Clyde Forsythe, famous desert painter, exhibits through September at the Whittier Art Gallery. Plans are made for Mr. Forsythe to speak at the galleryโs open meeting with his friend, muralist Dean Cornwall.
The Art Associationโฆwill present to the public, โtwo internationally famous artists, Clyde Forsythe and Dean Cornwallโ, 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 Forsytheโs studio.
Clyde Forsythe and Dean Cornwall use โhumor, wit, and gay banterโ as they engage in an impromptu debate on commercial art verses pure art.
Clyde Forsythe, Dean Cornwall, and Ralph Holmes served as judges for the October, 1943ย memberโsย competitive exhibit. Ralph Holmes served as president of the California Art Clubย from 1939 to 1941.
Art Landyโs painting, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ณ, receives first place in water colors. โThe Red Carโ 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 horrorsโฆโ
Sam Hyde Harris exhibits 17 of his oil paintings. At the open meeting, he painted a Demonstration picture of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Ida OโKeeffe attended the presentation and helped serve refreshments.
Hanson Puthuff exhibits landscape paintings in oil. The artistโs friend, Sam Hyde Harris will speak on the โLife and Works of Hanson Puthuff at the open meeting.
Note:ย ย Hanson Puthuff painted the mural backgrounds for the animal dioramas in the Los Angeles
County Museum of History, Science, and Art.ย 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.
An exhibit of paintings of New Guinea by Whittier Art Association Past President Wayne Long, is planned.
Katheryn Leightonโs oil paintings are reviewed by Sam Hyde Harris at the Galleryโs 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. โShe has been made an honorary member of the Blackfoot Tribe of Montanaโ.
Whittier Art Association Past President, Wayne Long, and Whittier artists Forrest Randall, Roger Hollenbeck, and Larken Vaught ย 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, โpossesses great charmโ. 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.
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] Associationย was Mrs. Myron J. Haig whose untiring efforts to have all debts paid this year were broughtย to a successful close when Mr. Fries held a match to the mortgage last evening”.
WAA Memberโs exhibit Jury of Selection:ย Ida OโKeeffe, Larken Vaught, Richard Harris and Glen Nelson.ย Judges:ย John Hubbard Rich, Ejnar Hansen, Roscoe Shrader, Dean of Otis Art Institute.
Ben Messick, Disney artist and nationally recognized painter exhibits at the gallery. His work had been shown at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Carnegie Institute. His work is handled by the Francis Taylor Gallery in Beverly Hills.
Ida OโKeeffe exhibits realistic and abstract oil paintings in the main floor (large) gallery. Water colors and oils by Phillipa Mansur are shown in the โannexโ, a small gallery space usually reserved for the artwork of local, emerging artists.
Nelbert Chouinard, director and founder of the Chouinard Art Institute, came to speak at the Whittier Art Gallery. She โpredicted tremendous strides for art in the Post-War world.”
Millard Sheets, Dan Lutz, Etinne Ret, Clarence Hinkle, Russell Clowels, Alfredo Ramos Martinez, Grigory Gluckman, and *Rubin exhibit paintings loaned by the Dalzell Hatfield Galleries. The paintings in the exhibit are valued at $200,000.
*[Believed to be Reuven (Zelicovici) Rubin (1893-1974)]
Ralph Hulett exhibits California landscapes and marines. He studied four years at Chouinard Art Institute. S. McDonald Wright, Script Magazine writer, wrote:
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย โRalph Hulettโs watercolors exemplify the best pictorial methods of what has now come
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย to be called the California School.โ
Tyrus Wong exhibits watercolors at the gallery during September, 1947. He was Production illustrator for Walt Disneyโs Bambi, working at the Disney Studios from 1938-1941.ย He was an illustrator for Warner Brothers Studios during World War II. By 1947, Tyrus Wong was devoting all of his time to painting.
The Artistโs Guild of Southern California, Traveling Exhibit exhibited the paintings of artists with club affiliations
with the California Art Club, the California Water Color Society, The American Artistโs Professional League, the Laguna Beach Art Association, and the Whittier Art Association. The โoils and water colors exhibited in both
modern and conservative styles of technique are shownโ.
