March 20, 1999 to May 30, 1999
All Things Bright & Beautiful:
California Impressionist Painting
Presented by the Art Department

The extraordinary light and landscape of California is interpreted through the Impressionistís palette in the exhibition All Things Bright & Beautiful: California Impressionist Paintings from The Irvine Museum, on view at the Oakland Museum of California from Mar. 20 through May 30, 1999. The exhibition features 58 paintings by artists who lived and worked in California during the early 20th century.
The paintings, created between 1890 and 1930, express the strong spiritual awareness of many of the artists and their reverence for nature, and serve as a reminder of the importance of our natural environment. Joan Irvine Smith, President of The Irvine Museum, said of the connection between these artists and their contemporary audience, "The common bond is a deep reverence for nature and the common goal is the preservation of our environment -- no statement is more eloquent than the silent testament of these magnificent paintings."

The influx of artists during the Gold Rush of 1849 established California landscape painting as an art form. In the last decade of the 1800s, Impressionism reached California, where the light and natural beauty of the landscape made the state a natural focus for the explorations of color and atmospheric effects favored by the Impressionists.

The dramatic landscapes of California put their stamp on the Impressionist movement. California Impressionist painting differs from its European and East Coast counterparts in favoring as its subjects rustic landscapes and wildflower fields over cultivated gardens, and coastal and mountain scenes over images of the man-made environment. The notable exception to this preference for the natural environment is the Mission San Juan Capistrano, which is the subject of several paintings in the exhibition.

The exhibition, in the museum's Art Special Gallery, comprises paintings by 42 artists of scenes from throughout the state, including six works by Guy Rose, generally regarded as Californiaís greatest Impressionist, and paintings by Franz Bischoff, Granville Redmond and William Wendt.

The exhibition was organized by The Irvine Museum, owner of the largest collection of California Impressionist paintings in the world. Guest curator is William H. Gerdts, professor of art history at the Graduate School of the City University of New York.

A 200-page catalog accompanying the exhibition features essays by William H. Gerdts, Jean Stern, Harvey L. Jones and David Dearinger.

Major support provided by: Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP Attorneys at law

© 1999 Oakland Museum of California | Credits |Phone: 510-238-2200