1939 April 16, 𝙇𝙤𝙨 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨:

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Arthur Millier reports that 600 visitors attended the gallery’s opening night. He closed with, “Because the gallery is so fine, it has already been offered exhibitions of a quality which ordinarily Whittier would never have a chance to see. Whittier has shown Southern California the way”.
                                                                                                                                       Arthur Millier, 
                                                                                                                                       April 16, 1939, 𝘓𝘰𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴

Looking Back, 1940 – 1944

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The Whittier Art Gallery continued to exhibit the work of prominent artists while bracing for World War II and living through the most difficult of the War years. Exhibits of the work of Edgar Payne, Enjar Hansen, Eleanor Colburn, Clyde Forsythe, Sam Hyde Harris, Hanson Puthuff, and others, […]

Ambassador Hotel Postcard

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c. 1925
This postcard shows the area that made up the Ambassador Hotel grounds in Los Angeles. The Ambassador Hotel was a gathering place for Hollywood legends and famous personalities. This postcard was likely created from a glass slide. Color photography was not invented until the late 1930s.

Ida O’Keeffe Comes to Whittier

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The Whittier Art Gallery’s exhibit announcements appeared in the Los Angeles Times, and throughout 1942, the gallery had shown monthly exhibits of the work of 10 nationally-known artists.  Whatever her reasons, Ida O’Keeffe came, “an artist from the East”, moving to Whittier during the frightening years of Word War II.  She found employment as a draughtsman at the Douglas plant in Long Beach.

Guest Registry Page

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By May 10, 1943, Ida O’Keeffe was established with the members of the Whittier Art Association & Gallery, and her signature appears in the registry as “Ida O’Keeffe in charge”. She was taking a turn working at the desk, and helping with the gallery’s management.

Otis Art Institute, 1939

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Otis Art Institute opened in Los Angeles in 1918. Otis, located on Wilshire Boulevard in Westchester, Los Angeles, was the first independent, professional school of art in Southern California. A new campus facility replaced the original building in 1957.

Central Library Rotunda Mural

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Dean Cornwall’s murals can be viewed in the rotunda at the Los Angeles Central Library. The mosaic work in the rotunda is the work of Daniel L. Lu.

It took Dean Cornwall five years of research and work to complete the murals in the Los Angeles Central Library rotunda.

Central Library Rotunda Mural, c. 1930

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Dean Cornwall (1892-1960) was a celebrated and well-known during his lifetime. From 1920 through the mid-1950s, his art appeared regularly in magazines, illustrated books, and posters advertising hundreds of products. In this photo, Dean Cornwall is standing at the top of the stairs.

1943 October 8, 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙨:

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Art Landy’s painting, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘳, receives first place in water colors. “The Red Car” creator must have hunted diligently through all California to find the ugliest combination of hill, houses, fence and vegetation, and then stuck a sadly drawn electric car with a gigantic power pole thrust up its middle smack in the center of the hill of horrors…”

Looking Back at the 1930’s

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The Whittier Art Association formed in 1934 during the depths of the Great Depression. The Art Association opened its first Whittier Art Gallery in the middle of Whittier’s business district, featuring exhibits by professional artists from Los Angeles to the art colony in Laguna Beach.

Looking Back at the 1920’s

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Mabel George Haig, well educated and accomplished Whittier artist, became close friends with Anna Hills, a co-founder of the Laguna Beach Art Association.  Mabel exhibited at the Laguna Beach Art Gallery throughout the 1920s, developing friendships with the artists that lived in Laguna Beach.

1945 May 15, 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙨:

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The Whittier Art Association celebrated the end of their gallery’s mortgage debt on May 14, 1945. The Whittier News article shared the following:

“Perhaps more than any one other person responsible for the [Art] Association was Mrs. Myron J. Haig whose untiring efforts to have all debts paid this year were brought to a successful close when Mr. Fries held a match to the mortgage last evening”.

Ida O’Keefe Paintings Found

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Ida O’Keeffe’s oil paintings, 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴, and 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴, were painted in 1946.  They are part of private collections in Whittier.  Sue Canterbury, a curator from the Dallas Museum of Art, visited Whittier in preparation for the exhibition 𝘐𝘥𝘢 𝘖’𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦, 𝘌𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸.