York, 1949; Creative Lithographic
Workshop, New York, 1951-1952;
Akademie der Bildenden Kunste,
Munich, Germany, 1955-1956. Moved
to Northern California, 1960. Resides,
Oakland, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Argent Gallery,
New York, 1951. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Galerie Withofs,
Brussels, Belgium, 1970 (cat.);
University Art Museum, University
of California, Berkeley, 1972 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Creative
Casting, Museum of Contemporary
Crafts, New York, 1963 (cat.);
American Sculpture of the Sixties,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1967 (cat.); Transparent and
Translucent Art, The Museum of Fine
Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1971 (cat.)
David Park
Born 1911, Boston, Massachusetts.
Studied at Otis Art Institute, Los
Angeles, 1928-1929. Moved to San
Francisco, 1929. Lived in Boston,
1936-1941. Returned to Bay Area,
1941. Died 1960, Berkeley, California.
First one-man exhibition held at San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1936 (also
1939, 1940). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Staempfli
Gallery, New York, 1959 (cat.), 1960,
1961 (cat.), 1963, 1966; University Art
Gallery, University of California,
Berkeley, 1964 (cat.); Maxwell
Galleries, Ltd., San Francisco, 1970
(cat.), 1973 (cat.), 1975, 1976. Group
exhibitions include IIIBienaJ, Museu
de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
1955 (cat.); Contemporary Bay Area
Figurative Painting, The Oakland Art
Museum, California, 1957 (cat.);
American Paintings 1945-1957, The
Minneapolis Institute of Arts,
Minnesota, 1957 (cat.).
Agnes Pelton
Born 1881, Stuttgart, Germany.
Studied at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn,
New York; and with Arthur W. Dow,
W.L. Lathrop and Hamilton E. Field
in Rome and Ogunquit, Maine.
Moved to Cathedral City, California,
1931. One-woman exhibitions
include Grace Nicholson Galleries,
Pasadena, California, 1929; Argent
Galleries, New York, 1931; The Desert
Inn Gallery, Palm Springs, California,
1936, 1938, 1939, 1940 (cat.); San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1943.
Group exhibitions include
International Exposition o/ Modern
Art (The Armory Show), 69th
Regiment Armory, New York, 1913
(cat.); The Palace of Fine Arts,
California Pacific International
Exposition, San Diego, California,
1935 (cat.); Contemporary Art,
Golden Gate International
Exposition, San Francisco, 1939
(cat.).
Richard Pettibone
Born 1938, Alhambra, California.
Studied at Otis Art Institute, Los
Angeles, M.F.A., 1962. Moved to New
York, 1969. Resides, Charlottesville,
New York. First one-man exhibition
held at Aura Gallery, Pasadena,
California, 1963. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Ferus Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1965, 1966; O.K. Harris
Works of Art, New York, 1970, 1971,
1973, 1974. Group exhibitions
include Directions in Collage:
California, Pasadena Art Museum,
California, 1962; Pop Art USA , The
Oakland Art Museum, California
1963 (cat.); The Betty and Monte
Factor Family Collection , Pasadena
Art Museum, California, 1973 (cat.);
The Small Scale in Contemporary
Art, The Art Institute of Chicago,
1975 (cat.).
231
Gottardo Piazzoni
Born 1872, Intragna, Switzerland.
Came to California, 1886. Studied at
California School of Design, San
Francisco, 1891-C.1893; Academie
Julian, Paris, 1895; ficole des Beaux
Arts, Paris, 1895-1898. Settled in San
Francisco, 1898, but made several
trips to Europe thereafter. Died 1945,
Carmel Valley, California. One-man
exhibitions include Paul Elder
Gallery, San Francisco, 1914; Adams-
Danysh Galleries, San Francisco,
1933; California Historical Society,
San Francisco, 1959. Group
exhibitions include Salon de Ja
Societe Nationaie des Beaux Arts,
Paris, 1907; Panama-Pacific
International Exposition, San
Francisco, 1915 (cat.); Exhibition of
American Painting, M.H. de Young
Memorial Museum and California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1935 (cat.); California
Design 1910. Pasadena Center,
California, 1974 (cat.).
Peter Plagens
Born 1941, Dayton, Ohio. Studied at
University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, B.F.A., 1962; University
of Syracuse, New York, M.K A., 1964.
Settled in Los Angeles, 1965. Resides,
Los Angeles. One-man exhibition
held at Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1971. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Museum of Art,
University of Oklahoma, Norman,
1973; Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New
York, 1975, 1976. Group exhibitions
include 24 Young Los Angeles
Artists, Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, 1971 (cat.); O/f the Stretcher,
The Oakland Museum, California,
1971 (cat.); Continuing Abstraction
in American Art, Whitney Museum
of American Art, Downtown Branch,
New York, 1974 (cat.).
Don Potts
Born 1936, San Francisco. Studied
at San Jose State College, San Jose,
California, B.A., 1963; M.A., 1965;
State University of Iowa, Iowa City,
1963 (graduate work). Resides,
Nicasio, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Art Unlimited
Gallery, San Francisco, 1964.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Art Institute, 1970;
Newport Harbor Art Museum,
Newport Beach, California, 1972
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Young American Sculpture-East to
West, American Express Pavilion,
New York World's Fair, 1965 (cat.);
Funk, University Art Museum,
University of California, Berkeley,
1967 (cat.); Statements, The Oakland
Museum, California, 1973 (cat.).
Clayton S. Price
Born 1874, Bedford, Iowa. Studied
at St. Louis School of Fine Art,
Missouri, 1905-1906. Visited San
Francisco, 1915; lived in Monterey,
California, 1918-1929. Moved to
Portland, Oregon, 1929. Died 1950,
Portland. First one-man exhibition
held at Beaux Arts Galerie, San
Francisco, 1925. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Portland Art
Museum, Oregon, 1942, 1951 (cats.);
The Fine Arts Patrons of Newport
Harbor, Pavilion Gallery, Balboa,
California, 1967 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Frontiers of
American Art, M.H. de Young
Memorial Museum, San Francisco,
1939 (cat.); Romantic Painting in
America. The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1943 (cat.); Fourteen
Americans. The Museum of Modern
Art, New York, 1946 (cat.).
232
Kenneth Price
Born 1935, Los Angeles, California.
Studied at Chouinard Art Institute,
Los Angeles; Otis Art Institute,
Los Angeles; University of Southern
California, Los Angeles, B.F.A., 1956;
State University of New York at
Alfred, M.F.A., 1959. Moved to Taos,
New Mexico, 1972; resides, Taos.
First one-man exhibition held at
Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles, 1960 (also
1961,1964). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1966 (with
Robert Irwin; cat.); Whitney Museum
of American Art, New York, 1969
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Abstract Expressionist Ceramics, Art
Gallery, University of California,
Irvine, 1969 (cat.); 11 Los Angelas
Artists, The Arts Council of Great
Britain, Hayward Gallery, London,
1971 (cat.); Contemporary Ceramic
Art: Canada, U.S.A., Mexico, and
Japan, National Museum of Modern
Art, Kyoto, Japan, 1971, and The
National Museum of Modern Art,
Tokyo, 1972 (cat.).; Joe Goode/
Kenneth Price /Edward Ruscha,
Museum Boymans Van Beuningen,
Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1972 (cat.).
Joseph Ratfael
Born 1933, Brooklyn, New York.
Studied at Cooper Union School of
Art and Architecture, New York,
1951-1954; Yale School of Fine Arts,
New Haven, Connecticut, 1954-1956,
B.F.A., 1956. Lived in California,
1966; moved to California
permanently, 1969. Resides, San
Geronimo, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Stable Gallery, New
York, 1965. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Nancy Hoffman
Gallery, New York, 1972, 1973, 1974;
University Art Museum, University
of California, Berkeley, 1973 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include DC Bienal ,
Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo,
Brazil, 1967 (cat.); Human
Concern /Personal Torment: The
Grotesque in American Art, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1969 (cat.); Three Realists, Close,
Estes, Raffael, Worcester Art
Museum, Massachusetts, 1974 (cat.);
America 1976, United States
Department of the Interior,
Washington, D.C., 1976 (cat.).
Mel Ramos
Born 1935, Sacramento, California.
Studied at Sacramento City College,
California, 1954-1955; San Jose State
College, California, 1955-1956;
Sacramento State College, California,
1956-1958, A.B., 1957; M.A., 1958.
Resides, Oakland, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Bianchini
Gallery, New York, 1964 (also 1965).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1967;
Mills College Art Gallery, Oakland,
California, 1968 (cat.); Museum Haus
Lange, Krefeld, Germany, 1975 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Six More,
Los Angeles County Museum, 1963
(cat.); Pop Art, The Arts Council of
Great Britain, Hayward Gallery,
London, 1969 (cat.); Kunst um 1970,
Neue Galerie der Stadt Aachen,
Aachen, Germany, 1972 (cat.). Ref:
Claridge, Elizabeth. The Girls of Mel
Ramos. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1975.
233
Roland Reiss
Born 1929, Chicago, Illinois. Came to
California, 1941. Lived in Boulder,
Colorado, 1957-1971. Resides, Venice,
California. Studied at American
Academy of Art, Chicago, 1948; Mt.
San Antonio College, Walnut,
California, A. A., 1950; University of
California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1955;
M.A., 1957. First one-man exhibition
held at Casa Manana, Carmel,
California, 1956. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include University of
Kentucky, Lexington, 1969; Denver
Center, University of Colorado, 1970.
Group exhibitions include 1975
Biennial Exhibition: Contemporary
American Art , Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1975 (cat.);
Masterworks in Wood: The Twentieth
Century, The Portland Art Museum,
Oregon, 1975 (cat.); Word Works, Too,
San lose State University, California,
1975 (cat.).
Deborah Remington
Born 1930, Haddonfield, New Jersey.
Studied at California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1949-1952, 1953-1955,
B.F.A., 1955. Lived in San Francisco
except 1955-1958 in Far East. Moved
to New York, 1965. Resides, New
York. First one-woman exhibition
held at King Ubu Gallery, San
Francisco, 1953. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Dilexi Gallery,
San Francisco, 1962, 1965; Galerie
Darthea Speyer, Paris, 1968, 1971,
1973. Group exhibitions include
L'Art Vivant aux Etats-Unis,
Fondation Maeght, St. Paul de Vence,
France, 1970 (cat.); Image, Color and
Form , The Toledo Museum of Art,
Toledo, Ohio, 1975 (cat.); Painting
Endures, Institute of Contemporary
Art, Boston, Massachusetts, 1975
(cat.).
Gregg Renfrow
Born 1948, San Francisco. Studied
at San Francisco State College,
1966-1969; San Francisco Art
Institute, B.F.A., 1972; Skowhegan
School of Painting and Sculpture,
Skowhegan, Maine, 1972. Resides,
San Francisco. First one-man
exhibition held at William Sawyer
Gallery, San Francisco, 1975. Group
exhibitions include Three Painters,
San Francisco Art Institute, 1974;
1975 Biennial Exhibition:
Contemporary American Art ,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1975 (cat.); Contemporary
California Artists , Utah Museum of
Fine Arts, University of Utah, Salt
Lake City, 1975 (cat.); Exchange
DFW/SFO, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, 1976 (cat.).
Sam Richardson
Born 1934, Oakland, California.
Studied at California College of Arts
and Crafts, Oakland, B.A., 1956;
M.FA., 1960. In New York, 1961-1963.
Resides, Oakland, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Art
Unlimited, San Francisco, 1961.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1970
(cat.); Akron Art Institute, Akron,
Ohio, 1972 (cat.); Dallas Museum of
Fine Arts, Texas, 1976 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include A Plastic
Presence, Milwaukee Art Center,
Wisconsin, 1969 (cat.); The
Topography of Nature, Institute of
Contemporary Art, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1972
(cat.); Public Sculpture /Urban
Environment, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1974 (cat.); The Small
Scale in Contemporary Art, The Art
Institute of Chicago, 1975 (cat.).
234
Arthur Richer
Bom c. 1928, New York. Moved to
California, c. 1950. Studied at
Finch-Warshaw College, Los Angeles.
Died 1965, Healdsburg, California.
First one-man exhibition held at
Syndell Studio, Los Angeles, 1955.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles, 1959;
Semina Gallery, Larkspur, California,
1961. Group exhibitions include
Elevated Underground: The North
Beach Period, Cellini Gallery, San
Francisco, 1968 (cat.]; Late Fifties at
the Ferus, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1968 (cat.); The Last
Time I Saw Ferus 1957-1966, Newport
Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach,
California, 1976 (cat.).
Philip Roeber
Born 1913, Delta County, Colorado.
Moved to San Francisco, 1946.
Studied at California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1948-1952. Moved to New
York, 1960. Resides, Provincetown,
Massachusetts. One-man exhibitions
include East & West Gallery, San
Francisco, 1955, 1956, 1957; Dilexi
Gallery, San Francisco. 1959; Westerly
Gallery, New York, 1965, 1967;
Krannert Drawing Room, Purdue
University, Lafayette, kidiana, 1971.
Group exhibitions include Action,
Merry-go-round Building, Santa
Monica Pier, Santa Monica,
California, 1955 (cat.); A Period of
Exploration, San Francisco
1945-1950. The Oakland Museum,
California, 1973 (cat.).
Richards Ruben
Born 1925, Los Angeles. Studied at
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles,
1944-1946, 1950-1951. Moved to New
York, 1963. Resides, New York. First
one-man exhibition held at Arts
and Crafts Center, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, 1949. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1955, 1961 (cat.);
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1970.
Group exhibitions include Younger
American Painters, The Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, New York,
1954 (cat.); Premiere BiennaJe de
Paris, Musee d'Art Moderne de la
Ville de Paris, 1959 (cat.); The Last
Time I Saw Ferus 1957-1966, Newport
Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach,
California, 1976 (cat.).
Allen Ruppersberg
Born 1944, Cleveland, Ohio. Came
to California, 1962. Studied at
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles,
B.F.A., 1966. Resides, Santa Monica,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Eugenia Butler Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1969. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Pomona College
Art Gallery, Claremont, California,
1972 (cat.); Stedelijk Museum,
Amsterdam, 1973 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include 24 Young Los
Angeles Artists, Los Angeles County
Museumof Art, 1971 (cat.);
Documenta 5, Kassel, Germany, 1972
(cat.); Southland Video Anthology,
Long Beach Museum of Art,
California, 1975 (cat.).
235
Edward Ruscha
Born 1937, Omaha, Nebraska.
Came to California, 1956. Studied at
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles,
1956-1960. Resides, Hollywood,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles,
1963 (also 1964, 1965). Subsequent
solo exhibitions include The Fine
Arts Patrons of Newport Harbor,
Pavilion Gallery, Balboa, California,
1968 (with Joe Goode; cat.); Leo
Castelli Gallery, New York, 1973,
1974, 1975; Albright-Knox Art
Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 1976
(cat.). Group exhibitions include DC
Bienal, Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao
Paulo, Brazil, 1967 (cat.); 1 1 Los
Angeles Artists , The Arts Council of
Great Britain, Hayward Gallery,
London, 1971 (cat.); American Pop
Art, Whitney Museum of American
Art, New York, 1974 (cat.); Critical
Perspectives in American Art, Fine
Arts Center Gallery, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst (United
States Representation, XXXVlll
BiennaJe, Venice, Italy), 1976 (cat.).
Betye Saar
Born 1926, Los Angeles. Studied
at University of California, Los
Angeles, B.A., 1949; California State
University, Long Beach, 1958-1962;
University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, 1962; California State
University, Northridge, 1966;
Pasadena School of Fine Arts
(Filmmaking Department), 1970;
American Film Institute, 1972.
Resides, Los Angeles. First one-
woman exhibition held at Multi-cul
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1972.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1973 (cat.); Fine Arts
Gallery, California State University,
Los Angeles, 1973 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include The Negro in
American Art, UCLA Art Galleries,
University of California, Los Angeles,
1966 (cat.); 30 Contemporary Black
Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of
Arts, Minnesota, with Ruder and
Finn Fine Arts, New York, 1969 (cat.);
Dimensions of Black, La Jolla
Museum of Art, California, 1970
(cat.); West Coast '74lThe Black
Image, E.B. Crocker Art Gallery,
Sacramento, California, 1974 (cat.).
John Saccaro
Born 1913, San Francisco. Studied
at California School of Fine Arts
(now San Francisco Art Institute),
1951-1954. Resides, San Francisco.
First one-man exhibition held at San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1939 (also
1959). Subsequent solo exhibitions
include M.H. de Young Memorial
Museum, San Francisco, 1946, 1956,
1960; Oakland Art Museum,
California, 1958; BoUes Gallery, New
York, 1962. Group exhibitions include
Iff Bienal , Museu de Arte Moderna,
Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1955 (cat.);
American Painting 1958, Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond,
1958 (cat.); A Period o/ Exploration,
San Francisco 1945-1950, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1973
(cat.).
236
Darryl Sapien
Born 1950, Los Angeles. Studied at
Los Angeles Valley College, 1967;
Fullerton Junior College, California,
1969-1971; San Francisco Art
Institute, B.F.A., 1972; M.F.A., 1976.
Resides, San Francisco. Performances
include Synthetic Ritual (with
Michael Hinton), San Francisco Art
Institute, December 21, 1971;
Split-Man Bisects the Pacific (with
Michael Hinton), Sutro Baths ruins
at Point Lobos, San Francisco,
September 24, 1974; Splitting the
Axis (with Michael Hinton),
University Art Museum, Berkeley,
August 26, 1975; Within the Nucleus
(with Michael Hinton), San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art, March 27,
1976 (part of exhibition, Video Art;
An Overview; cat.).
Paul Sarkisian
Born 1928, Chicago, Illinois. Studied
at The School of The Art Institute of
Chicago, 1945-1948; Otis Art
Institute, Los Angeles, 1953, 1954;
Mexico City College, Mexico City,
1955-1956. Lived in California,
1948-1954; 1959-1970. Resides,
Cerrillos, New Mexico. One-man
exhibitions include Aura Gallery,
Pasadena, California, 1962; Santa
Barbara Museum of Art, California,
1970 (cat.); Museum of Contemporary
Art, Chicago, 1972 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Late Fifties at the
Ferus, Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, 1968 (cat.); Documenta 5,
Kassel, Germany, 1972 (cat.);
Separate Realities, Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery, 1973 (cat.).
Pbter Saul
Born 1934, San Francisco, California.
Studied at California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute); Stanford University,
Stanford, California, 1950-1952;
Washington University, St. Louis,
Missouri, 1952-1956, B.FA., 1956.
Lived in Europe, 1956-1964; returned
to Northern California, 1964. Resides,
Port Costa, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Allan Frumkin
Gallery, Chicago, 1961 (also 1966,
1969, 1972, 1974). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Allan Frumkin
Gallery, New York, 1962, 1963, 1964
(cat.), 1966, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975
(cat.); Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris,
1969, 1972. Group exhibitions
include Nieuwe ReaJisten , Haags
Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, The
Netherlands, 1964 (cat.); Funk,
University Art Museum, University
of California, Berkeley, 1967 (cat.);
Human Concern /Personal Torment:
The Grotesque in American Art,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1969 (cat.).
Ursula Schneider
Born 1943, Zurich, Switzerland.
Studied at Ceramic School, Bern,
Switzerland, 1961-1964, B.FA., 1964;
San Francisco Art Institute,
1968-1972, M.FA., 1972. Came to
California, 1968. Resides, San
Francisco. First one-woman
exhibition held at Quay Gallery, San
Francisco, 1974. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include The Oakland
Museum, California, 1975; Isabelle
Percy West Gallery, California College
of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, 1976.
Group exhibitions include Six
Painters, San Francisco Art Institute,
1973 (cat.); 1975 Biennial Exhibition;
Contemporary American Art,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, 1975 (cat.); Exchange
DFW/SFO, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, 1976 (cat.).
237
Richard Shaw
Born 1941, Hollywood, California.
Studied at Orange Coast College,
Costa Mesa, California, 1961-1963;
San Francisco Art Institute, B.F.A.,
1965; State University of New York at
Alfred, 1965; University of California,
Davis, M.A., 1968. Resides, Stinson
Beach, California. First one-man
exhibition held at San Francisco Art
Institute, 1967. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1973 (with Robert
Hudson; cat.); Braunstein/Quay
Gallery, New York, 1976. Group
exhibitions include CJayworks; 20
Americans, Museum of
Contemporary Crafts, New York, 1971
(cat.); A Decade of Ceramic Art:
1962-1972, from the Collection of
Pro/essor and Mrs. R. Joseph Monsen ,
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1972
(cat.); CJay, Whitney Museum of
American Art, Downtown Branch,
New York, 1974 (cat.).
Millard Sheets
Born 1907, Pomona, California.
Studied at Chouinard School of Art,
Los Angeles, 1925-1929. Resides,
Gualala, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Dalzell Hatfield
Galleries, Los Angeles, 1929.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
The Pasadena Art Institute,
California, 1950 (cat.); Lang Art
Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont,
California, 1976 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include 20th Century
Artists, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1939 (cat.);
Two Hundred Years of Watercolor
Painting in America, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, 1966 (cat.); Los Angeles Painters
of the Nineteen-Twenties, Pomona
College Gallery, Montgomery Art
Center, Claremont, California, 1972
(cat.). Ref: Millier, Arthur and others.
MiJJard Sheets. Los Angeles: Dalzell
Hatfield, 1935.
Louis Siegriest
Born 1899, Oakland, California.
Studied at California School of Arts
and Crafts, Berkeley, 1914-1916;
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute),
1917-1918. Resides, Oakland,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Gump's Gallery, San
Francisco, 1933. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Art Institute, 1965 (cat.); The Oakland
Museum, California, 1972 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include The
Twenty-second Biennial Exhibition,
The Corcoran Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C., 1951 (cat.); Society
of Six, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1972 (cat.); 1973 Biennial
Exhibition: Contemporary American
Art, Whitney Museum of American
Art, New York, 1973 (cat.).
David Simpson
Born 1928, Pasadena, California.
Studied at Pasadena City College,
1942-1943; California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1949-1951, 1955-1956,
B.FA., 1956; San Francisco State
College, 1956-1958, M.A., 1958.
Resides, Pt. Richmond, California.
First one-man exhibition held at San
Francisco Art Institute, 1958.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1967
(cat.); Saint Mary's College Art
Gallery, Moraga, California, 1974.
Group exhibitions include
Americans 1963, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1963 (cat.);
Post Painterly Abstraction. Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, 1964
(cat.); Our Land, Our Sky, Our Water,
International Exposition 1974,
Spokane, Washington, 1974 (cat.).
238
Nell Sinton
Born 1910, San Francisco. Studied at
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute],
1926-1928; apprentice to Maurice
Sterne, San Francisco, 1938-1939.
Resides, San Francisco. First
one-woman exhibition held at
Raymond & Raymond, San Francisco,
1947. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, California, 1950; San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1957 (with William T.
Brown), 1970 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include California Art
Today, Golden Gate International
Exposition, San Francisco, 1940 (cat.);
American Water Colors, Drawings
and Prints, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, 1952 (cat.);
Small Collages, Constructions and
WatercoJors by Martin, De Forest,
DeLap and Sinton, San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1962; Three Bay Area
Painters, Santa Rosa Junior College
Art Gallery, California, 1976 (cat.).
Rex Slinkard
Born 1887, Bicknell, Indiana. Studied
at Judson Art School, Los Angeles;
Art Students League, Los Angeles;
with Robert Henri, New York,
1908-1910. Returned to Los Angeles,
1910. Served in World War I. Died
1918, New York. One-man exhibitions
include The Palace of Fine Arts, San
Francisco, 1919 (cat.); Los Angeles
County Museum, 1919, 1929 (cats.);
Knoedler & Co., New York, 1920 (cat.);
Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford
University, Stanford, California, 1975.
Group exhibitions include Inde-
pendent Artists of Los AngeJes, Taos
Building, Los Angeles, 1923 (cat.);
Arts of Southern CaJi/ornia-
XA^: Early Moderns , Long Beach
Museum of Art, California, 1964
(cat.).
Hassel Smith
Born 1915, Sturgis, Michigan.
Studied at Northwestern University,
Evanston, Illinois, B.S., 1936;
California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute),
1936-1938. Moved to Great Britain,
1966. Resides, Bristol, England. First
one-man exhibition held at San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1941 (with
Lloyd Wulf ). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1961 (cat.); San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1975 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Four
Contemporary Artists, California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1953; The Current Moment
in Art, San Francisco Art Institute,
1966 (cat.); Late Fifties at the Ferus,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1968 (cat.); A Period o/ExpJoration,
San Francisco 1945-1950, The
Oakland Museum, California, 1973
(cat.).
Clay Spohn
Born 1898, San Francisco, California.
Studied at University of California,
Berkeley, 1918-1921 ; California
School of Fine Arts (now San
Francisco Art Institute), 1921; The
Art Students League of New York,
1922-1925; Academie Moderne (with
Othon Frieze), Paris, 1926-1927.
Returned to San Francisco, 1927. Left
California, 1952. Resides, New York.
First one-man exhibition held at the
Art Center, San Francisco, 1931.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
San Francisco Museum of Art
(Fantastic War Machines and
Guerragraphs), 1942; The Oakland
Museum, California, 1974 (cat.).
Group exhibitions include Mobiles
and Articulated Sculpture, California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco, 1948 (cat.); The Museum
of Unknown and Little Known
Objects (organized by Spohn),
California School of Fine Arts, San
Francisco, 1949; A Period of
Exploration, San Francisco
1945-1950, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1973 (cat.).
239
Ralph Stackpole
Born 1885, Williams, Oregon. Came
to San Francisco, 1901. Studied at
Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, San
Francisco, 1901-1902; Ecole des
Beaux Arts, Paris, 1906-1908; with
Robert Henri, New York, 1911. Settled
in San Francisco, 1914. Left
California, 1949. Died 1973, Chauriat
Puy-de-Dome, France. First one-man
exhibition held at Gump's Gallery,
San Francisco, c. 1905. Subsequent
solo exhibition held at Centre
Cultural Americaine, Paris. 1959.
Group exhibitions include First
Exhibition of Selected Paintings by
American Artists, California Palace of
the Legion of Honor, San Francisco,
1926 (cat.); Painting and Sculpture
from 16 American Cities, The
Museum of Modern Art, New York,
1933 (cat.);£tats-L/nis Sculptures du
XX'' Siecle, Musee Rodin, Paris, 1965
(cat.).
Norman Stiegelmeyer
Born 1937, Denver, Colorado. Came
to California, 1959. Studied at
Pasadena City College, California,
1959-1961; San Francisco Art
Institute, B.F.A., 1963; M.F.A., 1964;
Academy of Art, Nuremberg,
Germany, 1964-1965. Resides, Walnut
Creek, California. First one-man
exhibition held at New Mission
Gallery, San Francisco, 1964.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Richmond Art Center, California,
1966; California Palace of the Legion
of Honor, San Francisco, 1970. Group
exhibitions include Human
Concern /Personal Torment; The
Grotesque in American Art, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York,
1969 (cat.); Other Landscapes and
Shadow Land , University of Southern
California Art Galleries, Los Angeles,
1971 (cat.); Archetypal Images, Civic
Arts Gallery, Walnut Creek,
California, 1976 (cat.).
Clyfford Still
Born 1904, Grandin, North Dakota.
Studied at Spokane University,
Spokane, Washington, B.A., 1933;
Washington State College, Pullman,
Washington, M.A., 1935. Lived in San
Francisco Bay Area, 1941-1943,
1946-1950. Moved to New York, 1950.
Resides, New Windsor, Maryland.
First one-man exhibition held at San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1943.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New
York, 1959, 1966 (then Albright-Knox
Art Gallery; cats.); Institute of
Contemporary Art, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1963
(cat.); San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, 1976 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include 15 Americans,
The Museum of Modern Art, New
York, 1952 (cat.); New York School:
The First Generation , Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1965 (cat.);
American Art: Third Quarter
Century. Seattle Art Museum
Pavilion, Washington, 1973 (cat.).
James Strombotne
Born 1934, Watertown, South Dakota.
Came to California, 1952. Studied at
Pomona College, Claremont,
California, B.A., 1956; Claremont
Graduate School, Claremont,
California, M.FA., 1959. Resides,
Laguna Beach, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Studio 44.
San Francisco, 1956. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1961; Jodi Scully
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1972, 1974.
Group exhibitions include Young
America I960, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 1960 (cat.);
The Painter and the Photograph , The
Art Gallery, The University of New
Mexico, Albuquerque, 1964 (cat.);
Graphics '71 IWest Coast. U.S.A.,
University of Kentucky Art Gallery,
Lexington, 1970 (cat.).
240
Ben Talbert
Born 1933. Los Angeles. Studied at
Texas A & M, College Station;
University of California, Los Angeles,
1957-1958, B.A., 1957. Died 1975,
Venice, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Pasadena Art
Museum, 1961 . Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Ten Years of
Erotic Art, Mermaid Tavern, Topanga,
California, 1975. Croup exhibitions
include Object Makers, Pomona
College, Claremont, California, 1961;
Directions in Collage; California.
Pasadena Art Museum, California,
1962; Arena of Love, Dwan Gallery
Los Angeles, 1965; Assemblage in
California, Art Callery, LIniversity of
California, Irvine, 1968 (cat.).
Gage Taylor
Born 1942, Fort Worth, Texas. Studied
at University of Texas, Austin, B.F. A.,
1965; Michigan State University, East
Lansing, M.F.A., 1967. Came to
California, 1969. Resides, Woodacre,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at San Francisco Art Institute,
1970. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Berkeley Gallery, San
Francisco, 1971; National Museum of
Fine Arts, Santiago, Chile, 1972.
Group exhibitions include Other
Landscapes and Shadow Land,
University of Southern California Art
Galleries, Los Angeles, 1971 (cat.);
Baja, San Francisco Museum of Art,
1974 (cat.); Alternative Realities,
Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago, 1976 (cat.).
Sam Tchakalian
Born 1929, Shanghai, China. Came to
San Francisco, 1947. Studied at San
Francisco State College. B.A., 1952;
Special Secondary Credential in Art,
1957; Junior College Credential in
Art, 1958; M.A., 1958. Resides, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at Dilexi Gallery, San Francisco,
1960 (also 1963). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include The Fine Arts
Patrons of New^port Harbor, Pavilion
Gallery, Balboa, California, 1967 (with
Wally Hedrick; cat.); San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1967; Braunstein/
Quay Gallery, New York, 1975. Group
exhibitions include Directions in
Collage: California, Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1962; The
Structure of Color, Whitney Museum
of American Art, New York, 1971
(cat.); Fourteen Abstract Painters,
Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery,
University of California, Los Angeles,
1975 (cat.).
Wayne Thiebaud
Born 1920, Mesa, Arizona. Came to
California, 1939. Studied at San Jose
State College, California, 1949;
Sacramento State College, California,
1949-1952, B.A., 1951; M. A., 1952.
Resides, Sacramento, California. First
one-man exhibition held at E.B.
Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento,
1952. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Pasadena Art Museum,
California, 1968 (cat.); California
State University, Long Beach, 1972
(cat.); The Denver Art Museum,
Colorado, 1975. Group exhibitions
include Pop Art , The Arts Council of
Great Britain, Hayward Gallery,
London, 1969 (cat.); Documenfa 5,
Kassel, Germany, 1972 (cat.) ;
American Art: Third Quarter
Century, Seattle Art Museum
Pavilion, Washington, 1973 (cat.);
Aspects of the Figure, The Cleveland
Museum of Art, Ohio, 1974 (cat.);
America 1976, United States
Department of the Interior,
Washington, D.C., 1976 (cat.).
241
Michael Todd
Born 1935. Omaha, Nebraska.
Studied at University of Notre Dame,
Notre Dame, Indiana, B.F.A., 1957;
University of California, Los Angeles,
M.A., 1959. Lived in Southern
California, 1957-1961 ; Paris, 1961-
1963; New York, 1968. Returned to
Southern California 1968. Resides,
Encinitas, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Hanover Gallery,
London, 1964. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include UCLA Art
Galleries, University of California,
Los Angeles and The Salk Institute,
La lolla, California, 1969 (cat.); Fine
Arts Gallery of San Diego, California,
1972 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
Primary Structures, The Jewish
Museum, New York, 1966 (cat.);
American Sculpture o/ the Sixties.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1967 (cat.); Public Sculpture/Urban
Environment, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1974 (cat.).
Charts TVacy
Born 1881, Columbus, Ohio. Studied
at Columbus Art School, Ohio, and in
Tahiti and Mexico. Lived in Southern
California. Died 1951, Arcadia,
California. One-man exhibitions
include The Pasadena Art Institute,
California, 1951; San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1951 (with Marion
Messinger). Group exhibitions
include 1949-1959 A Decade in the
Contemporary Galleries, Pasadena
Art Museum, California, 1959 (cat.);
Fifty Paintings by Thirty-Seven
Painters o/theLos Angeles Area,
UCLA Art Galleries, University of
California, Los Angeles, 1961 (cat.);
Arts of Southern California— XIV:
Early Moderns , Long Beach Museum
of Art, California, 1964 (cat.).
