Looking Back, 1939 – 1945
Los Angeles Times art critic, Arthur Millier gives a positive review of the Whittier
Art Gallery’s opening night, stating,
“…a high level of intelligence and taste was needed to produce such a lovely place…”
Los Angeles Times art critic, Arthur Millier gives a positive review of the Whittier
Art Gallery’s opening night, stating,
“…a high level of intelligence and taste was needed to produce such a lovely place…”
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
Phil Dike exhibits water colors with thirteen other artists at the Whittier Art Gallery’s
Opening Exhibition.
Note: Phil Dike was California Water Color Society President in 1938. He was employed by the Walt Disney
Studios 1935 – 1945, where he taught drawing composition. He contributed to both Snow White and Fantasia.
Phil Dike was a key figure in the development of California style of water color painting.
An oil painting, nearly 400 years old, is discovered in an East Whittier home. The painting by Venetian master,
Paris Bordone, had once hung in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and had not been seen by the
public for over 35 years. The painting was shown at the Whittier Art Gallery and the public was invited to hear
a special lecture.
Art critic, Philip A. Ramus, the fine arts connoisseur of London and Hollywood, will speak about the Paris Bordone painting.
Painting of Renaissance painter, Paris Bordone, is displayed at the Whittier Art Gallery. The painting is valued at $125,000.
Visitors from London and eight states come to view the 400 year old Renaissance painting by Paris Bordone.
Rex Brandt and other artists from the Progressive Art Center of Southern California, exhibit “modern” paintings at the Gallery. Young artist Rex Brandt, became a nationally recognized artist and Associate of the National Academy
of Design. He returned to have a solo exhibit at the Whittier Art Gallery in December of 1957.
Rex Brandt
𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘥 𝘗𝘪𝘦
Watercolor
Paintings by conservative painters, Hanson Puthuff, Katheryn Leighton, Jessie Botke, William Wendt, Clyde Forsythe, George Brandriff, William Ritschel, Jack W. Smith, Carl Borg, and others, are exhibited. The paintings
were sent from the Biltmore Salon In Los Angeles.
Mrs. Haig, “dean of Whittier artists,” exhibits water colors.
The exhibit of Richard Munsell oil and water color paintings was proclaimed, “Years outstanding local one-man painting show”, by Arthur Millier, Los Angeles Times art critic. Richard Munsell was a California Art Club exhibiting Member, 1935 – 1938. He taught at the Chouinard Art Institute.
Wayne Long is known widely through out California for his ceramic work. He is president of the Whittier Art Association.
The Whittier Art Association begins their annual Membership Drive, remembering their first year in the gallery
they built on Painter Ave.
Sam Hyde Harris wins award in Whittier Art Association’s Competitive Member’s Exhibit.
Camera Club members remember the origin of the club’s name, “Circle of Confusion.”
Architect William Harrison exhibits his drawings and photographs. It was W.H. Harrison that donated the plans
for the Whittier Art Gallery in 1938.
Ejnar Hanson exhibits oil paintings and watercolors. He is president of the California Water Color Society, and has been represented in both the New York and San Francisco World Fairs.
Architect William Harrison, who donated the plans for the Whittier Art Gallery in 1938, is praised by the
𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦.
Paintings by Millard Sheets, Edgar Payne, Marian Kavanagh Wachtel, Anna Hills, and Paul Lauritz have been
loaned for the gallery’s exhibit of “Art Gems”. Mabel Haig is chairman of the committee in charge.
Marion Kavanagh Wachtel
𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴, 1904
Oil painting
Loan exhibit opens with 35 oil and water color paintings by American, Canadian, and European artists.
Sueo Serisawa, Japanese-American artist, exhibits paintings at the gallery. Click article twice to enlarge.
Pruett Carter, illustrator, exhibits illustrations from such magazines as 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯, 𝘔𝘤 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, and 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭.
He is considered as “one of the top ranking Illustrators for popular magazines”.
