Santa Barbara Art & Artists 1940 to 1960

NOTICIAS Quarterly Magazine Of The Santa Barbara Historical Society Voi. XLIII. No. 1

Spring 1997

1940 TO i960

ANTA BARBARA luis cnjoycd a reputation as an artists’colony of significance since the late nineteenth century. Initially, this reputation rested solely upon thefact that a number ojnotable artists chose the South Coast as their home. An institutional fac et to this reputation ivas added in igio ivith the founding of the Santa Barbara School of the Arts,ivhich, in its nineteen-year history, boasted afacidty of renmuned artistic talent and graduated a significant number of students ivho went on to distinguished careers in art. 1 he institutional development of Santa Barbaras art ivorld toof a major leapforivard in the penod ig^o-igbo tvith thefounding of three organizations: the Santa Barbara 7v[usewn of Art, an exepanded art department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Santa Barbara Art Association. These three agenciesfomied an institutional frameivorf ivhich strengthened and enhanced the artistic coinmunity and did inuch to attract a continuing floiv of talent to the region. In this issue of Nocicias, Fred Bradley relates the st07-y of the groivmg infrastmeture ofSouth Coast art anci of the artists ivho made this period so dymamic.

Front coverphotogniph is a sculpture of Saint Barbaraflanfed by the silhouette ofa larg er ivorl{, The Questing Madonna, both by Frances Efch. Photograph cowtesy of Jane Ejch A'liieller. All photographs arefrom the collection ofthe Sa^ita Barbara Historical Society un less othenvise noted.

The Author; A Santa Barbara native, Fred Bradley received a B.A. in art histoi-yfrom Williams College and from igyg.-icj8o ivas the oivner of Bradley Qallaies in Montecito.

He has pej'sonaUy known a number of the ariists discussed in this issue and is the son of artist Joseph Bi'adley.

The V . ..author . . ivishes to thank thefolloiving for their assistance: Ppnald CrvzTr, Libiwian, Santa Bar-bara Wbuseum of Art; Lori I{itchie, Librwian, Special Collections, UC Santa Bar-bara; Howard Fenton; William Rjjhr-bach; Virginia Backus Vanocur-; Win and Whs. Renzo Fend;Mrs. Joseph Br-adley; Peggy Brierton; and Brie Parfit and Nance Cole ofthe Santa Bar-bara Art Association.

Errata: In the Winter 1996 issue ol Noticias. Thomas Moran was incorrectly cred ited for the etching of Mission Santa Barbara which appeared on page 83. The artist was Peter Moran, a brother of Thomas Moran.

Information for C9.NTRIBUTORS: Noticias is a quarterly journal devoted to the study ol the history ol Santa Barbara County. Contributions of articles arc welcome.

Those authors whose articles arc accepted for publication will receive ten gratis copies of the issue in w'hich their article appears. Further copies arc available to tne contribu tor at cost. The authority in matters of style is the University of Chicago Wlanual of Style, i^tli edition. The Publications Committee reserves the right to return submitted manuscripts for required changes. Statements and opinicMis expressed in articles arc the sole responsibility of the author.

Michael Redmon. Editor Judy Sutcliffe. Designer

© 1997 The Santa Barbara Historical Society 136 E. Dc la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101 ● Telephone: 805/966-1601 Single copies S5.00 ISSN 0581-5916

"Che 0xpansive years Santa barbara Att and Artists 1940 - 1960 HE CONTOURS of Santa Barbara's

1901, Alexander Harmer (1856-1925),

cultural landscape were distinctly defined in the 1940s and 1950s with

with his complex of studios, established an environment facilitating interaction among artists newly attracted to the area while promoting a healthy dialogue be-

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the emergence of three institutions and the firm foothold for the fine arts

which they provid ed. T*he Santa Bar bara Museum of Art opened its doors in 1941. the Fine Arts Depart ment at what is now the University of California at Santa Barbara cook substantive shape during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and the San ta Barbara Arc As sociation staged its inaugural exhibi tion in 1952, These three venues were fertile breeding grounds for the growth and ad vancement of

This painting by Charlotte Berend-Corinth oj Doiiald Bearand his zvife, Esther, was repnvdziced by the couplefor their 1 Christmas card.

many local artists.

These landmark events were the natural

tween these artists and their community,i Santa Barbara’s maturation, with the

by-product of Santa Barbara’s continually expanding artistic traditions, with roots dating back to the turn of the century. In

role of the fine arcs as a serious compo nent of its civic identity, was further en hanced by the Santa Barbara School of the Arcs, which, due in large part to the ef forts of landscape painter and the School’s first president, Fernand Lungren (1856-

j^red DradLcy 1

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1932), opened its classrooms in 1920.

With Harmer and Lungren paving the way, the city’s reputation as one of California’s premier art centers contin ued to grow as did the number ot art ists calling Santa Barbara home. This influx of artists throughout the 1920s necessitated appropriate exhibition space where the talent could display its oeni/rc and solidify a connection with the public.