Jim Turrell
Born 1943, Los Angeles. Studied
at Pomona College, Claremont,
California, B.A., 1965; University of
California, Irvine, 1965-1967. Resides,
Santa Monica, California, One-man
exhibitions include Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1967 (cat.);
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam,
Netherlands, 1976 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Art and
Technology, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1971 (cat.);
University o/CaJi/ornia, Irvine
1965-1975, La Jolla Museum of
Contemporary Art, California, 1975
(cat.); Art /Environment 1915-1976,
Italian Pavilion, XXXVIIIBiennaie,
Venice, Italy, 1976 (cat.).
DeWain Valentine
Born 1936, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Studied at University of Colorado,
Boulder, B.F.A., 1958; M,F.A., 1960;
Yale University-Norfolk School of
Music and Art, Norfolk, Connecticut,
1958. Moved to Venice, California, in
1965. Resides, Venice. First one-man
exhibition held at The Gallery,
Denver, Colorado, 1964. Subsequent
solo exhibitions include Pasadena Art
Museum, California, 1970 (cat.); Long
Beach Museum of Art, California,
1975 (cat.). Group exhibitions include
Fourteen Sculptors: The Industrial
Edge, Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1969 (cat.);
A Plastic Presence, The Jewish
Museum, New York, 1969 (cat.);
American Art: Third Quarter
Century, Seattle Art Museum
Pavilion, Washington, 1973 (cat.).
242
James Valerio
Born 1938, Chicago, Illinois. Studied
at The School of The Art histitute of
Chicago, B.F.A., 1966; M.F.A., 1968.
Moved to Los Angeles, 1970. Resides,
Encino, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Gerard )ohn Hayes
Gallery, Los Angeles, 1971.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Michael Walls Gallery, New York,
1974. Group exhibitions include 12
Painters and the Human Figure /8
Painters in "Documenta 5", Santa
Barbara Museum of Art, California,
1973; Separate Realities, Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery, 1973 (cat.);
The Super-Realist Vision, DeCordova
Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts,
1973; Current Concerns (Part II), The
Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary
Art, 1975 (cat.).
Carlos Villa
Born 1936, San Francisco. Studied at
San Francisco Art Institute, B.F.A.,
1961; Mills College, Oakland,
California, M.FA., 1963. Lived in
New York, 1963-1969. Resides, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at Poindexter Gallery, New York,
1967. Subsequent solo exhibitions
include Hansen Fuller Gallery, San
Francisco, 1971, 1974; Nancy
Hoffman Gallery, New York, 1973,
1975. Group exhibitions include
Rafbastards, Spatsa Gallery, San
Francisco, 1958; Of/the Stretcher,
The Oakland Museum, 1971 (cat.);
Contemporary American Painting
and Sculpture 1974, Krannert Art
Museum, University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana, 1974 (cat.).
Bernard von Eichman
Born 1899, San Francisco. Lived in
San Francisco until the 1930's when
moved to New York. Returned to San
Francisco Bay Area c. 1942. Died
1970, Santa Rosa, California. Group
exhibitions include annual
exhibitions of the "Society of Six",
Oakland Art Gallery, California,
1923-1928; Fifty-First Annual
Exhibition of the San Francisco Art
Association, California School of
Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1929 (cat.);
Fifty- Fourth Annual Exhibition of the
San Francisco Art Association ,
California Palace of the Legion of
Honor, San Francisco, 1932 (cat.);
Society of Six, The Oakland
Museum, California, 1972 (cat.).
Stephan von Huene
Born 1932, Los Angeles. Studied at
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles,
1959; University of California, Los
Angeles, M.A., 1965. Resides, Los
Angeles. First one-man exhibition
held at Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, 1969 (cat.). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1970; Museum of
Contemporary Art, Chicago, 1974
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
American Sculpture of the Sixties,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1967 (cat.); Elecfromagica, )apan
Electric Arts Association, Tokyo,
1969; Surrealism is Alive and Well in
the West. Baxter Art Gallery,
California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, 1972 (cat.).
243
Peter Voulkos
Born 1924. Bozeman, Montana.
Studied at Montana State College,
Bozeman, 1946-1951, B.S., 1951;
California College of Arts and Crafts,
Oakland, 1951-1952, M.F.A., 1952.
Lived in Los Angeles, 1954-1959;
moved to Berkeley, 1959. Resides,
Berkeley, California. First one-man
exhibition held at University of
Florida, Gainesville, 1953.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
1965 (cat.); San Francisco Museum of
Art, 1972 (cat.). Group exhibitions
include Sculpture in the Open Air.
Battersea Park, London, 1963 (cat.);
Abstract Expressionist Ceramics, Art
Gallery, University of California,
Irvine, 1966 (cat.); American
Sculpture of the Sixties, Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, 1967 (cat.);
Public Sculpture /L/rban Environ-
ment, The Oakland Museum,
California, 1974 (cat.).
Howard Warshaw
Born 1920, New York. Came to
California in 1942. Studied at Pratt
Institute, Brooklyn, New York;
National Academy of Design School,
New York; The Art Students League
of New York, 1938-1942. Resides,
Carpinteria, California. First one-man
exhibition held at Little Gallery,
Beverly Hills, California, 1944.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara,
California, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966,
1968, 1970, 1973; University of
California, Santa Barbara, 1964 (cat.);
Bowdoin College Museum of Art,
Brunswick, Maine, 1972 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include III BienaJ, Museu
de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
1955 (cat.); American Paintings
1945-1957, The Minneapolis Institute
of Arts, 1957 (cat.); The Institute o/
Creative Arts, University of
California, Santa Barbara, 1969 (cat.).
Julius Wasserstein
Born 1924, Providence, Rhode Island.
Came to San Francisco, 1925. Studied
at California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute),
1950-1953; San Francisco State
College, 1955-1958. Resides, San
Francisco. First one-man exhibition
held at King Ubu Gallery, San
Francisco, 1953. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include Ferus Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1957; Rose Rabow Galleries,
San Francisco, 1959, 1961, 1968, 1973,
1975; San Francisco Museum of Art,
1962, 1964. Group exhibitions
include /eremy Anderson, WaJJy
Hedrick, /uJius Wasserstein , M.H. de
Young Memorial Museum, San
Francisco, 1955; Art; USA: 58.
Madison Square Garden, New York,
1958 (cat.); Contemporary Prints
from Northern California. Oakland
Art Museum/Kaiser Center,
California, 1967 (cat.); The Last Time
1 Saw Ferus, 1957-1966, Newport
Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach,
California, 1976 (cat.).
James Weeks
244
Born 1922, Oakland, California.
Studied at California School of Fine
Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute), 1940-1942, 1946-1948;
Hartwell School of Design, San
Francisco, 1946-1947; EscuUa de
Pintura y Escultura, Mexico City,
1951. Lived in San Francisco Bay
Area until 1967 and in Los Angeles,
1967-1970. Moved to Boston, 1970.
Resides, Bedford, Massachusetts.
First one-man exhibition held at
Lucien Labaudt Gallery, San
Francisco, 1951. Subsequent solo
exhibitions include San Francisco
Museum of Art, 1965 (cat.);
Boston University Art Gallery,
Massachusetts, 1971 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include Contemporary
Bay Area Figurative Painting, The
Oakland Art Museum, California,
1957 (cat.); The Seashore: Paintings
of the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1965 (cat.);
America 1976, United States
Department of the Interior,
Washington, D.C., 1976 (cat.).
William Wegman
Born 1943, Holyoke. Massachusetts.
Studied at Massachusetts College of
Art, Boston, B.F.A., 1965; University
of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana,
M.F.A., 1967. Came to Southern
California in 1970. Resides, New
York. First one-man exhibition held
at Pomona College Art Gallery,
Claremont, California, 1971.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Ileana Sonnabend, New York, 1972,
1974; Galerie Konrad Fischer,
Diisseldorf, Germany, 1972; Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, 1973
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
When Attitudes Become Form,
Kunsthalle, Bern, Switzerland, 1969
(cat.]; Video Art, Institute of
Contemporary Art, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1975
(cat.); Southland Video Anthology,
Long Beach Museum of Art.
California, 1975 (cat.); Bodyworks,
Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago, 1975 (cat.).
Douglas Wheeler
Born 1939, Globe, Arizona. Studied at
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles,
1960-1964. Resides, Santa Monica,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at Pasadena Art Museum,
California, 1968 (cat.). Subsequent
solo exhibitions include Fort Worth
Art Center Museum, Texas, 1969
(with Robert Irwin; cat.); Riko
Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles, 1974.
Group exhibitions include Prospect
'69, Stadtische Kunsthalle,
Diisseldorf, Germany, 1969 (cat.);
Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Doug
Wheeler, Tate Gallery, London, 1970
(cat.); 71st American Exhibition, The
Art Institute of Chicago, 1974 (cat.).
William T. Wiley
Born 1937, Bedford, Indiana. Studied
at California School of Fine Arts (now
San Francisco Art Institute), 1956-
1962, B.F.A., 1960; M.FA., 1962.
Resides, Forest Knolls, California.
First one-man exhibition held at San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1960 (with
Seymour Locks). Subsequent solo
exhibitions include University Art
Museum, University of California.
Berkeley, 1971 (cat.); Stedelijk van
Abbemuseum, Eindhoven,
Netherlands, 1973 (cat.). Group
exhibitions include When Attitudes
Become Form, Kunsthalle, Bern,
Switzerland, 1969 (cat.); Documenta
5, Kassel, Germany, 1972 (cat.);
American Art: Third Quarter
Century, Seattle Art Museum
Pavilion, Washington, 1973 (cat.);
Image, Color and Form, The Toledo
Museum of Art, Ohio, 1975 (cat.).
Guy Williams
Born 1932, San Diego, California.
Studied at Chouinard Art Institute,
Los Angeles. Resides, Santa Monica,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at La Jolla Museum of
Contemporary Art, California, 1961.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Pomona College, Claremont,
California, 1971; Vassar College,
Poughkeepsie, New York, 1972. Group
exhibitions include Southern
CaJi/ornia: Attitudes 1972, Pasadena
Art Museum, California, 1972 (cat.);
1 5 Abstract Artists , The Santa
Barbara Museum of Art, California,
1974 (cat.); Both Kinds, University
Art Museum, University of
California, Berkeley, 1975 (cat.).
245
Paul Wonner
Born 1920, Tucson, Arizona. Studied
at California College of Arts and
Crafts, Oakland, B. A., 1942; The Art
Students League of New York, 1947;
University of California, Berkeley,
B.A., 1952; M.A., 1953; M.L.S., 1955.
Lived in Northern California from
1937-1963 except 1946-1950 in New
York. Settled in Southern California,
1963. Resides, San Francisco,
California. First one-man exhibition
held at M.H. de Young Memorial
Museum, San Francisco, 1956.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Marion Koogler Mc:Nay Art Institute,
San Antonio, Texas, 1965; The Art
Calleries, California State University,
Long Beach, 1975 (with Walter Askin;
cat.). Group exhibitions include
Younger American Painters, The
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York, 1954 (cat.); Contemporary
Bay Area Figurative Painting, The
Oakland Art Museum, California,
1957 (cat.); Surrealism is Alive and
Well in the West, Baxter Art Gallery,
California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, 1972 (cat.).
Tom Wudl
Born 1948, Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Came to California, 1958. Studied at
California Institute of the Arts, Los
Angeles, 1967-1970, B.F.A., 1970.
Resides, Venice, California. First
one-man exhibition held at Eugenia
Butler Gallery, Los Angeles, 1971 .
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Ronald Feldman Gallery, New
York, 1973; Dayton Gallery 12,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1974. Group
exhibitions include Of/the Stretcher,
The Oakland Museum, California,
1971 (cat.); Documenta 5, Kassel,
Germany, 1972 (cat.); 15 Abstract
Artists, The Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, California, 1974 (cat.).
Richard Yokomi
Born 1944, Denver, Colorado. Studied
at Chouinard Art Institute, Los
Angeles, 1962-1965. Resides, Los
Angeles. First one-man exhibition
held at Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los
Angeles, 1969 (also 1971 , 1974).
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
Kornblee Gallery, New York, 1971;
Felicity Samuel Gallery, London,
1973. Group exhibitions include
Color and Scale, The Oakland
Museum, California, 1971 (cat.);
Southern California; Attitudes
1972 , Pasadena Art Museum,
California, 1972 (cat.); 15 Abstract
Artists, The Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, California, 1974 (cat.).
Jack Zajac
Born 1929, Youngstown, Ohio. Came
to California, 1945. Studied at Scripps
College, Claremont, California,
1949-1953. Divided time between
Southern California and Rome, Italy.
Resides, Rome. First one-man
exhibition held at The Pasadena
Art Institute, California, 1951.
Subsequent solo exhibitions include
The Fine Arts Patrons of Newport
Harbor, Pavilion Gallery, Balboa,
California, 1965 (cat.); Fine Arts
Gallery of San Diego, California, 1975
(cat.). Group exhibitions include
Recent Sculpture USA , The Museum
of Modern Art, New York, 1959 (cat.);
Recent Painting USA: The Figure,
The Museum of Modern Art, New
York, 1962 (cat.); Pioneering
Printmakers, Fine Arts Galley of San
Diego, California, 1974 (cat.).
246
Selected General Bibliography
The references in this bibliography
have been compiled to give interested
students sources to use for further
investigation into the art of
California. The books, catalogs and
articles listed here either deal with
California art of the twentieth century
in general or with specific aspects of
it, i.e., assemblage. Bay Area
Figurative Painting, ceramic
sculpture, etc. Annotations for each
entry describe the subject of the book
or article or the content and extent of
the exhibition documented. Catalogs
giving information on individual
artists are noted in the biographies. In
both the biographies and the
bibliography a concerted effort has
been made to cite those sources
which contain extensive
documentation or record historically
significant events or exhibitions.
Katherine Church Holland
248
Books
Andersen, Wayne. American
Sculpture in Process: 1930/1970.
Boston, Massachusetts: New York
Graphic Society, 1975. Chapter
entitled "California Sculpture," (pp.
145-178) traces sculptural activity in
Los Angeles and San Francisco,
especially since 1950.
Art in California. San Francisco:
R.L. Bernier, 1916. 185 pp.; 332 b/w
ills. Contains twenty-two essays
by various authors on California
painting, sculpture, architecture and
institutions, with special reference to
the works represented in the Panama-
Pacific International Exposition. Brief
biographies for 106 artists.
Hailey, Gene, editor. California Art
Research. San Francisco: Works
Progress Administration [Project No.
2874), 1937. 21 volumes. Mono-
graphs on eighty-eight 19th and 20th
century artists of the San Francisco
Bay Region. One black and white
illustration for each artist, excerpts of
contemporary criticism of the artist's
work, lists of representative works,
exhibitions and bibliographies.
McChesney, Mary Fuller. A Period of
Exploration, San Francisco 1945-
1950. Oakland, California: The Oak-
land Museum, 1973. 108 pp.; 65 b/w
ills. Based on interviews with people
associated with the California School
of Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art
Institute) during the intensely active
MacAgy period of 1945-1950, this
book not only explores that seminal
period in California art history
but also compares the Abstract
Expressionism going on here with
its counterpart in New York. Also
included are biographies of those
interviewed and a partial listing of
the artists and students at C.S.F.A.
between 1945 and 1951.
Modern Artists in America. First
series. Editorial associates: Robert
Motherwell, Ad Reinhardt. Pho-
tography: Aaron Siskind. Docu-
mentation: Bernard Karpel. New
York: Wittenborn, Schultz, Inc.,
1951. San Francisco artists figure
importantly in section illustrating
works exhibited in galleries and
museums during the 1949-1950
season (pp. 40-97).
Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall and
Phyllis Moure. Artists' CJubs and
Exhibitions in Los Angeles Be/ore
1930. Los Angeles: privately printed,
1975. (Publications in Southern
California Art, Number 2). 162
pp. Index of Southern California
artists' clubs active before 1930 and
the exhibitors and works in the
annuals held at the Los Angeles
Museum of History, Science and
Art from 1914 to 1939.
Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall. The
California Water Color Society;
Prize Winners 1931-1954; Index to
Exhibitions 1921-1954. Los Angeles:
privately printed, 1973. (Publications
in Southern California Art, Number
1). 82 pp. Includes a discussion of
the history of the California Water
Color Society; bibliography; checklist
of the California Water Color Society
Collection in the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art; chronologies of
artists of the above list, with brief
biographies; list of California Water
Color Society exhibitions, and an
index of these exhibitions by
participating artist.