Pruett Carter
Illustration, Ladies Home Journal
Ceramic artist, Wayne Long, will visit major cities to give ceramics demonstrations. Wayne Long served as
Whittier Art Association president 1939-1940.
A Proclamation of the Mayor of Whittier urges all citizens to enroll as members of the Whittier Art Association.
This article appeared on the newspaper’s front page, five weeks before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Millard Sheets attends a dinner party before his evening as a guest speaker at the Whittier Art Gallery.
Mabel Haig studied with Millard Sheets in 1930.
An exhibit of work by the late Eleanor Colburn features her Modern Madonna paintings. The exhibit was
scheduled to open on Sunday, December 7th, at 3:00 pm. Pearl Harbor was bombed at 10:00 am that morning,
and the whole town of Whittier was locked down.
Elanor Ruth Colburn
𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘮, 1937
Oil on canvas
Paul Lauritz, Los Angeles artist, famous throughout the United States, exhibits at the gallery.
Note: Paul Lauritz is a member of The Society of Sanity in Art. He is elected California Art Club President,
June, 1942.
Orpha Klinker, prominent Los Angeles artist exhibits paintings and etchings. One of her etchings is currently exhibited at the National Academy in New York.
Orpha Klinker
𝘗𝘪𝘰 𝘗𝘪𝘤𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯
Watercolor
Orpha Klinker
𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘖𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯
Oil on canvas, 25 X 30 in.
Edgar Payne, a conservative painter, is internationally known for his landscape and marine paintings.
Edgar Alwin Payne
𝘓𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩, 1921
Oil painting
Edgar Payne exhibits oil paintings. He is the author of 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘳𝘵, and 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
(published 1941). He is “one of the best known American artists…”.
Edgar Alwin Payne
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
Edgar Payne attends his reception at the Whittier Art Gallery where his large paintings of Arizona scenes, studies
of the High Sierras, and Mediterranean seascapes are exhibited.
Edgar Alwin Payne
𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘙𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, before 1947
Oil painting
Art Association provides pot luck dinner with bargain cafeteria price of only five cents per serving.
The association will furnish coffee, strawberries and sugar (These would be welcomed words during this time of
war rationing of sugar).
Ten nationally-known artists exhibited during the gallery’s 1941-1942 year. There were two member’s competitive exhibits.
Chouinard Art Institute exhibits the artwork of 14 advanced students in the main gallery. Mabel George Haig
exhibits water colors in the small gallery, reserved for Whittier Art Association members. In her paintings
Petunias, The Pink Boat, and Not a Throughfare are among her paintings on display.
Mabel Haig exhibits water colors in group exhibit. She has exhibited at the Dalzell Hatfield Galleries in Los Angeles.
Note: The Dalzell Hatfield Galleries in Los Angeles were located in the elegant Ambassador Hotel.
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.
Note: The massive 500 room Ambassador Hotel opened in Los Angeles in 1921. The Dalzell Hatfield Galleries were located inside the hotel from 1925 – 1963.
Lt. Arthur Beaumont exhibits his paintings at the Whittier Art Gallery through August, 1942. He speaks at an open meeting, giving a “witty and entertaining account of painting the “great flying fortresses, or B-17s”.
Sam Hyde Harris exhibits 14 paintings during January. He will give a demonstration of “how to paint an
oil painting…proceeding through each step”.
Clyde Forsythe “one of America’s great desert painters, spoke on “the qualities which make a picture great”.
He is a personal friend of American illustrator, Norman Rockwell.
Victor Clyde Forsythe
Illustration, 1920
Leslie’s Photographic Review of the Great War
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.
Ida first settled in an apartment at 205 Earlham Drive, just across the street from Whittier College. Her apartment was within walking distance of the Whittier Art Gallery.
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.
Clyde Forsythe works to complete a series of five paintings depicting the history of a desert town.
E. Roscoe Shrader, Dean of Otis Art Institute, will speak at the gallery. “An additional attraction will be the showing
of a colored film of art students at work at Otis”. The current exhibit is student work from Otis.
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.
Otis Art Institute sends Traveling Exhibitions to Army bases and provides art kits to young artists in the service. Excerpts of servicemen’s letters were read at the gallery’s open meeting.
Clyde Forsythe, famous desert painter, exhibits through September at the Whittier Art Gallery. Plans are made for Mr. Forsythe to speak at the gallery’s open meeting with his friend, muralist Dean Cornwall.
Victor Clyde Forsythe
𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦
Oil on board, 12 X 16 in.
The Art Association…will present to the public, “two internationally famous artists, Clyde Forsythe and Dean Cornwall”, who will speak at the open meeting. Dean Cornwall recently finished the murals in the Los Angeles
Public Library. While living in LA, Dean Cornwall shares Clyde Forsythe’s studio.
Clyde Forsythe and Dean Cornwall use “humor, wit, and gay banter” as they engage in an impromptu debate on commercial art verses pure art.
630 W. 5th St. Downtown Los Angeles
Dean Cornwall was awarded the contract to paint murals for the rotunda of the Los Angeles Central Library in 1927.
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.
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.
This mural is one of 12 murals depicting four great eras of California history.
Dean Cornwall completed the murals in 1932.
Clyde Forsythe, Dean Cornwall, and Ralph Holmes served as judges for the October, 1943 member’s competitive exhibit. Ralph Holmes served as president of the California Art Club from 1939 to 1941.
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…”
Sam Hyde Harris exhibits 17 of his oil paintings. At the open meeting, he painted a Demonstration picture of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Ida O’Keeffe attended the presentation and helped serve refreshments.
Hanson Puthuff exhibits landscape paintings in oil. The artist’s friend, Sam Hyde Harris will speak on the “Life and Works of Hanson Puthuff at the open meeting.
Note: Hanson Puthuff painted the mural backgrounds for the animal dioramas in the Los Angeles
County Museum of History, Science, and Art. He is a member of the California Art Club.
Paul Lauritz exhibits 13 large oil paintings in the main floor gallery. He will demonstrate Charcoal drawing at an upcoming open meeting.
Paul Lauritz
𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮
Oil on board, 25 X 30 in.
An exhibit of paintings of New Guinea by Whittier Art Association Past President Wayne Long, is planned.
Katherine Leighton exhibits her Indian portraits. Her canvases have hung in the Biltmore Salon.
Katheryn Leighton’s oil paintings are reviewed by Sam Hyde Harris at the Gallery’s open meeting. He comments on her drawing skill and her use of color and value. She has painted over 700 paintings of Indians, showing the esteem
of her Indian friends. “She has been made an honorary member of the Blackfoot Tribe of Montana”.
Whittier Art Association Past President, Wayne Long, and Whittier artists Forrest Randall, Roger Hollenbeck, and Larken Vaught exhibit their artwork at the gallery.
More than 600 visitors from 16 cities visited the Servicemen Art Exhibit in January.
Ejner Hansen exhibits paintings. He was born in Denmark, and studied painting and sculpture in Copenhagen.
He praised the Whittier Art Gallery, which he said, “possesses great charm”. He is an instructor at Otis Art Institute, and a member of the California Art Club.
Conrad Buff exhibits paintings and lithographs at the Whittier Art Gallery. His paintings hang in the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Chicago Art Institute, the Los Angeles Museum, and the San Diego Museum.
Conrad Buff
Oil on thin paperboard, 11 1/2 x 15 1/2
Conrad Buff
𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘺, c. 1940
Oil on Masonite
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”.
WAA Member’s exhibit Jury of Selection: Ida O’Keeffe, Larken Vaught, Richard Harris and Glen Nelson. Judges: John Hubbard Rich, Ejnar Hansen, Roscoe Shrader, Dean of Otis Art Institute.