This need was satisfied through the beneficence of two individuals. Clar ence A. Black, a trustee of the Santa Barbara Public Library, owned a piece of land adjacent to it and agreed to do nate his holding to the library with the sole stipulation that it be used as the site of an art gallery. Mary Faulkner Gould contributed the necessary funds to build the addition to the library, a gift in memory of her sisters, and thus was born the Faulkner Memorial Gallery.

Its opening reception was held on the evening of October 15. 1930.2 The Faulk ner Gallery was an important asset for Santa Barbara; the semi-annual shows held there not only introduced the viewers to a comprehensive overview of local art ists, but offered visitors the opportunity to enjoy the works of notable out-of-town artists who were invited to participate in the exhibitions. The gallery "marked the beginning of a new era in the aesthetic his tory of the city.’’3 The Faulkner Memorial Gallery exhibi tions, similar to many group shows, spanned a generational divide. Throughout the 1930s, the works of older, established artists like John Gamble (1863-1957). De Witt Parshall (1864-1956), Dudley Car penter (1870-1955), Clarence Hinkle (1880-1960), Walter Chcever (18801951). and Lyla Harcoff(1883-1956) were intermingled with the artistic examples of

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The Charles Hemy Ludington Memorial Court, given to the Santa Barbara Museum of Ari by Wjight Ludington in honor of his father, on the museum’s opening day,June

a younger generation including Douglass Parshall (1899-1990). Joseph Knowles (1907-1980), and Standish Backus. Jr. (1910-1989).

A major leap in Santa Barbara’s artistic evolution began taking shape in the late 1930s when a group of like-minded artists and patrons shared the goal of founding a city art museum. The first published an nouncement of the nascent plan was a let ter to the Santa Barbara Neivs-Press from Colin Campbell Cooper (1856-1937) and De Witt Parshall in July of 1937 suggest ing that the old post office on the south east corner of State and Anapamu streets be used for an art museum.'^ The realiza tion of this goal was assured through the dedicated efforts of a wide variety of peo ple committed to strengthening Santa

ARTISTS: 1940-1960 Barbara's cultural base. Those instrumen tal individuals, who subsequently com prised the museum's initial board of trus tees included artists Gamble, Hinkle, both Parshalls. and Channing Peake (19101989). The importance of these gentlemen and their fellow artists in establishing a cultural environment in which a museum was the next credible extension was not lost on the Board of Trustees; it included as one of the new museum's stated objec tives. "To provide special exhibition space accommodations for the artists of Santa Barbara city and county.

In January 1940, Buell Hammett(18951945). the museum’s new president, an nounced the hiring of Donald Bear (19051952) as the art institution’s first Director.

Bear had been invited to Santa Barbara a year earlier from Denver where he held a similar position at the Denver Art Museum. "Impressed with the spirited interest of the community. Bear’s decision to accept the position of director was precip itated by his first view of the building in tended to house the new museum. The old post office sat athwart one of the town’s busiest intersections, where throngs of shoppers and bus passengers awaiting transportation formed a constant pool of passers-by. Bear, who had also been as sistant art director at the New York World’s Fair, found this traffic of poten tial spectators an almost irresistible lure."6 Donald Bear had immersed himself in the world of art from an early age. grow ing up in Denver, Taking up painting at the age of eleven, it would remain a pas sion throughout his life. This first-hand knowledge of art coupled with his facility for both the spoken and written word contributed to his proficiency as an art lecturer and critical writer. In his tenure as head of the Denver Art Museum, Bear’s energies were directed cowards creating an

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aura of accessibility between the museum and the community it served. His funda mental goal was to instill the city with its own unique artistic energy having mu seum activities as the core.

High on the list of these activities were museum-sponsored educational programs and the promotion of local artists through one-man and group exhibitions. Endowed with the requisite resume and record of success, this man of myriad talents was the natural choice among twenty-five ap plicants to assume the directorship of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The museum staged its official opening on June 5. 1941. "Interestingly, the exact time of the opening was determined by as trology. Buell Hammett had the Mu seum's horoscope cast to determine the most auspicious hour, and at precisely 11:43 A.M., the Museum opened its doors for the first time.”7 The inaugural exhibit was Painting Today and Yesterday in the United States, and, indicative of Bear’s posture on the benefits of commingling art and education, the initial fifteen hun dred visitors were students from La Cumbre and Santa Barbara junior high schools, A focal point of the new facility was the skylighted courtyard just beyond the entry loggia. This impressive space, called Ludington Court, and the magnificent Greek and Roman statuary on display there were gifts from benefactor Wright Ludington (1900-1992). Ludington. phi lanthropist. astute collector, and accom plished artist, was the paradigm for those committed individuals who marshalled their resources to ensure a solid footing and optimistic outlook for the new mu seum.

Ludington was born in New York and began cultivating aesthetic sensibilities as a youth during family holidays in Europe.

His artistic skills were honed at Yale Uni-

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vcrsicy, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Art Students’ League in New York. A keen eye and a zeal for col lecting were manifested as early as the 1920s with his acquisition of superb exam ples of classical antiquities and modern masters like Picasso. Braque, and Derain.