249
Moure. Nancy Dustin Wall.
Dictionary of Art and Artists in
Southern California Before 1930. Los
Angeles: privately printed, 1975.
(Publications in Southern California
Art, Number 3). 306 pp.: 32 b/w
ills. Biographies, bibliographies
and illustration listings fore. 3000
Southern California artists active
before 1930. Contains reproductions
of works by selected artists from the
collection of the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, biographical listing
of early historic artists and a general
bibliography.
Neuhaus, Eugen. The Art of the
Exposition. San Francisco: Paul Elder
and Company, 1915. 89 pp.; 33 b/w
ills. The sculpture, architecture,
landscape design and murals of the
Panama-Pacific International
Exposition are discussed with an
appended listing of sculpture and
biographical notes.
Neuhaus, Eugen. The Art o/ Treasure
Island. Berkeley, California: Univer-
sity of California Press, 1939. 189 pp.;
51 b/w ills. Commentary on the ar-
chitecture, sculpture, landscape,
murals, etc., of the Golden Gate Inter-
national Exposition, 1939. Biograph-
ical notes on the architects, painters
and sculptors involved.
Neuhaus, Eugen. The Galleries of the
Exposition. San Francisco: Paul Elder
and Company, 1915. 96 pp.; 31 b/w
ills. A chronological investigation
into the works of art exhibited at the
Palace of Fine Arts of the Panama-
Pacific International Exposition.
Bibliography.
Paalen, Wolfgang and others.
Dynaton 1951. San Francisco: San
Francisco Museum of Art, 1951. 64
pp.; 19 b/w ills.; 3 color plates.
Essays by members of this Surrealist-
oriented group active in the San
Francisco Bay Area. Book accom-
panied Dynaton group exhibition,
A New Vision , shown at the San
Francisco Museum of Art, January 23-
March4,1951.
Painting and Sculpture: The San
Francisco Art Association . Berkeley,
California: University of California
Press, 1952. 114 pp.; 96 b/w ills.
Contains three essays: Erie Loran,
"California Artists of the San
Francisco Art Association"; Weldon
Kees, "A Note on Climate and
Culture"; Ernest Mundt, "Three
Aspects of Contemporary Art." Also
includes extensive section illus-
trating the work of members of the
San Francisco Art Association.
Plagens, Peter. Sunshine Muse. New
York: Praeger Publishers, 1974. 200
pp.; 150 b/w ills.; 8 color plates.
History of modern art on the West
Coast including Vancouver, B.C.
Concentrates on period after 1945 in
San Francisco; from mid-fifties in Los
Angeles. Bibliography.
Snipper, Martin. A Survey of Art
Work in the City and County of
San Francisco. San Francisco: Art
Commission, City and County of San
Francisco, revised edition, 1975. 122
pp. Each piece of public art in San
Francisco is listed with artist,
medium, size, acquisition
information and location noted. Brief
biographies for relevant artists.
Index.
Southern California Creates. Los
Angeles: Southern California Art
Project, Work Projects Administra-
tion. 1939. 27 unnumbered sheets;
55 b/w ills. Mimeographed bro-
chure describing units of WPA
activity in Southern California. Fore-
word by Stanton Macdonald-Wright;
essays on murals, petrachrome,
mosaic, sculpture, lithography,
photography, models, information,
children's education, Index of
American Design.
Todd, Frank Morton. The Story of
the Exposition. New York: G.P.
Putnam's Sons for The Panama-
Pacific International Exposition,
1921. 5 vols. Every aspect of the
Panama-Pacific International
Exposition is discussed in this
official history, from organization
through wrecking and salvage.
250
Catalogs
Auckland, New Zealand. Auckland
City Art Gallery. Painting from the
Pacific. May, 1961. 48 pp.; 20 b/w
ills. Includes paintings from Pacific
Basin nations: Japan, United States,
Australia, New Zealand. Introduction
to American section by George Culler
who divides the work into three West
Coast centers: Pacific Northwest,
Northern California (San Francisco
Bay Area) and Southern California
(Los Angeles). Very brief biography
for each of the 26 West Coast artists.
Balboa, California. See also Newport
Beach, California.
Balboa, California. The Fine Arts
Patrons of Newport Harbor, Pavilion
Gallery. California Hard-Edge Paint-
ing. March 11-April 12, 1964. 30 pp.;
22 b/w ills. Introductory essay by
Jules Langsner defines hard-edge
painting. Eleven Southern California
artists participated in this exhibition
which consists of 59 paintings dated
1960 to 1964. Brief biographies; photo
of each artist.
Balboa, California. Newport Harbor
Art Museum. Directly Seen: New
Realism in California. March 11-
April 12, 1970. 16 pp.; 12 b/w ills.
Introduction by Thomas H. Carver.
Exhibition contains 39 works by 12
"new realist" artists, including
Robert Bechtle, Robert Graham,
Joseph Raffael. Very brief
biographies.
Berkeley, California. University Art
Museum, University of California.
Funk. April 18-May 29, 1967. 60 pp.;
35 b/w ills.; 9 color plates. Text by
Peter Selz. Exhibition includes 58
works, nearly all dated between 1960
and 1967, by 26 Bay Area artists.
Biographies; photo of each artist;
some statements by the artists.
Berkeley, California. University Art
Museum, University of California.
Both Kinds: Contemporary Art from
Los Angeles. April 1-May 18, 1975. 16
pp.; 6 b/w ills. Introduction by Peter
Plagens who selected the exhibition.
Exhibition consists of 16 works, dated
1973-1975, by six Los Angeles artists.
Biographies.
Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn
Museum. Oil Paintings and Wafer
Colors by California Artists. April
24 through the summer, 1936. 5 pp.
Mimeographed brochure covers both
Post-Surrealist exhibition organized
by Lorser Feitelson (same exhibition
shown at San Francisco Museum of
Art, December 4, 1935-January 4,
1936) and watercolor show by
members of the California Water
Color Society.
Chicago, Illinois. The Art Institute
of Chicago. Abstract and Surrealist
American Art /Fifty-Eighth Annual
Exhibition of American Painting and
Sculpture. November 6, 1947-Ianuary
11,1948. 64 pp.; 51 b/w ills. This
national exhibition explores the ab-
stract and surreal strains in American
art and points up the importance of
these tendencies on the West Coast.
Essays by Frederick A. Sweet and
Katherine Kuh trace the history of
these trends and their present
importance. One work each by 256
251
artists, 41 from California. Prizes
awarded to Rico Lebrun, Eugene
Berman, Knud Merrild. Robert B.
Howard, among others.
Claremont, California. Lang Gallery,
Scripps College. Trends of Art of the
Bay Area. January 17-February 16,
1961.4 pp. Introduction by Herschel
B. Chipp. List of 35 participating Bay
Area artists with very brief bio-
graphical notes. No checklist.
Claremont, California. Pomona
College Gallery, Montgomery Art
Center. Los Angeles Painters of the
Nineteen-Twenties. April 5-May 3,
1972.40 pp.; 12 b/w ills. Organized
by Nancy Dustin Wall Moure; essay
by Arthur Millier, Art Critic for the
Los Angeles Times, 1926-1958.
Exhibition comprised of 51 works
plus photographs of murals in the
Los Angeles City Library. Individual
biographies with bibliographies;
photo-portraits of the exhibiting
artists. Extensive bibliography
includes listing of magazines
relevant to the period, art critics and
active art institutions and galleries.
Dallas, Texas. Dallas Museum of Fine
Arts and Pollock Galleries, Southern
Methodist University. Poets of the
Cities New York and San Francisco
1950-1965. November 30-December
29, 1974. (Also shown at San Fran-
cisco Museum of Art and Wadsworth
Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut.)
Catalog published by E.P. Dutton &
Co., Inc., 1974. 175 pp.; 59 b/w ills.; 8
color plates. Essays by Neil A.
Chassman, Robert M. Murdock, Lana
Davis, Robert Creeley, John Clellon
Holmes deal with underground
poetry, music and art during this
fifteen-year period. Exhibition
consists of 66 objects by artists such
as Wallace Berman, Bruce Conner,
Jess. Numerous photographs of the
artists; biographies; extensive
bibliography.
Eindhoven, Netherlands. Van
Abbemuseum Eindhoven. Kompas
4 West Coast USA. November 21,
1969-January 4, 1970. 50 pp.; 74 b/w
ills.; 4 color plates. Text in Dutch
and English; introduction by Jan
Leering. Text is organized into six
areas: first generation, clay, assem-
blage, light, new media, pop image.
Exhibition includes 19 artists from
California; works span period 1945 to
1969. Individual biographies and
brief general bibliography, all in
Dutch.
Fort Worth, Texas. The Amon Carter
Museumof Western Art. The Artist's
Environment; West Coast. 1962. (Also
shown at UCLA Art Galleries, Univer-
sity of California, Los Angeles, and
Oakland Art Museum.) 132 pp.; 46
b/w ills. Introduction by Frederick
S. Wight discusses history of art on
West Coast. Exhibition contains 49
works by 43 artists from Washington,
Oregon and California. Catalog
includes a biography for each artist.
Hamburg, Germany. Kunstverein.
USA West Coast. 1972. (Also shown
at Kunstverein, Hannover; Kunst-
verein, Cologne; Wiirttembergischer
Kunstverein, Stuttgart.) 150 pp.; 39
b/w ills.; 16 color plates. Essays by
Helmut Heissenbiittel ("West Coast
und Neue Asthetik," text in German)
and Helene Winer ("The Los Angeles
'Look'," text in English and German
translation). Exhibition includes 18
artists, all but two from Southern
California. Nearly all works date from
1965 to 1971. Brief biographies for
artists.
Hayward, California. California State
University, Hayward, Art Gallery. Nut
Art. 1972. 40 pp.; 24 b/w ills. Some
statements by the artists; works by 18
Northern California artists, many of
them ceramic sculptors; no checklist;
"Nut Art Bibliography" by David
Zack.
Houston, Texas. Contemporary Arts
Museum. San Francisco 9. No date
[1962]. 8 pp.; 10 b/w ills. Brief
introduction by James Boynton.
Exhibition includes 28 paintings,
collages and sculpture by nine Bay
Area artists. Works date from 1960 to
1962. Checklist; no biographies.
Irvine, California. Art Gallery,
University of California, Irvine. Five
Los Angeles Sculptors and Sculptors
Drawings Los AngeJes /New York.
January 7-February 6, 1966. 36 pp.;
13 b/w ills.; 6 color plates. Two
separate exhibitions are documented
by this catalog. A single introduction,
by John Coplans, deals mainly with
the Los Angeles sculptors. Biogra-
phies for the five sculptors; none
for the four additional artists in the
drawing show. Fifteen sculptures;
17 drawings.
252
Irvine, California. Art Gallery,
University of California, Irvine.
Abstract Expressionist Ceramics.
October 28-November 27, 1966. (Also
shown at San Francisco Museum of
Art.) 54 pp.; 44 b/w ills.; 8 color
plates. Text by John Coplans
explores the activity in ceramics in
California, especially between 1956
and 1958. Checklist; no biographies;
selected general bibliography.
Eighty-four works by ten artists.
Irvine, California. Art Gallery,
University of California, Irvine. A
Selection o/ Paintings and Sculptures
From The CoJJections of Mr. and Mrs.
Robert Rowan. May 2-May 21, 1967.
(Also shown at San Francisco Museum
of Art.) 8 pp.; 3 color plates. One
hundred and fourteen works selected
from a major Southern California
private collection. Checklist only.
Irvine, California. Art Gallery,
University of California, Irvine.
Assemblage in California. October
15-November 24, 1968. 60 pp.; 33 b/w
ills.; 4 color plates. Six assembla-
gists are discussed in individual
essays by John Coplans, organizer of
the exhibition, Hal Glicksman, Walter
Hopps, and Phil Leider. Each essay is
followed by brief biographical notes.
The exhibition includes 36 works
dating from 1955 to 1963.
Kassel, Germany. Documenta 5.
June 30-October 8, 1972. Monumen-
tal international exhibition includes
numerous California artists. Detailed
biography, individual bibliography
and illustration of work for each
artist. Some statements by the artists.
La Jolla, California. La Jolla Museum
of Art. New Modes in California
Painting and Sculpture. May 20-June
26, 1966. 32 pp.; 20 b/w ills. Brief
introduction by Donald J. Brewer.
Exhibition consists of 70 works, nearly
all dated 1965 and 1966, by 20 artists.
Majority of the artists are from
Southern California; no biographies.
La Jolla, California. La Jolla Museum
of Contemporary Art. University of
California, Irvine, 1965-1975.
November 7-December 14, 1975. 96
pp.; 66 b/w ills. Text by Melinda
Wortz traces the history of the
art department of University of
California, Irvine, and analyzes
its impact on contemporary art,
particularly in Southern California.
The 74 artists (with one work each)
included in the exhibition have all
either studied or taught at Irvine.
Statements by the artists; list of
exhibitions held at the art gallery;
extensive general bibliography.
London, England. The Arts Council
of Great Britain, Hayward Gallery. 13
Los AngeJes Artists. September 30-
November 7, 1971. 64 pp.; 35 b/w ills.;
6 color plates. Essay by Maurice
Tuchman and Jane Livingston divides
the eleven participating artists into
first, second and third generations,
then discusses each artist individu-
ally. Includes 98 works dating from
1964 to 1971. Detailed biographies
and bibliographies for each artist.
Long Beach, California. The
Municipal Art Center. California
Painting 40 Painters. 1956. 80 pp.; 40
b/w ills. Forty works selected by
Samuel Heavenrich and Grace L.
McCann Morley. Biographies and
statements by the 40 Northern and
Southern California artists.
Long Beach, California. Long Beach
Museum of Art. Fifteen American
Painters. May 3-31, 1957. 16 pp.; 15
b/w ills. One undated work each for
15 Southern California artists, all
from the stable of the Landau Gallery,
Los Angeles. Biographies; photos of
the artists.
Long Beach, California. Long Beach
Museum of Art. Arts of Southern
California -XIV: Early Moderns . 1964.
40 pp.; 16 b/w ills. Brief intro-
duction by H.J. Weeks. Exhibition
catalog documents works by 16 artists
active in the 1920's and 1930's, many
of whom are undocumented
elsewhere. Individual biographies.
Long Beach, California. Long
Beach Museum of Art. Invisible /21
Artists /Visible. March 26-April 23,
1972. 60 pp.; 21 b/w ills. Exhibition
includes 52 works, dated 1969 to
1972, by 21 women artists, all from
Southern California. Introduction by
Dextra Frankel and Judy Chicago.
Biographies.
Long Beach, California. Long Beach
Museum of Art. Southland Video
Anthology. June 8-September 7, 1975.
(Also shown at San Francisco
Museum of Art.) 44 pp.; 72 b/w
ills. Essay by David A. Ross
includes discussion of the medium,
brief history of video in Southern
California and notes on the artists in
the exhibition. Exhibition consists of
videotapes produced by 65 artists in
Southern California between 1968
and 1975.
253
Los Angeles, California. Biltmore
Salon, Los Angeles Art Association.
First Annual AJI-Cali/ornia Art
Exhibition 1934. May 15-Iune 15,
1934. 16 pp.; 24 b/w ills. One work
each by 93 artists from Northern and
Southern California. Selected by local
committees, then juried by Los
Angeles Art Association committee.
Short biography for each artist.
Los Angeles, California. Crocker-
Citizens National Bank. A Century of
California Painting 1870-1970. June
1-30, 1970. (Also shown at Fresno Art
Center, Fresno. California; Santa
Barbara Museum of Art; California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San
Francisco; de Saisset Art Gallery,
University of Santa Clara, Santa
Clara, California; E.B. Crocker Art
Gallery, Sacramento, California;
The Oakland Museum, Oakland,
California.) 24 pp.; 8 b/w ills.; 6 color
plates. Introduction by Kent L.
Seavey; historical essays on periods
within the century by )oseph A. Baird
(1870-1890), Paul Mills (1890-1910),
Kent L. Seavey (1910-1930), Mary
Fuller McChesnev (1930-1950),
Alfred Frankenstein (1950-1970).
Exhibition includes 51 works by 50
artists, nearly all from Northern
California. Checklist; no biographies.
Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles
Museum of History, Science and Art.
Southern California Art Project.
September 1-October 8, 1939. 16 pp.;
6 b/w ills. Brief forward by Stanton
Macdonald-Wright, State Supervisor
of the Southern California Art Project,
WPA. Checklist groups works by
media including mural decoration,
mosaics, drawings, easel paintings,
watercolors, models, sculpture,
prints; 267 works by 99 artists.
Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles
County Museum. Artists of Los
Angeles and Vicinity. Exhibitions
held annually from 1939 to 1961.
Catalogs published. Annual juried
exhibitions open to artists living
within 125-mile radius of downtown
Los Angeles.
Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles
County Museum. California Centen-
nials Exhibition of Art. September 30-
November 13, 1949. 148 pp.; 78 b/w
ills. Two-part exhibition: "Historic
California" covers work from 1840
through 1870 with introduction by
Arthur Woodword and biographies of
selected artists; "Artists of California,
1949" is an exhibition juried by Dr.
Lester A. Longman, Perry T. Rathbone
and Dr. Andrew C. Ritchie, with
introduction by james B. Byrnes,
hicluded are 207 paintings, sculp-
tures, prints and drawings by 187
artists. Biographies of award winners.
Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles
County Museum. 1951 Annual Ex-
hibition /Contemporary Painting in
the United States. )une 2-luly 22,
1951. 64 pp,; 70 b/w ills. Intro-
duction by lames B. Byrnes. Two-part
exhibition includes invited section of
paintings by artists of the United
States and jury-selected group by
Southern California artists. Combined
checklist reflects 140 works in
exhibition; no dates given for works.
Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles
County Museum and San Francisco
Museum of Art. Four Abstract
Classicists. 1959. 70 pp.; 37 b/w ills.;
4 color plates. Introduction by Jules
Langsner. Biographies of the artists.
Includes 10 "hard-edge" paintings by
each of four artists: Karl Benjamin,
Lorser Feitelson, Fred Hammersley,
John McLaughlin.
Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles
County Museum of Art. Late Fifties at
the Ferus. November 12-December 17,
1968. 8 pp.; 4 b/w ills. Introduction
by james Monte deals with the early
years of the Ferus Gallery. Exhibition
includes 19 works by 19 artists.
Checklist; no biographies.
Los Angeles, California. The Los
Angeles Institute of Contempo-
rary Art. Nine Senior Southern
California Painters. Published in
journal (The Los Angeles Institute
of Contemporary Art), Number 3,
December, 1974, pp. 45-54; 9 b/w
ills. Organized by Fidel Danieli;
catalog essay published in the
/ournal. Number 2, October. 1974,
pp. 32-34. Exhibition includes 23
paintings by these nine artists who
have played important roles in the
development of Southern California
modernism. Individual biographies.
Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery. Separate
Realities. September 19-October 21,
1973. 62 pp.; 39 b/w ills.; 8 color
plates. Text by Laurence Dreiband.
Exhibition consists of 87 works by 27
Northern and Southern California
artists working in a representational
mode. Exhibition listings for each
artist.
254
Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery. 24 From Los
AngeJes. October 30-December 1,
1974. 52 pp.; 24 b/w ills. Brief
introduction by Virginia Ernst Kazor.
Seventy works by 24 Southern Cali-
fornia artists; individual biographies.
Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery. Winners
1953-1974. May 7-June 1, 1975. 20
pp.; 11 b/w ills.; color cover. Brief
introduction by Curt Opliger traces
the history of Los Angeles' All City
Outdoor Art Festival. The 86 works in
the exhibition were Festival purchase
award winners by Los Angeles artists
from the collection of Home Savings
and Loan Association. Also contains
list of festival jurors.
Los Angeles, California. Lytton
Center of the Visual Arts. Contempo-
rary California Art from the Lytton
Collection. Summer, 1966. (Also
shown at Stanford Art Museum,
Stanford University, Stanford,
California; Occidental College, Eagle
Rock, California, and extended
college tour through 1969.) 8 pp.; 4
b/w ills. Brief introductory notes by
Andrea S. Andersen and Bart Lytton.
Exhibition consists of one work each
by 23 artists. Checklist; list of Cali-
fornia artists in Lytton Collection.
Los Angeles, California. Lytton
Center of the Visual Arts. California
Art Festival. October 1 -November 30,
1967. (Also shown at Lytton Center,
Palo Alto; Lytton Center, Oakland.)
28 pp.; 15 b/w ills. Introduction by
Irving Stone. Exhibition includes
75 paintings and sculpture by 67
artists from Northern and Southern
California. All works were borrowed
from American museums outside
California. Works date from 1920 to
1967 with the majority dated in the
1960's.
Los Angeles, California. Art Galleries,
Dickson Art Center, University of
California, Los Angeles. California
Painters and Sculptors, Thirty-Five
and Under. January 19-February 22,
1959. 4 pp. Unillustrated brochure
contains introduction by Jules
Langsner, who also selected the
exhibition. Exhibition includes work
by 40 young artists from Northern
and Southern California with stated
purpose of comparing and bringing
together contemporary works by
artists from both parts of the state.
Los Angeles, California. UCLA Art
Galleries, University of California,
Los Angeles. Fifty Paintings by
Thirty-Seven Painters of the Los
Angeles Area. 1961. 20 pp.; 5 b/w
ills. Introduction by Henry T.
Hopkins puts works into historical
context. Exhibition includes 37
painters with works dating from
1912 to 1960.
Los Angeles, California. UCLA Art
Galleries, University of California,
Los Angeles. Transparency, Reflec-
tion, Light, Space: Four Artists.
January 11-February 14, 1971. 144 pp.;
27 b/w ills. Interviews by Frederick
S. Wight with Peter Alexander, Larry
Bell, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman
constitute text. Exhibition consists of
four works, each done by the artist in
response to the space alloted to him.
Detailed biographies; extensive
individual bibliographies; photos of
the artists.
Los Angeles, California. University
of Southern California Art Galleries.
Other Landscapes and Shadow Land.
November 10-December 3, 1971. 32
pp.; 19 b/w ills. Exhibition docu-
ments the work often visionary
painters active in the San Francisco
Bay Area. In an introductory essay,
Donald J. Brewer discusses the
sources of this style and the indivi-
dual artists. Checklist of 53 works,
dated 1968-1971; artists' biographies.
New Plymouth, New Zealand.
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. The
State o/CaJi/ornia Painting. May
23-June 15, 1972. (Also shown at
Waikato Museum, Hamilton; City
of Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland;
National Art Gallery, Wellington;
Robert McDougall Art Gallery,
Christchurch; Dunedin Public Art
Gallery, Dunedin. J 84 pp.; 29 b/w
ills.; 4 color plates. Introduction
by Michael Walls gives historical
outlines of contemporary art in
California; statements by Billy Al
Bengston and Jack Barth. Works in
the exhibition date from 1967 to 1971;
section on group exhibitions of
California art with listings of the
artists in these shows who are also in
"The State of California Painting".
One-man exhibitions listed for each
of the 34 participating artists.
Newport Beach, California. Newport
Harbor Art Museum. The Last Time I
SawFerus 1957-1966. March 7-April
17, 1976. 80 pp.; 54 b/w ills. Intro-
duction by Betty TurnbuU traces the
history of the Ferus Gallery, Los
Angeles. Exhibition consists of 62
works by the California artists who
exhibited there. Catalog contains full
255
list of gallery exhibitions as well as
photographs documenting the gallery
and reproductions of exhibition
announcements/ posters.
New York, New York. Gotham Book
Mart Gallery. San Francisco Renais-
sance/Photographs of the '50s and
'60s. November 24-December 20,
1975. 20 pp.; 27 b/w ills. Organized
by Robert E. Johnson; introduction by
Merril Greene. A photography
exhibition documenting the "beat"
era in San Francisco. Includes 130
photographs by 14 photographers.
New York, New York. Sidney Janis
Gallery. Los Angeles '72. May ll-June 3,
1972. 12 pp.; 10 b/w ills. Introduc-
tion by Maurice Tuchman and )ane
Livingston. Twenty-three works,
including video, by 12 artists; works
dated 1970 to 1972. Checklist; no
biographies.
New York, New York. The Pace
Gallery. A Decade of California Color
1960-1970. 13 loose-leaf pp.; 10 b/w
ills. Includes 13 Southern California
artists whose primary concern is
color. No introductory essay; biog-
raphy for each artist. Works date from
1962 to 1970.
New York, New York. Whitney
Museum of American Art. Fifty Cali-
fornia Artists. October 23-December 2,
1962. (Also shown at Walker Art
Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota;
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo,
New York; Des Moines Art Center,
Iowa.) 114 pp.; 49 b/w ills. Organized
by the San Francisco Museum of Art
with the assistance of the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art for the
Whitney Museum of American Art,
this exhibition of 114 works takes a
non-historical approach and includes
only works dating from 1958 to 1962.
Brief biography for each artist.
Oakland, California. Oakland Art
Museum. Contemporary Bay Area
Figurative Painting. September,
1957. 24 pp.; 13 b/w ills.; 1 color
cover. Exhibitionof 33 works brings
together the expressionistic figure
painters of the San Francisco Bay
Area. The essay, which incorporates
biographies of the twelve participat-
ing artists, is by Paul C. Mills.
Oakland, California. Oakland Art
Museum and California College of
Arts and Crafts. Pop Art USA .
September 7-29, 1963. 64 pp.; 39 b/w
ills.; 8 color plates. Introduction by
John Coplans. Exhibition includes
works, nearly all dated 1960 to 1963,
by 49 artists, 23 from California.
Oakland, California. The Oakland
Museum. Society of Six. October 3-
November 12, 1972. 64 pp.; 21 b/w
ills.; 5 color plates. Exhibition
documenting a group of Bay Area
artists active from 1918 to 1941.
Extensive essay and biographies by
Terry St. John. Bibliography.
Oakland, California. The Oakland
Museum. Public Sculpture /Urban
Environment. September 29-Decem-
ber 29, 1974. 71 pp.; 42 b/w ills.; 4
color plates. Introduction by George
W. Neubert. Exhibition includes 20
works from the museum's permanent
collection plus outdoor sculpture by
30 invited California artists.
Individual biographies.
Omaha, Nebraska. )oslyn Art Mu-
seum. Looking West 1970. October 18-
November 29, 1970. 81 pp.; 60 b/w
ills.; 5 color plates. Introduction by
LeRoy Butler. Includes 74 artists;
about half from Northern California,
half from Southern; detailed biog-
raphy for each artist. With very few
exceptions, works dated 1968-1970.
Paris, France. Musee d'art moderne
de la ville de Paris. Onze Sculpteurs
Americains de J'Universite de
CaJifornie, Berkeley. September 28-
November 3, 1963. 18 pp.; 11 b/w
ills. Introduction by Herschel B.
Chipp. Catalog documents the United
States section of the Biennale de
Paris, 1963. Exhibition includes 15
works by 11 sculptors, all connected
with University of California, Berke-
ley; brief biography for each artist.
Pasadena, California. Baxter Art
Gallery, California Institute of Tech-
nology. Surrealism is Alive and Well
in the West. February 25- April 14,
1972. 48 pp.; 33 b/w ills.; 8 color
plates. Unsigned, extensive text
gives a brief history of surrealism,
then deals with the various forms the
surreal strain takes in California art.
Thirty-two artists are included in this
78-work show. Checklist; no
biographies.
Pasadena, California. California
Design, Pasadena Center. California
Design 1910. October 15-December 1,
1974. 148 pp.; 306 b/w ills. Reflect-
ing the influence of the Arts and
Crafts Movement on California art
between 1890 and 1920, this exhibi-
tion includes architecture, pottery,
metalwork, book printing and bind-
ing and education, as well as paint-
ing and sculpture. The beautifully
designed and well-documented cata-
log includes biographies of the artists
and general historical information.
Edited by Timothy ). Andersen,
Eudorah M. Moore, Robert W. Winter.
256
Pasadena, California. Pasadena Art
Museum. A Pacific Profile of Young
West Coast Painters. 1961. Circu-
lated by Western Association of Art
Museums. 36 pp.; 8 b/w ills. Forty
paintings dated 1959 to 1961 by 40
young artists from California, Oregon
and Washington. Introduction by
Constance Perkins. Brief biography
and photograph for each artist.
Pasadena. California. Pasadena Art
Museum. West Coast 1945-1969.
November 24, 1969-January 18, 1970.
(Also shown at City Art Museum of
St. Louis; Art Gallery of Ontario,
Toronto; Fort Worth Art Center,
Texas.) 25 loose-leaf pp.; 24 b/w
ills. Introduction by John Coplans.
Includes 25 California artists, mostly
from Southern California. Concen-
trates on Los Angeles art of the sixties
with less emphasis on Abstract Ex-
pressionist work from San Francisco.
Despite exhibition title, works date
from 1956-1969; 3 from the fifties, 22
from the sixties. Catalog contains
individual biographies and
bibliographies.
Pasadena, California. Pasadena Art
Museum. 15 Los Angeles Artists.
February 22-March 29, 1972. 40 pp.;
26 b/w ills. Forty-three works,
including conceptual pieces,
sculpture, paintings, video, dated
1971 to 1973, by 15 artists living in
the Los Angeles area. Biographies.
Pasadena, California. Pasadena Art
Museum. Southern California:
Attitudes 1972. September 19-
November 5, 1972. 40 pp.; 21 b/w
ills. Brief preface by Barbara
Haskell notes the diversity within
the artistic activity of Southern
California. Biography for each artist;
some photos of the artists.
Portland, Oregon. Portland Art
Museum. The West Coast Now.
February 8-March 6, 1968. (Also
shown at Seattle Art Museum,
Seattle, Washington; M.H. de Young
Memorial Museum, San Francisco;
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery.)
168 pp.; 62 b/w ills. Selection by
committees in each of the major cities
of the West Coast: Vancouver, B.C.,
Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los
Angeles. Contains recent works (one
by each artist) by 62 artists, 43 of
them from California. Introduction to
Southern California section by Henry
T. Hopkins; essay for Northern Cali-
fornia by Gerald Nordland. Emphasis
on young, lesser-known artists.
Portland, Oregon. Reed College.
California Ceramic Sculpture.
November 16-December 10, 1966. 16
pp.; 6 b/w ills. Twenty-one works
by six Northern California ceramic
sculptors are included in this
exhibition. Introduction by Erik
Gronborg. Biographies.
Sacramento, California. E.B. Crocker
Art Gallery. Sacramento Sampler L
April 1-May 7, 1972. (Also shown at
The Oakland Museum.) 36 pp.; 32
b/w ills.; 4 color plates. Introduc-
tion by Roger D. Clisby discusses the
intense artistic activity in the
Sacramento area of Northern
California. Thirty-six works, mostly
dated 1968-1972, by 18 artists are
included. Brief biographies; photo of
each artist.
Sacramento, California. E.B. Crocker
Art Gallery. Sacramento Sampler 11.
January 27-February 25, 1973. 36 pp.;
32 b/w ills.; 4 color plates. Second
exhibition surveying the work of
Sacramento area artists. Includes 36
works, nearly all dated 1971 to 1973,
by 18 artists. Brief biographies; photo
of each artist.
San Antonio, Texas. Witte Memorial
Museum. Selections from the Work
o/Cali/ornia Artists. October 10-
November 14, 1965. 16 pp.; 26 b/w
ills. Thirty-eight artists included;
27 from Northern California. Brief
introduction. Small section of
ceramics included. Checklist only;
no biographies.
San Francisco, California. California
Palace of the Legion of Honor. First
Spring Annual Exhibition. April 3-
May 5, 1946. 36 pp.; 14 b/w ills.
Juried exhibition of contemporary
American painting. Introduction by
Alfred Frankenstein. Two hundred
and four works by 180 artists, mostly
from California. Checklist; no
biographies.
San Francisco, California. California
Palace of the Legion of Honor. 2nd
Annual Exhibition of Painting.
November 19, 1947-January 4, 1948.
47 pp.; 31 b/w ills. Introduction by
Jermayne MacAgy with special
emphasis on Clyfford Still and Mark
Rothko. This part-juried, part-invited
exhibition consists of 239 works by
239 artists from the United States,
many from New York such as William
257
Baziotes, Arshile Gorky, Adolph
Gottlieb, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko.
Checklist, no biographies.
San Francisco, California. California
Palace of the Legion of Honor.
Mobiles and Articulated Sculpture.
October 2-November 21, 1948.
Catalog published as Bulletin of the
California Palace of the Legion of
Honor, vol. Six, no. Seven, November,
1948. 8 pp.: 9 b/w ills. First
exhibition dealing with moving
sculpture. Introductory essay by
lermayne MacAgy. Exhibition
includes 15 artists, among them
[eremy Anderson, Alexander Calder,
Marcel Duchamp, Robert Howard,
Clay Spohn. Checklist; no
biographies.
San Francisco, California. California
Palace of the Legion of Honor. 3rd
Annual Exhibition of Painting.