Tyrus Wong, Ralph Hulett, and Davis Miller are selected for the Whittier Art Association Memberโs Show jury. The Whittier Art Gallery showed the artwork of Whittier Art Association members in a competitive exhibit twice each year. The Exhibits were juried by a group of three know as โthe Jury of Selectionโ, and the โJury of Awardsโ, a group
of three professional artists, chose the award winners. Most of the Jury of Awards judges had previously had solo shows at the gallery.
Loren Barton, nationally known artist and art instructor faculty member, teaches oil and water color painting
at the Whittier Art Gallery. Her paintings are represented by the Dalzell Hatfield Galleries in L.A.โs
Ambassador Hotel.
The Circle of Confusion, Whittierโs Camera Club, received over 1300 entries for their Eleventh Annual Salon of Photography exhibit at the Whittier Art Gallery. Black and white prints and color slides were submitted. Entries
were received from Sweden, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and India.
The California Water Color Society exhibits 30 paintings at the gallery in March of 1948. The exhibit, is unit of the California Water Color Societyโs Traveling Show. Some of the exhibiting artists are, Milford Zornes, Tyrus Wong, Robert Kennicott, and Phil Dike. Phil Dike speaks at the opening reception. His talk is titled,
โCalifornia Water Color Paintingโ.
The Circle of Confusion Camera Club exhibited their 11th Annual International Salon of Photography in February,
of 1948. The two week record of 2,875 visitors, attended the exhibit of prints at the Whittier Art Gallery and the display of color slides at the Jonathan Bailey School.
Edgar Starr exhibits water color and tempora paintings at the gallery through April. He was a color stylist and
artist for the Disney Studios, illustrating a childrenโs book [the Disney Big Golden Book, Bongo, in 1947].
The Whittier Art Gallery provides its first Jr. Art Exhibit, December 5 through January 2 of 1948. It was a
competitive exhibit of student artwork from the Whittier City Schools.
Originals of Currier and Ives prints, are shown at the gallery. There are 21 original prints in the valuable collection. The collection, used on the Travelers calendars since 1936, has been โon circuit among outstanding museums in the nation, and comes to Whittier from Aurora Illinoisโ.
The Circle of Confusion 12th Annual International Photo Salon exhibits 133 prints and 236 color slides selected
from nearly 1400 entries. Photographs were submitted from Canada, England, India, Portugal, Czechoslovakia, Belgium and Hungry.
Milford Zornes exhibits oils, tempera and water color paintings in his one-man show at the Whittier Art Gallery.
He will be the guest speaker at the galleryโs open meeting.
Milford Zornes was Water Color Society President, 1941 โ 1942.
Art Landy and other prominent Southern California artists will be teaching art classes for children free of charge. More than 400 children are signed up for the art classes.
Emil Kosa Jr. returns for his second solo exhibit at the gallery. He serves as a judge for the Whittier Art Associationโs competitive exhibit in May, 1950. Non-member, professional artists always judged WAA member exhibits, for which there were cash awards.
Paul Landacre shows his wood engravings during his March exhibit at the gallery. His prints are in permanent collections at the Library of Congress and in major museums and libraries in Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco,
and Seattle. He teaches at the Kann Institute of Art in Los Angeles.
Norman Rockwellโs drawings and paintings are shown in the small gallery, and the paintings of Joseph Mugnaini
are shown in the main floor gallery. Mugnaini, is an instructor at Otis Art Institute, and a good friend of
Norman Rockwell.
Note:ย The Whittier Art Association & Gallery Archives holds the inventory sheet of Norman Rockwellโs artwork
that hung in this April, 1950 exhibit.
The Whittier Art Associations Art Fair was held under the trees behind the gallery building. ย Artist members demonstrated several media including water color painting, by Mabel Haig, woodcarving by Cloudsley French,
and weaving by Glen Nelson. Ida OโKeeffe visited the event, and can be seen in the center of the newspaper photo.