December 1, 1948-January 16, 1949.
47 pp.; 44 b/w ills. Essay, "Variety
and Exploration," by Jermayne
MacAgy. Exhibition was part-invited,
part-juried. Consists of 150 works
by 150 national artists. Checklist;
no biographies.
San Francisco, California. California
Palace of the Legion of Honor. Large
Scale Drawings by Modern Artists.
February 17-April 9, 1950. 14 pp.; 11
b/w ills. Introduction by Jermayne
MacAgy discusses history of drawing
and importance of large scale to
contemporary artists. The 17
drawings were executed by San
Francisco Bay Area artists.
San Francisco, California. California
Palace of the Legion of Honor. 4th
Annual Exhibition ofContemporary
American Painting. November 25,
1950-Ianuary 1, 1951. 72 pp.; 37 b/w
ills. Essays by Thomas Carr Howe,
Jr.; Jermayne MacAgy; Frederick S.
Bartlett. Part-invited, part-juried
exhibition includes one work each
by 141 artists. Checklist only; no
biographies.
San Francisco, California. California
Palace of the Legion of Honor. 5th
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary
American Painting. January 24-
March 2, 1952. 48 pp.; 51 b/w ills.
All-invited exhibition with emphasis
on West Coast painters. Short
foreword by Thomas Carr Howe, Jr.
Exhibition includes 150 works by 150
artists. Checklist; no biographies.
San Francisco, California. California
Palace of the Legion of Honor.
Painters Behind Painters. May
13-June 25, 1967. 80 pp.; 60 b/w ills.;
6 color plates. Introduction by
Thomas C. Howe describes the com-
mon thread of the 66 participating
artists as their college teaching in
central and northern California.
Biography for each artist; 66 works in
the exhibition.
San Francisco, California. Golden
Gate International Exposition,
California Building. Art Exhibition
by California Artists. February 18-
December 2, 1939. 44 pp.; 49 b/w
ills. Organized by the California
Commission, this exhibition of 554
works by contemporary California
artists includes oil paintings,
watercolors, pastels, miniatures,
sculpture, prints and pictorial
photography. Checklist; no
biographies.
San Francisco, California. Golden
Gate International Exposition, De-
partment of Fine Arts. Contemporary
Art. 1939. 82 pp.; 147 b/w ills. The
United States section of this exhibi-
tion includes work by 71 California
artists. Checklist; no biographies.
San Francisco, California. Golden
Gate International Exposition, Palace
of Fine Arts. California Art in Retro-
spect-1850-1915. 1940. (Contained in
general catalog, Art, Palace of Fine
Arts, Golden Gate International
Exposition, San Francisco, pp.
150-156; 6 b/w ills. 1 Historical
view of California art includes 102
paintings and sculpture by 97
artists, among them Matthew Barnes,
William Clapp, Maynard Dixon, and
others. Checklist; no biographies.
San Francisco, California. Golden
Gate International Exposition, Palace
of Fine Arts. California Art Today.
1940. (Contained in general catalog,
Art, Palace of Fine Arts, Golden Gate
International Exposition, San Fran-
cisco, pp. 160-170; 8 b/w ills.)
Brief introduction by Stephen Pepper.
Juried exhibition consists of 458
works by contemporary artists from
Northern and Southern California.
Checklist; no biographies.
San Francisco, California. Hansen
Gallery. Plastics West Coast. October 30-
November 29, 1967. 7 pp.; 5 b/w
ills. Exhibition includes works in
various synthetic media by 22 Cali-
fornia artists. Extremely informative
press release contains information on
media and techniques. Organized
and text by Carol Lindsley.
I
258
i
San Francisco, California. Inter-
section and Glide Urban Center.
RoJJing Renaissance: San Francisco
Underground Art in Celebration:
1945-1968. Summer, 1968; 2nd
edition, 1975. 64 pp.; 55 b/w
ills. Essays on the underground arts
of San Francisco — visual arts, poetry,
dance, music, drama — by Thomas
Albright, Philip Elwood, Mary Fuller
McChesney, James Broughton and
others. This publication documents a
series of exhibitions which took place
in San Francisco galleries and
museums during the summer of 1968.
No checklists; no biographies.
Second edition contains additional
essays by John Williams and Thomas
Albright.
San Francisco, California. Panama-
Pacific International Exposition,
Departmentof Fine Arts. 1915. 256
pp. Complete listing of works in the
Palace of Fine Arts, Panama-Pacific
International Exposition, plus
biographical index for artists
included in the United States section.
San Francisco, California. Panama-
Pacific International Exposition,
Department of Fine Arts.
Post-Exposition Exhibition. January
1-May 1, 1916. 112 pp.; 64 b/w
ills. Published by the San Francisco
Art Association, catalog documents
exhibition of 7023 works including
those by numerous California artists.
Section at the back contains two
essays by Michael William: "Western
Art at the Exposition" and "Art in
California. A Brief Review of a
Monumental Book." Checklist; no
biographies.
San Francisco, California. San
Francisco Art Association. Annual
Exhibition of the San Francisco Art
Association. Exhibitions held
annually (with a few exceptions)
from 1876 to 1966. Catalogs pub-
lished. Juried national exhibitions
of varying sizes held at San Francisco
Museum of Art from 1935 to 1966. In
addition to the central exhibitions
which included painting and
sculpture, auxiliary annuals of
watercolors and drawings and prints
were held from 1935 to 1961.
San Francisco, California. San
Francisco Museum of Art. Molten
Image: 7 Sculptors. June 9-July 8,
1962. 18 pp.; 15 b/w ills. Intro-
duction by John Humphrey. The
surge of activity in cast sculpture
centering around foundries in
Berkeley, California, is documented
in this exhibition of 21 works by
seven sculptors. Biographical notes.
San Francisco, California. San
Francisco Museum of Art. A Decade
of Ceramic Art: 1962-1972, from the
Collection of Professor and Mrs. R.
Joseph Monsen. October 14-December
3, 1972. 60 pp.; 53 b/w ills.; 3 color
plates. Introductory essay
by Suzanne Foley discusses the West
Coast activity in ceramic sculpture
from 1962 to 1972. Exhibition
includes 140 works by 47 artists, 25
from California. Brief biographies;
selected general bibliography.
San Francisco, California. San
Francisco Museum of Art. A Third
World Painting /Sculpture Exhibition.
June 8-July 28, 1974. 36 loose-leaf pp.;
60 b/w ills. Juried exhibition of 104
paintings and sculpture by 60 artists.
Jury: Rolando Castellon (organizer of
the exhibitionj, Raymond Saunders,
Ruth Tamura. Checklist; no
biographies.
San Francisco, California. San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Exchange DFW/SFO. January
23-March 7, 1976. Folder; 25 b/w
ills. Introduction by Suzanne Foley.
An exchange exhibition of 122
current works by 25 artists from the
San Francisco Bay Area and the
Dallas/Fort Worth area, Texas.
Includes painting, sculpture,
graphics, photography, video, events,
concerts and films.
San Jose, California. Student Union,
California State University at San
Jose. Imaginary Painting from San
Francisco. F'ebruary 28-March 20,
1973. 30 pp.; 10 b/w ills. Exhibition
of 10 works, dated 1971-1972, by 10
Bay Area "visionary" artists. Intro-
duction by Phil Linhares; brief
biographical notes on each artist.
Santa Barbara, California. Santa
Barbara Museum of Art. Second
Pacific Coast Biennial Exhibition of
Paintings and Watercolors. Septem-
ber 10-October 13, 1957. (Also shown
at California Palace of the Legion of
Honor, San Francisco; Seattle Art
Museum, Washington; Portland Art
Museum, Oregon.) 17 pp.; 5 b/w
ills. Introduction by Ala Story.
Invitational exhibition comprised of
76 works by 76 artists from
Washington, Oregon and California.
Biographies for award winners only.
Santa Barbara, California. Santa
Barbara Museum of Art. Third Pacific
Coast Biennial. October 9-November
8.1959. 42 pp.; 48 b/w ills. Intro-
duction by Hilton Kramer. A survey
of recent developments in the work of
artists from Washington, Oregon and
California; 118 works; 109 artists.
259
Santa Barbara, California. Santa
Barbara Museum of Art. Pacific Coast
Jnvitritionfil. November 30-December
30, U)B2. (Also shown at F-'ine Arts
Ciallery of San Diego; Municipal
Gallery, Los Angeles; San P'rancisco
Museum of Art; Seattle Art Museum;
Portland Art Museum, Oregon.) 56
pp.; 24 ills. Four works each by
painters and sculptors from Wash-
ington, Oregon and California
scilected by regional committees.
Nearly all works dated 1960-1962.
Biography for each artist.
Santa Barbara, California. Santa
Barbara Museum of Art. Spray. April
24-May 30, 1971. 32 pp.; 27 b/w
ills. Text by Paul C. Mills traces the
historical development of the use of
the spray technique and discusses its
importance in contemporary art,
especially in Southern California.
Exhibition consists of 55 works by 36
arti.sts, 20 of them from California.
Checklist; no biographies.
Santa Barbara, California. Santa
Barbara Museum of Art. 15 Abstract
Artists. January 19-March 10, 1974. 24
pp.; 14 b/w ills. Thirty paintings by
15 Los Angeles artists working with
abstract forms. Interview by a
"famous Los Angeles collector" with
a "Los Angeles artist" who states his
views on the work of the artists
included in the exhibition. Intro-
duction by Ronald A. Kuchta.
Santa Clara, California, de Saisset Art
Gallery and Museum, University of
Santa Clara. New DeaMrt; Cali-
fornia. January 17-Iune 18, 1976.
Approx. 200 pp.; 30 ills. Essays by
Francis V. O'Connor, Steven M.
Gelber, Lydia Modi-Vitale, Charles
Shere, George Boiling and Paul
Hoffman deal with many facets of the
federal art projects in California.
Biographies; bibliography.
Sao Paulo, Brazil. Museu de Arte
Moderna. IIIBienaJ. July-October,
1955. United States Section: pp. Ill-
ISO; 4 b/w ills.: pp. 306-309. The
first foreign showing of a selection of
West Coast Art as such. Included
representation from Washington,
Oregon and California. A portion of
the United States section was cir-
culated in 1956 by the San Francisco
Museum of Art under the title.
Pacific Coast Art (catalog published).
Selected by local representatives
under the guidance of Grace L.
McCann Morley, San Francisco
Museum of Art. 88 artists; 98 works.
Checklist only; no biographies.
Seattle, Washington. Ten from Los
Angeles. July 15-September 5, 1966.
72 pp.; 13 b/w ills.; 9 color plates.
Introduction by John Coplans draws
the common element of these artists
as a sense of craft. Exhibition
includes 45 works by ten artists;
works dated 1961-1966. Individual
essay, biography and bibliography for
each artist.
South Hadley, Massachusetts. John
and Norah Warbeke Gallery, Mount
Holyoke College. Art as a Muscular
Principle. February 28-March 20,
1975. 98 pp.; 25 b/w ills. Intro-
ductory essays by Merril Greene;
individual essays including
biographical material by Alix Meier
and Merril Greene. Documents ten
artists active in San Francisco
between 1950 and 1965. 110 works
dating from 1952 to 1973.
Stanford, California. Stanford
Museum, Stanford University.
Current Painting and Sculpture of the
Bay Area. October 8-November 29,
1964. 34 pp.; 23 b/w ills. Brief
introduction by Joanna Magloff.
Cross-section of painting and
sculpture by Northern California
artists between 1962 and 1964. Short
biography for each artist.
Stanford, California. Stanford
University Art Gallery. Some Points
ofView-'62. October 30-November
20,1962.52 pp.; 47 b/w ills. Fore-
words by Robert Richardson Sears
and George D. Culler. Forty-seven
works by 47 artists give a survey of
prevalent trends in the Bay Area in
1962. Brief biographies; some artists'
statements.
Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Bay Art
Center. 40 Now California Painters.
April 8-May 14, 1968. (Also shown at
The John & Mable Ringling Museum
of Art, Sarasota, and the Galleries of
Florida State University.) 48 pp.; 21
b/w ills.; 2 color plates. Preface
by Henry T. Hopkins gives brief
summary of historical development
of modern art in California; intro-
duction by Jan Von Adlmann and
Karl M. Nickel discusses the works in
the exhibition, all executed between
1963 and 1968. Checklist only; no
biographies.
260
Vancouver, British Columbia. The
Vancouver Art Gallery. Los Angeles 6 .
March 31-May 5, 1968. 44 pp.; 6 b/w
ills.; 6 color plates. John Coplans
discusses the Los Angeles scene as
exemplified by the six participating
artists. Individual essays, statements
or interviews for each artist; detailed
biographies; extensive bibliography.
Twenty-two works included.
Walnut Creek, California. Civic Arts
Gallery. Archetypal Images. March
9-April 21, 1976. 20 pp.; 16 b/w
ills. Foreword by )eanne Brubaker
Howard, essay by Norman
Stiegelmeyer, co-curators of the
exhibition. Includes 67 paintings and
sculpture by 16 Bay Area artists
working with special archetypal
symbols. Works date from 1949 to
1976, with the majority dating in the
1970's.
Washington, D.C. National Collection
of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution.
Eight from California. November 29,
1974-February 9, 1975. 18 pp.; 8 b/w
ills. Essay by Janet A. Flint dis-
cusses printmaking in California.
Exhibition includes 36 prints by eight
artists best known for their work in
other media. Biographical notes and
brief bibliography for each artist.
261
Articles
Albright, Thomas. "Looking Back
on Bay Area Art," This World, San
Francisco Sunday Examiner and
ChronicJe, August 18, 1968 (ilL).
Extensive review of On Looking
Back: Bay Area 1945-1962 , an
exhibition organized by the San
Francisco Museum of Art which
covered the major currents of artistic
endeavor during 17 years of Bay
Region art history.
-. "Mythmakers,"The Art Gallery,
voL XVIII, no. 5, February 1975, pp.
12-17,44-45 (ill). Discussion of
the regional character of Northern
California art with short sketches on
individual artists.
Alloway, Lawrence. "Classicism or
Hard-Edge?," Art International, vol.
IV, no. 2, February-March 1960, p. 60
(ill.). Extended review of exhibition,
West Coast Hard-Edge, held at
Institute of Contemporary Art,
London.
"Artists: Assemblage at the Frontier,"
Time, vol. 86, no. 16, October 15,
1965, pp. 106-108(111.). The
California tradition of assemblage
and the object is discussed with
special emphasis on William Wiley,
Edward Kienholz and Simon Rodia.
"Artists: Place in the Sun," Time, vol.
92, no. 9, August 30, 1968, pp. 38-41
(ill.). Brief survey of Southern
California artists with short
paragraphs on Craig Kauffman, Doug
Wheeler, Robert Graham, Billy Al
Bengston, William Fettet.
Ashton, Dore. "An Eastern View of
the San Francisco School," Evergeen
Review, vol. 1, no. 2, 1957, pp. 148-
159. New York critic discusses the
artists emanating from the California
School of Fine Arts, San Francisco,
from 1945-1952 with special focus on
Clyfford Still.
Baker, Elizabeth C. "Los Angeles,
1971," Art News, vol. 70, no. 5,
September 1971, pp. 27-39 (ill.). Ex-
tensive article on the contemporary
Los Angeles art scene with short
looks at many individual artists.
Brown, Richard F., Clair Wolfe and
others. "A Museum Portfolio,"
Arf/orum, vol. II, no. 12, Summer
1964, pp. 19-36 (ill.). Brief essays by
staff members on exhibiting insti-
tutions in Southern California with
reproductions of works from their
collections.
Caldwell, Katherine Field. "An
American Patron," Magazine of Art,
vol. 31, no. 8, August 1938, pp.
444-449 (ill.). The great contri-
bution of Albert M. Bender, important
Bay Area collector and patron, is
assessed.
Celant, Germane. "Arte Ambientale
Californiana," Domus, no. 547, June
1975, pp. 52-53,1(111.). The art of
Michael Asher, Bruce Nauman,
Robert Irwin, Eric Orr. Jim Turrell,
Maria Nordman and Doug Wheeler,
and their common concern with
perceptive spaces is explored. In
Italian and English.
Chase, Linda, Nancy Foote, Ted
McBurnett, Brian O'Doherty. "The
Photo-Realists: 12 Interviews," Art in
America, vol. 60, no. 6, November-
December 1972, pp. 73-89 (ill.).
Interviews with 12 artists including
Robert Bechtle, Don Eddy, Richard
McLean, Ralph Goings.
262
Coffelt, Beth. "End of The Game,"
California Living, San Francisco
Sunday Examiners- Chronicle, May
18,1975(111.). The strange story of
Dr. Samuel West, Bay Area collector
extraordinaire.
-. "The Big Wave Was Rising,"
California Living, San Francisco
Sunday Examiner & Chronicle,
November 9, 1975 (ill.). The history
of the San Francisco Art Institute
with special emphasis on the
MacAgy years, 1945-1950.
Coplans, )ohn. "Sculpture in
California," Art/orum, vol. II, no. 2,
August 1963, pp. 3-6 (ill.). Survey of
developments in California in the
early 1960's with specific comments
on various movements and
institutions.
-. "Out of Clay," Art in America,
vol. 51, No. 6, December 1963, pp.
40-43 (ill.). Evaluation of the West
Coast ceramic sculpture movement
with an emphasis on the Southern
California artists working in clay.
-. "Circle of Styles on the West
Coast," Art in America, vol. 52, no. 3,
June 1964, pp. 24-41 (ill). Impor-
tant article deals with art activity in
San Francisco and Los Angeles,
especially during postwar years.
Highly critical of San Francisco's
milieu.
"A Portfolio of Contemporary
Los Angeles Art: Formal Art,'
Art/orum, vol. II, no. 12, Summer
1964, pp. 42-46 (ill.). Three groups
of artists, all primarily concerned
with formal means in their work, are
discussed as a three-armed unit.
."Los Angeles: The Scene," Art
News, vol. 64, no. 1, March 1965,
pp. 28-29, 56-58(111.). The emer-
gence of Los Angeles as a center of
serious art activity is discussed in
terms of a new museum, new
collectors, new dealers, new artists.
. "The New Abstraction on the
West Coast U.S.A.," Studio Inter-
national, vol. 169, no. 865, May 1965,
pp. 192-199 (ill.). Commentary on
the rectilinear abstraction In the
painting and sculpture of, particu-
larly, Los Angeles.
Cravens, Junius. "Work at Museum
Called BestThree-Dimensional Art
Done in Northern Area in 30 Years,"
San Francisco News, August 24,
1935. Sculpture exhibition at San
Francisco Museum of Art provides
impetus for survey of Bay Area
sculpture.
Crehan, Hubert. "Is There a California
School?," Art News, vol. 54, no. 9,
January 1956, pp. 32-35, 64-65 (ill.).
Asserts that there is not a California
school, then assesses the Influence of
Clyfford Still at the California School
ofFlne Arts, 1945-1950.
'Art Schools Smell Alike,'
This World, San Francisco Sunday
Examiner and Chronicle, October 4,
1970 (ill.). Discusses California
School of Fine Arts during the
post- World War II years.
Danieli, Fidel. "A Portfolio of
Contemporary Los Angeles Art:
Figurative," Art/orum, vol. II, no. 12,
Summerl964, pp. 53-58 (ill.). The
Los Angeles figurative painters are
grouped around three poles: the
influence of Rico Lebrun, the realistic
tradition, and the use of flat, diagram-
matic image components.
. "Nine Senior Southern
California Painters," Journal (The Los
Angeles Institute of Contemporary
Art), no. 2, October 1974, pp. 32-34
(111.). In discussing LAICA's opening
exhibition, Danlell asserts that Los
Angeles does have an artistic history
and promotes the need for research in
this field.
Danysh, Joseph A. "The Federal Art
Project," San Francisco Art Associa-
tion Bulletin, vol. 3, no. 1, May 1936,
pp. 2,4. Main points of the Bay
Area Federal Art Project are outlined
by the Regional Advisor.
Davis, Claudia. "The Western Artist
East of the Rockies," San Francisco
Art Association Bulletin, vol. Ill, no.
3, August 1936, pp. 3-5. Report on
how the work of West Coast artists is
received by institutions and the
public in the Middle West and East.
Factor, Donald. "A Portfolio of
Contemporary Los Angeles Art:
Assemblage," Art/orum, vol. II, no.
12, Summer 1964, pp. 38-41 (ill).
After a brief historical introduction,
the work of artists active in
assembled sculpture is explored.
Farber, Manny. "Art," The Nation,
vol. 172, no. 1, January 6, 1951, p. 19.
Discusses painting In the Bay Area
with emphasis on Clyfford Still and
Edward Corbett.
Ferling, Lawrence. "Expressionism in
San Francisco Today," Counterpoint,
January 1952, pp. 16-19 (ill). Short
glimpses of the work of several
contemporary Bay Area artists.
263
FitzGibbon, John. "Sacramento!," Art
in America, vol. 59, no. 6, November-
IJecember 1971. pp. 78-83 (ill.). A
full-scalf! (sxploration into the
extremely active art community in
Sacramento nnd the work done there.
Frankenstein, Alfred. "A Roof Garden
of Sculpture," This World, San
Francisco Sunday Glironicle, August
25, 1963 (ill.). Review of the monu-
mental exhibition of Galifornia
sculpture, organized by The Oakland
Art Museum and exhibited at Kaiser
Center, Oakland, for which no catalog
was published.
Fuller, Mary. "Emblems of Sorrow,"
Artforum. vol. II, no. 5, November
1963, pp. 34-37(111.). Survey of
federally-funded New Deal art
projects in San Francisco. Includes
list of artists who worked on the
various projects.
"San Francisco Sculptors," Art
in America, vol. 52, no. 3, June 1964,
pp. 52-59 (ill.). Examination of the
burst of sculptural activity which
occurred in the Bay Area in the early
sixties.
. "Was There a San Francisco
School?," Art/orum, vol. IX, no. 5,
January 1971, pp. 46-53 (ill.).
Excerpts from interviews with artists
active at the California School of Fine
Arts during the MacAgy years,
1945-1950.
Gelber, Steven M. "The Irony of San
Francisco's 'Commie Art'," City of
San Francisco, February 4, 1976, pp.
24-28,37(111.). Appraisal of the
political and sociological ideas put
forth in the murals produced in
California under the New Deal.
Geldzahler, Henry. "Los Angeles: The
Second City of Art," Vogue , vol. 144,
no. 5, September 15, 1964, pp. 42, 56,
62,64. Reasons for the shift of
artistic activity from San Francisco to
Los Angeles with short discussions of
major Los Angeles artists, collectors,
museums and recent visitors.
Giambruni, Helen. "At the University
of California, Irvine: Abstract Expres-
sionist Ceramics," Craft Horizons,
vol. XXVI, no. 6, November-
December 1966, pp. 26-35, 61 (ill.).
Extended review of exhibition.
Abstract Expressionist Ceramics,
organized by Art Gallery, University
of California, Irvine, includes
background of ceramic sculpture in
California.
Glueck, Grace. "Art is Alive and Well
in the Bay Area," This World, San
Francisco Sunday Examiner and
Chronicle, April 13, 1969 (ill.). First
printed in The New York Times, this
article reviews positively the art
activity in the Bay Area.
. "Los Angeles Regains Vigor as
an Art Center," The New York Times,
June 2, 1969 (ill.). A look at the
reasons behind the revitalization of
Los Angeles with special emphasis
on museums.
Gordon, Joni. "Artfrom," Journal
(The Los Angeles Institute of Con-
temporary Art), no. 1, June 1974, pp.
24-25. Achart of Los Angeles
galleries showing their periods of
activity between 1963 and 1974.
"A Guide to the Galleries," Art/orum ,
vol. II, no. 12, Summer 1964, pp.
75-80 (ill.). This article traces the
history of galleries in Los Angeles
and lists current galleries and their
stables.
Cuilbaut, Serge. "The Bongo-Bingo
Art Scene," Journal (The Los Angeles
Institute of Contemporary Art), no. 5,
April-May 1975, pp. 22-27 (ill.). The
"beat" scene in Los Angeles, espe-
cially the artists and the gathering
places.
Hopkins, Henry T. "A Portfolio of
Contemporary Los Angeles Art:
Abstract Expressionism," Art/orum,
vol. II, no. 12, Summer 1964, pp.
59-63 (ill.). A discussion of the role
of abstract expressionism in the early
work of Los Angeles' younger artists,
the influence on L.A. artists by work
of San Francisco's expressionists, and
the mature abstract expressionist
painting of Woelffer, Ruben and,
especially, Altoon.
"West Coast Style," Art Voices,
vol. IV, no. 4, Fall 1966, pp. 60-70
(ill.). Discussion of Los Angeles art
with statements by the artists on the
effect the environment of Los Angeles
has had on their work.
Kozloff, Max. "West Coast Art: Vital
Pathology," The Nation, vol. 199, no.
4, August 24, 1964, pp. 76-79.
Recent California art divided into two
strains, the "Sterilized" and the
"Sweaty". Discussion of the artists
and their relationship to, especially,
the Los Angeles environment.
Kramer, Hilton. "Month in Review,"
Arts IVfagazine, vol. 34, no. 4, January
1960, pp. 42-45 (ill.). The figure vs.
abstract expressionism is explored in
terms of the Bay Area figurative
movement.
264
. "Los Angeles, Now the 'In' Art
Scene," The New York Times, June 1,
1971 (ill.]. Extended review of 24
Young Los AngeJes Artists , Los
Angeles County Museum of Art.
Labaudt, Lucien. "An American
Renaissance," San Francisco Art
Association Bulletin, vol. 4, no. 3,
Octoberl937,p. 2 (ill.). A promi-
nent San Francisco artist's positive
reaction to the Federal Art Project.
Langsner, Jules. "America's Second
Art City," Art in America, vol. 51, no.
2, April 1963, pp. 127-131 (ill.). Dis-
cussion of art activity in Los Angeles,
especially galleries, museums.
Tamarind Lithography Workshop,
and a survey of trends among major
artists.
Lavrova, Nadia. "Forty-Six
Artists — One Palette." Christian
Science Monitor, August 1 , 1934
(ill.). Contemporary discussion of
the murals in San Francisco's Coit
Tower and the federally-funded
artists who painted them.
Leider, Philip. "California After the
Figure," Art in America, vol. 51, no.
5, October 1963, pp. 73-83 (ill.).
Author views the Northern California
figurative style as disappearing and a
new art emerging in Southern
California.
. "A Portfolio of Contemporary
Los Angeles Art: The Cool School,"
Art/orum, vol. II, no. 12, Summer
1964, pp. 47-52(111.). An explora-
tion into the work of the Los Angeles
avant-garde, with its precise surface,
oft-times pop-derived images, use of
parody and compressed statement.
Leider, Philip and John Coplans.
"West Coast Art: Three Images,"
Art/orum, vol. I, no. 12, June 1963,
pp. 21-25 (ill.). Extended review of
three exhibitions of West Coast art.
Licka, C.E. "A Prima Facie Clay
Sampler: A Case for Popular
Ceramics," Currant (San Francisco).
Part I: vol. 1, no. 3, August-September
1975, pp. 30-34, 60 (ill.); Part II: vol. 1,
no. 4, October-November 1975, pp.
8-13,50-53(111.). A new strain of
ceramics has developed in two major
centers: Seattle and the San Francisco
Bay Area. This movement is dis-
cussed and assessed.
Loran, Erie. "San Francisco," Art
News, vol. XLVIII, no. 5, September
1949, pp. 45, 52-53 (ill.). A survey of
the styles currently prevalent in the
Bay Area.
Louchheim, Aline. "San Francisco:
Division and Vitality," The New York
Times , October 24, 1948. An
easterner's view of the San Francisco
art scene, particularly the activity at
California School of Fine Arts.
McClellan, Douglas. "A Portfolio of
Contemporary Los Angeles Art:
Sculpture," Art/orum , vol. II, no. 12,
Summer 1964, pp. 69-74(111.). Com-
mentary on trends in Southern
California sculpture.
MacAgy, Douglas. "A Note on the
Western Round Table on Modern
Art," San Francisco Art Association
Bulletin, vol. 15, no. 4, April-May
1949, pp. 1-3 (ill.). The director of
the California School of Fine Arts
looks back on this historic meeting of
artistic minds.
"MacDonald Wright [sic] Feature of
Show by 10 Pacific Coast Artists,"
The Art Digest, vol. X, no. 12, March
15,1936, p. 34 (ill.). Review of show
held at Carl Fisher Gallery, New York,
which included work by 10 West
Coast artists; emphasis on Stanton
Macdonald-Wright.
Macdonald-Wright, S. (tanton). "Art
News from Los Angeles," Art News,
vol. 54, no. 6, October 1955, pp. 8,
59-60(111.). Brief but important
history of the development of the arts
in Southern California.
Marioni, Tom. "Out Front," Vision
(Oakland), no. One, September 1975,
pp. 8-11 (ill.). A discussion of
several artists in San Francisco and
Los Angeles with special emphasis
on performance sculptors.
Martin, Fred. "The Birth of The
Thing, Or, Some Recent Develop-
ments in the Art of the San Francisco
Bay Area," unpublished ms., 12 pp.,
1956. Typed manuscript growing
out of a panel held at the Oakland Art
Museum, 1956, entitled, "California
School — Yes or No?". Discusses
post-Still art in San Francisco.
. "Art in The San Francisco Bay
Area, Early Winter 1965," Art Inter-
national, vol. X, no. 2, February 1966,
pp. 76, 78-79, 81-83 (ill). Report on
the current art scene in the Bay Area.
"Remembering The School,"
Artweek (Oakland). Part I: November
1, 1975; Part II: November 8, 1975; Part
III: November 15, 1975 (ill.). Remi-
niscences of the San Francisco Art
Institute by its former director. These
articles were written to coincide with
a three-part exhibition, A Tribute to
265
the San Francisco Art Institute, held
at the Hansen Fuller Gallery, San
Francisco, October 20-November 29,
1975.
Maxwell, Everett C. "Approach to
California Art," California Arts and
Architecture . vol. LV, no. 2, February
1939, p. 7 (ill.). Brief general look at
the state of painting in California.
Millier, Arthur. "New Developments
in Southern California Fainting,"
American Magazine of Art, vol. 27,
May 1934, pp. 241-247 (ill.]. Empha-
sizes landscape painters.
. "The Pacific Coast: Artists are
Stimulated by Its Diverse Climates,"
The Art Digest, vol. 26, no. 3,
November 1, 1951, pp. 30-31 (ill.).
Historical discussion of West Coast
art with special emphasis on
institutions.
Mills, Paul. "Bay Area Figurative,"
Art in America, vol. 52, no. 3, )une
1964, pp. 42-45 (ill.). Lively defense
of figurative painting movement in
San Francisco by its most vocal
proponent.
Munro, Eleanor. "Figures to the
Fore," Horizon, vol. II, no. 6, luly
1960, pp. 16-24, 114-116 (ill.).
Detailed investigation into Bay Area
Figurative painting.
Nordland, Gerald. "The Regional
Exhibitions," Frontier, vol. 13, no. 12,
October 1962, pp. 23-25 (ill.). An
evaluation of the regional exhibitions
in Southern California.
. "Boom. Boom, Boom," Frontier,
vol. 14, no. 11. September 1963, pp.
19-21 (ill.). A look at the collecting
and exhibiting policies of the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art.
"Collecting in Los Angeles,"
Artforum. vol. II, no. 12, Summer
1964, pp. 12-18(111.). A survey of
Southern California collectors with
special emphasis on Mr. and Mrs.
Gifford Phillips, Dr. and Mrs. Leonard
Asher, Robert Rowan, David E. Bright
and Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Weisman.
'A Portfolio of Contemporary
Los Angeles Art: A Succession of
Visitors,"Art/orum, vol. II, no. 12,
Summer 1964, pp. 64-68 (ill.). The
incidence and impact of visits to
Southern California by influential,
mature artists is explored.
. "Pioneer Moderns," Frontier,
vol. 15, no. 4, February 1964, pp.
22-24 (ill.). Extended critical review
of Arts of Southern CaJi/ornia-XIV:
Early iVfoderns , held at the Long
Beach Museum of Art.
Overend, William. "Behind Scenes at
Bohemia-by-the-Beach," Los AngeJes
Times, )uly 20, 1976 (ill.). Venice as
an "art community" with emphasis
on three artist-residents: Alexis
Smith, Robert Graham, Billy Al
Bengston.
Perkins, Constance. "Los Angeles:
The Way You Look At It," Art in
America, vol. 54, no. 2, March-April
1966, pp. 112-118 (ill.). Historical
survey of the art of Los Angeles with
discussion of a few contemporary
artists.
Phillips, Gifford. "Culture on the
Coast," Art in America, vol. 52, no. 3,
)une 1964, pp. 22-23. Examination
of the "art boom" in California,
especially collecting and the museum
situation in Los Angeles.
Pierre, )ose. "Funk Art," J'Oeil, no.