The Art Fair was held on the gallery grounds, and the memberโs competitive exhibit was featured inside the
Whittier Art Gallery in the main floor exhibit space.
James Couper Wright exhibits water color in a one-man show at the gallery.
Note:ย James Couper Wright earned 48 awards during the 1930s for his still life paintings and landscapes that
were considered โbold and modernโ. He was a member of the California Waterย Color Society from 1931 to 1956.
Jean Charlot, internationally famed muralist, show his lithographs in a solo exhibit at the Whittier Art Gallery.
He has also authored books including ๐๐ณ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐บ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ.
Note:ย Jean Charlot, worked in the true fresco technique during the early 1920s. He befriended Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros, and Jose Orozco.
Mabel Haig steps in as โGuest Speakerโ when a case of measles and other problems prevent the exhibiting Laguna artists from attending their exhibitโs open meeting. Mabel tells the history of the Laguna Beach Art Association
with โhumorous whimsy and dramatic suspenseโ.
The Whittier Art Associationโs first Bohemian Night featured a โBohemianโ theme with humorous skits and an
old-fashioned vaudeville show by Axel Christensen, a well-known comedian. Proceeds from the show were to
benefit the galleryโs Building Fund.
Milford Zornes and Art Landy exhibit with the Artists Guild of Southern California at the Whittier Art Gallery.
Ralph Hulett exhibits at the gallery. Arthur Miller considers Hulett to be a โa consistently good watercoloristโ.
Bohemian Nightโs second year featured a hilarious melodrama entitled โThe Lighthouse Keeperโs Daughterโ, the โclever farceโ was written and narrated by Mabel George Haig. The eveningโs live music was played on piano and accordion. Mrs. Paul Van Cleave, Paul Gardiner, Dick Squires, and Blanch Hutchison, performed Mabel Haigโs melodrama, โThe Lighthouse Keepers Daughterโ.
The second annual Bohemian Night was produced by the galleryโs artists. Placed in the setting of โCafรฉ Bohemiaโ,
was the proprietor and other โemployeesโ of the cafรฉ. Art Association artists became writers, musicians, and actors
in this effort to raise money for the Galleryโs Building Fund.
Bohemian Night, with a Left Bank theme, featured a Parisian sidewalk cafรฉ setting, complete with can-can dancers. The show was a collaboration between the Whittier Art Association and the Whittier Civic Light Opera.
The proceeds benefitted both groups.
Milford Zornes one-man show at the Whittier Art Gallery features a collection of his watercolors, temperas, and
oil paintings. Milford Zornes is a nationally recognized watercolor painter, a member of the American Watercolor Society and art director of the Padua Institute at Padua Hills. At his artistโs talk, he spoke of his experiences in
Thule, Greenland.
Rex Brandt, an associate of the National Academy of Design, exhibits his watercolor paintings in December.ย
During his artistโs talk, he showed three films, โWatercolor Landscapeโ, โWatercolor and Printers Inkโ, and
โOil Painting Methodsโ.
A Bohemian Night titled โTraveling Lightโ, is a Parisian fling, set in a Left Bank cafรฉ. The evenings are planned with
a longer intermission โto permit patrons to sit for individual portraits sketched by a sidewalk artistโ.
Note:ย This Bohemian Night, โTraveling Lightโ, written by Natalie Stone, told the musical story of a โcereal-contest winning couple, who won a trip around the worldโ. The show played โto a sold-out houseโ for four performances.
Milford Zornes teaches evening beginning and advance drawing classes at the Whittier Art Gallery.
Construction is underway on an addition that will increase the Whittier Art Galleryโs exhibition space. The $10,500 addition will have a โbasement workshopโ room. The addition is being built by Raymond Hunnicutt, the contractor who built the original gallery building in 1938-1939.
The Whittier Art Gallery plans opening of its new addition. The event will honor Mrs. Mabel Haig, a charter director of the Association, founders, life members and past presidents of the Art Association.ย