190, October 1970, pp. 18-27, 68
(ill.). Extensive and well-illustrated
article in French explores the "funk"
style of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Plagens, Peter. "Before What Flower-
ing? Thoughts on West Coast Art,"
Artforum, vol. 12, no. 1, September
1973, pp. 33-37(111.). West Coast
artists outside the "mainstream" of
art: a survey of California art in the
twentieth century extracted from
Plagen's book. Sunshine Muse.
"The Soft Touch of Hard Edge,'
Journal (The Los Angeles Institute of
Contemporary Art), no. 5, April-May
1975, pp. 16-19 (ill.). A commentary
on hard-edge painting with emphasis
on Karl Benjamin, Lorser Feitelson,
John McLaughlin.
"A Portfolio of California Sculptors,"
Artforum, vol. II, no. 2, August 1963,
pp. 15-59 (ill.). A brief biography,
black and white illustration and,
rarely, a statement for each of 76
California sculptors.
Pugliese, Joseph A. "Casting in the
Bay Area," Artforum, vol. II, no. 2,
August 1963, pp. 11-14(111.). The
rapid development of bronze casting
and foundries around San Francisco
is explored.
266
. "At Museum West: Ceramics
from Davis," Craft Horizons, vol.
XXVI, no. 6, November-December
1966, pp. 26-29 [ill.). Extended
review of ceramic sculpture
exhibition by artists connected with
the University of California, Davis.
Richardson, Brenda. "Bay Area
Galleries," Arts Magazine, vol. 44,
no. 8, Summer 1970, pp. 51-52
(ill.). Survey of galleries in the Bay
Area with particular attention paid to
Hansen Fuller Gallery and Gallery
Reese Palley.
"Bay Area Survey: The Myth of
Neo-Dada," Arts Magazine, vol. 44,
no. 8. Summer 1970, pp. 46-49 (ill.).
Bay Area artists do not adhere to a
single style; Richardson discusses
some of the trends in their art.
Rose, Barbara. "Los Angeles: The
Second City," Art in America , vol. 54,
no. 1, January-February 1966, pp.
110-115(111.). Report on "L.A.
Sensibility" with discussion of its
sources.
. "California, Here It Comes,"
New York, vol. 5, no. 23, June 5, 1972,
p. 66 (ill.). Extended review of Los
Angeles '72 . exhibition shown at
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York,
underlines differences between New
York and California art.
Ryan, Beatrice Judd. "The Rise of
Modern Art in the Bay Area,"
California Historical Society
Quarterly, vol. XXXVIII, no. 1, March
1959(111.). An historical view of
modern art in San Francisco from
1915 to 1935 by the director of two
San Francisco galleries, Beaux Arts
Galerie and the Rotunda Gallery,
City of Paris.
Salinger, Jehanne Bietry. "The
Monterey Group," The Argus, vol. I,
no. 3, June 1927 (ill.). Review of
exhibition held at Beaux Arts Galerie ,
San Francisco, of the work of artists,
especially C.S. Price, who worked in
the Monterey area.
Schjeldahl, Peter. "L.A. Art? 'hiterest-
ing — But Painful', " The New York
Times,May 21,1972 (ill.). Condes-
cending look at contemporary art in
Los Angeles.
Seitz, William C. "The Real and
the Artificial: Painting of the New
Environment," Art in America, vol.
60, no. 6, November-December 1972,
pp. 58-72 (ill.). Full examination of
Photo-Realist movement with pages
68-71 devoted to California's
contribution.
Seldis, Henry J. "Pasadena's Lopsided
West Coast Survey," Los Angeles
Times, November 30, 1969. Review
of West Coast 1945-1969, Pasadena
Art Museum's opening exhibition at
its new building. Also discusses
Pasadena's role as a modern art
museum.
. "The Pioneer Modernists: A
Sure Cure for Amnesia," Los Angeles
Times, December 8, 1974 (ill.).
Extended review of Nine Senior
Southern California Painters, the
inaugural exhibition held at The Los
Angeles Institute of Contem-
porary Art.
Selz, Peter with Jane Livingston.
"Two Generations in L.A.," Art in
America, vol. 57, no. 1, January-
February 1969, pp. 92-97 (ill.).
Along with the first generation of
successful sixties Los Angeles artists,
new talent has emerged and is here
evaluated.
Sharp, Willoughby. "Los Angeles
Galleries," Arts Magazine, vol. 44,
no. 8, Summer 1970, p. 50 (ill.).
Historical survey of galleries in Los
Angeles.
. "New Directions in Southern
California Sculpture," Arts
Magazine, vol. 44, no. 8, Summer
1970, pp. 35-38(111.). A look at the
major Los Angeles sculptors of the
sixties and the new movements
emanating from them, especially
artists such as Jim Turrell, Michael
Asher, David Deutsch.
"Willoughby Sharp Interviews
John Coplans," Arts Magazine, vol.
44, no. 8, Summer 1970, pp.
39-41. Interviewed shortly after his
resignation from Pasadena Art
Museum, John Coplans voices his
opinions on the Southern California
art scene and, in particular, the
Pasadena Art Museum.
Slivka, Rose. "The New Ceramic
Presence," Craft Horizons, vol. XXI,
no. 4, July-August 1961, pp. 30-37
(ill. J. The beginnings of the ceramic
sculpture movement are herein dis-
cussed and evaluated.
Solomon, Alan. "They Know What
They Want," The New York Times,
July 4, 1965. Particular emphasis is
placed on institutions and collecting
in this easterner's view of San
Francisco and Los Angeles.
. "Is California Art the Equal
of Eastern Art?," This World, San
Francisco-Sunday Examiner &-
Chronicle, July 18, 1965 (reprinted
from The New York Times). Los
267
Angeles' relationship to New York: its
irrelevance for artists, importance for
collectors. Brief look at the work of
several Southern California artists.
Temko, Allan. "The Flowering of San
Francisco," Horizon, vol. I, no. 3,
January 1959, pp. 4-23 (ill.). San
Francisco abounds in things cultural.
The fine arts, architecture, literature
and the performing arts of the Bay
Region are all explored in this richly
illustrated article.
Tarshis, Jerome. "Letter from San
Francisco," Studio International, vol.
186, no. 960, November 1973, pp. 192-
193 (ill.). Commentary on Northern
California's contribution to the use of
clay as a sculptural medium.
van der Marck, Jan. "The Califor-
nians," Art International, vol. VII, no.
5, May 25, 1963, pp. 28-31 (ill.).
Short survey of California art in the
sixties, prompted by the exhibition
Fifty California Artists, with brief
look at California's contribution to
the art of the day.
Ventura, Anita. "The Prospect Over
the Bay," Arts Magazine, vol. 37, no.
9, May-June 1963, pp. 19-21 (ill.).
Incisive and extensive look at state of
Bay Area art, prompted by the 82nd
Annual Exhibition of the San
Francisco Art Institute.
, "Field Day for Sculptors," Arts
Magazine, vol. 38, no. 1, October
1963,pp. 62-65 (ill.). Survey of
developments in California sculpture
as exemplified by three exhibitions
and one magazine issue, all devoted
to sculpture.
. "San Francisco: The Aloof
Community," Arts Magazine, vol. 39,
no. 7, April 1965, pp. 70-73 (ill.).
The problem of community support
in San Francisco and a look at the San
Francisco Art Institute and the art
department of University of
California, Berkeley.
Wilder, Mitchell. "A Stirring in the
Pacific Paint Pot," Saturday Review,
vol. XLV, no. 42, October 20, 1962, pp.
56-59(111.). Art on the West Coast
with emphasis on state universities,
the art market, publications.
Wilson, William. "The Explosion
That Never Went Boom," Saturday
Review, vol. L, no. 38, September 23,
1967, pp. 54-56(111.). The flowering
of Los Angeles, discussed and
reasoned.
. "Figurative to Funk at Barnsdall
Park Exhibit," Los AngeJes Times,
September 8, 1968 (ill.). Review of
exhibition. The West Coast Now, with
special concern about the objectivity
of California art displayed therein.
268
Major Sources of Archives of American Art,
Archival Material on California Art Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D.C.
Offices: Washington, D.C; San
Francisco; New York; Detroit,
Michigan; Boston
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, Louise Sloss Ackerman Fine Arts
Library, San Francisco
The Oakland Museum, Archives of
California Art, Oakland, California
National Collection of Fine Arts
Library, Smithsonian Institution,
Ferdinand Ferret Research Library,
Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
Art Research Library, Los Angeles
California State Library, Sacramento
California Historical Society,
Schubert Hall Library, San Francisco
University of California, Berkeley,
Bancroft Library, Berkeley, California
269
Photography Credits
Except in those cases listed below, all
photographs of works of art
reproduced have been supplied by
their owners or custodians. The
numbers listed refer to checklist
numbers.
Eric H. Anderson, Mill Valley,
California, 101
Rudy Bender, San Francisco, 98, 181
Brigham Young University, Provo,
Utah, 7, 56
Rudolph Burckhardt, New York,
courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery, New
York, 319
Geoffrey Clements, Staten Island,
New York, courtesy The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 151, 225;
courtesy Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, 301
Gallery Rebecca Cooper, Washington,
D.C.,313
James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles,
280
Edward Cornachio, Pasadena,
California, 157
Liam Cutchins, Ross, California, 177
Bevan Davies, New York, courtesy
Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York,
291, 311
Eeva-Inkeri, New York, courtesy
Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York,
198
The Fine Arts Museums of San
Francisco: California Palace of the
Legion of Honor, 60
The Fort Worth Art Museum, Texas,
215,265
Larry Fox, San Francisco, 316
Phillip Galgiani, San Francisco, 72,
77. 78, 210, 267, 306. 317, 322
William H. Grand, Portland, Oregon,
22
Hansen Fuller Gallery, San Francisco,
147, 164, 186
Helen Harrison, La Jolla, California,
330
Paul A. Hassel, San Francisco, 104
Herrington & Olson, Oakland.
California, courtesy The Oakland
Museum, 2
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
Garden, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C., 75, 131
Isha, Sebastopol, California, 125
Ute Klophaus, Wuppertal, Germany,
315
Gary Krueger, Los Angeles, courtesy
The Claire Copley Gallery, Inc., Los
Angeles, 324, 331
La Jolla Museum of Contemporary
Art, California, 268, 275
T.S. Leong, Oakland, California, 154
Long Beach Museum of Art,
California, 264
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
54,61, 88, 140, 161, 227,288
A.F. Madeira, Sacramento, California,
courtesy E.B. Crocker Art Gallery,
Sacramento, 203
Maxwell Galleries, Ltd., San
Francisco, 71
Colin McRae, Berkeley, courtesy
University Art Museum, University
of California, Berkeley, 183, 229, 269,
298
Alfred Monner, Portland, Oregon,
23-32
National Collection of Fine Arts,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D.C., courtesy Gallery M,
Washington, D.C., 113
The Oakland Museum, California, 1,
5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 17, 20, 55, 64, 99,
105, 120, 126, 130, 138, 142, 230
Karl Obert, Santa Barbara, California,
courtesy Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, 74
San Antonio Museum Association,
Texas, 279
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, 47, 50, 52, 57, 63, 65, 69, 92, 93,
106, 107, 111, 119, 137, 143, 149, 156,
194, 340
Santa Barbara Museum of Art,
California, 76, 170
Schopplein Studio, San Francisco, 4,
33, 36, 51, 53, 59, 62, 85, 109. 116,
128, 132, 144, 145, 152, 153, 159, 172,
174, 175, 176, 178, 184, 185, 188, 189,
192, 200, 202, 213, 244, 254, 262, 266,
272, 287, 295, 296, 299, 302, 308,
310,312,314,334
Robert I. Shankar, Emeryville,
California, 81, 112, 115, 129, 135,
139, 196, 216, 223, 263, 300, 326
Edmund Shea, San Francisco, 199
Stanford University Museum of Art,
Stanford, California, 37, 168
Frank J. Thomas, Los Angeles, 42, 79,
80, 82, 86, 122, 141, 162, 169, 195,
201, 208, 209, 214, 231, 232, 234, 243,
245, 248, 249, 251, 256, courtesy
Monique Knowlton Gallery, New
York: 258, 259, 270, 277, 281, 282,
289, 290, 297, 305
Jann & John Thomson, Los Angeles,
246
Bob Wharton, Fort Worth, Texas, 219,
221
270
San Francisco Museum of
Modem Art
Board of Trustees
San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art
Staff
Eugene E. Trefethen, Jr., President
Mrs. Walter A. Haas, Jr., Executive
Vice-President
A. Hunter Land, II, Secretary
Alan L. Stein, Treasurer
Mrs. John L. Bradley
Mrs. Rena Bransten
Robert W. Cahill
Richard P. Cooley
E. Morris Cox
Vernon A. DeMars
George Gund
Mrs. Walter A. Haas
Frank O. Hamilton
Harold J. Haynes
Mrs. Randolph A. Hearst
Mrs. Wellington S. Henderson
Mrs. Francis V. Keesling, Jr.
Moses Lasky
Mrs. Philip E. Lilienthal
Edmund W Nash
AlvinC. Rice
C. David Robinson
William M. Roth
Robert A. Rowan
Mrs. Madeleine Haas Russell
Daniel G. Volkmann, Jr.
Mrs. Brooks Walker
Mrs. Paul Wattis
Ex-Officio:
Jaquelin H. Hume
Trustee Emeritus
Mrs. Francis F. Owen
Trustee Emeritus
Mrs. Nicholas G.K. Boyd, Jr.
President, Modern Art Council
Dr. William R. Fielder
Chairman, SECA
Henry T Hopkins
Director
Michael McCone
Deputy Director
S.C. St. John
Controller
Suzanne Foley
Curator
John Humphrey
Curator
Rolando Castellon
Curator
Kenneth DeRoux
Film Curator
Karen Tsujimoto
Assistant Curator
Eugenie Candau
Librarian
Inge-Lise Eckmann
Chief Conservator, Paper
Phillip Goddard
Bookshop Manager
Bonita Hughes
Membership Secretary
Susan King
Registrar
Thornton Rockwell
Chief Conservator, Paintings
Mary Miles Ryan
Publicity Director
Julius Wasserstein
Gallery Supervisor
Robert Whyte
Education Supervisor
Ed Bartlett
Assistant Gallery Supervisor
James Bernstein
Conservator
Jan Butterfield
Research Associate
Didi Codre
Admissions
Shelley Diekman
Research Assistant
Shirley Eng
Assistant to the Controller
Constance Goldsmith
Modern Art Council Secretary
Katherine Church Holland
Research Associate
Philip Jessie
Gallery Technician
Chris Johns
Bookshop Assistant
Toby Kahn
Assistant Manager, Bookshop
Debbie Lande
Bookshop Assistant
Karen Lee
Secretary for Film and Education
Lee Loomis
Bookshop Assistant
Dorothy Martinson
Membership Assistant
Alberta Mayo
Secretary to the Director
George Milligan
Mailing
Pauline Mohr
Conservator
Nancy Morrison
Conservation Administrator
Dennis O'Leary
Supervisor of Museum School
Cherie Pinsky
Bookshop Assistant
Nancy Rolf
Secretary to the Controller
Adrian Schafgans
Museum Technician
Mauritz Schauer
Conservation Assistant
Joseph Shields
Gallery Attendant
Ferd Von Schlafke
Gallery Technician
Loretta Wilcher
Curatorial Secretary
271
National Collection of Fine Arts,
Smithsonian Institution
Sta£F for the Exhibition
Dr. Joshua C. Taylor, Director
Harry Lowe, Assistant Director, Operations
Harry )ordan, Administrative Officer
Department of Twentieth Century
Painting and Sculpture:
Walter Hopps, Curator
[oyce C. Kaminski
Florine E. Lyons
Lynda C. Roscoe
Elizabeth A. Stack
Office of Exhibition and Design:
David B. Keeler, Chief
Oliver Anderson
Carole Ann Broadus
Frank Caldwell
John Fleming
Ralph Logan
James Maynor
Breton B. Morse
George Nairn
Gervis Perkins
Georgine Reed
Anton ia Ropa
Office of the Registrar:
W. Robert Johnston, Registrar
Andrea Brown
Burgess A. Coleman, Jr.
Joshua Ewing
Deborah Jensen
Martha Russell
Office of Public Affairs: C
Margery Byers, Chief
Sidney Lawrence, III
Theresa O'Brien
Catalog Design: Ross San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Typography: CTS Typography Inc. Van Ness at McAllister
Photolithography: Phelps /Schaefer San Francisco, California 94102
Litho-CraphicsCo. (4151863-8800
272
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