Thankfully for the new art museum and the people of Santa Barbara, Ludington was possessed of a generous spirit. Ac companying the treasures in the Ludington Court were works by Degas. Dali, Derain, Matisse, Picasso. Sheeler. and Jo seph Stella,^ These early gifts betokened a life of unrivaled patronage. In a span of fif ty years, Wright Ludington donated more than three hundred artworks to the museum. His personal devotion and desire to have others share his enthusiasm and love for art is captured in a statement written in 1989. "Art has been the guiding force of my life and a great pleasure to own. But it has brought me even greater joy to share the works that now belong to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art with the several million visitors whose lives. I hope, will be enriched as mine has been by the many wonderful things artists have to tell us,’’9 True to its promise, the museum was supportive of Santa Barbara artists right from the start. Concurrent with the mu seum’s inaugural exhibition was a show of California artists, including many locals, at the Faulkner Memorial Art Gallery.

Donald Bear and those on the museum board overseeing acquisitions chose to pur chase the works of two artists from this exhibit; a landscape by Knowles and Pale Clown by Rico Lebrun (1900-1964). This initial act of reaching out between the mu seum and local artists was the opening ex change of a dialogue which would contin ue in earnest for many years.

The first Santa Barbara artist to be honored with a one-man show at the Mu¬

NOTICIAS seum of Art was Clarence Hinkle. Twen ty-nine of his paintings went on display in September 1941. Hinkle arrived in Santa Barbara in 1935 with a career chat had es tablished him in the upper echelon of Cali fornia painters. He was born in Auburn, California, in 1880. The E. B. Crocker Art Gallery in Sacramento was the sice of his earliest studies followed by training at the Mark Hopkins Institute (later the San Francisco Art Institute).

In 1903, Hinkle traveled cast to attend the Arc Students’ League in New York and, thereafter, the Pennsylvania Acade my of Fine Arcs where he worked with Thomas Anshutz and William Merritt Chase. A Cresson Traveling Award Scholarship cook him to Europe in 1906 where he remained for six years, spending most of his time in Holland; France, where he had been admitted to the Paris Salon; and England.^0 Hinkle’s exposure CO European masters such as Cezanne.

Gauguin. Fragonard, and Gainsborough was integral to the development of his dis tinctive. energetic style, with subject and medium on equal footing.

Hinkle settled in San Francisco upon his return to the United States and began receiving serious accolades and commis sions. including the Cooper Union Prize for drawing, acceptance of a painting by the National Academy, and selection as an artist to decorate several buildings at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Ex position in San Francisco.il In 1917. Hin kle moved to Los Angeles to begin a ca reer as an arc teacher, first at the School of Art and Design followed by a post at the newly opened Chouinard Art School, where he was the first instructor in paint ing and drawing. Hinkle retired from teaching in 1930 and returned to Europe prior to his arrival in Santa Barbara.

Donald Bear, having assumed the addi-

ARTISTS: 1940-1960

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Douglass Parshall, 193R Patshall was on the first Board ofTrustees ofthe Santa Barbara T'Tiisewn ofArt and tuas thefijst president ofthe Santa Barbara An Association. Courtesy of Virginia Back,us Vanocur.

tional duties of arc writer and critic for the Santa Barbara News-Press, implied why Hinkle was the natural choice as the muscum’s inaugural soloist. "Hinkle’s work is profoundly serious and has had for a long time an inspiring influence on many of the gifted younger artists of this city and throughout the region."12 A key development during the mu seum’s first year was the establishment of an education program and indispensable to its success was the artist and teacher hired as the first director of education. Jo seph Knowles, Knowles was born in Montana and spent his childhood in San Diego. In 1927, he was accepted at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts on a maintenance scholarship and there, bene fiting from the expert guidance of the School’s director, Frank Moricy Fletcher

(1866-1949),(". . . perhaps the most dom inant and constructive influence of my student days.’’^^), Knowles gleaned the knowledge and technical facility to fur ther his career as an artist; he was also sensitive to the power of an educational environment as a critical clement in ad vancing the arts. He committed himself to the dual role of educator and artist.

Knowles’ initial priority in his new post was to establish an education program for county school children. There was no fa cility within the museum to accommodate the students, so, during the museum's first year, Knowles went to the schools, speak ing to over seven thousand children and conferring with three hundred-fifty teach ers about art instruction.!'^ This enor mously successful program mandated the development of a junior Art Center under

6 the roof of the museum where classes could be conducted and children's art ex hibited. Tile generosity of Mrs, Adrian Wood enabled this need to be fulfilled and the Emma Wood Gallery opened in No vember 1942, Following the Hinkle exhibit. Bear con tinued with an active museum calendar highlighted by the displays of leading lo cal artists. The first year included oneperson shows by Lyla Harcoff, Douglass Parshall, Jack Gage Stark (1882-1950), and Walter Cheever.

Lyla Marshall Harcoff arrived in Santa Barbara in the late 1920s. She was a na tive of the Midwest, having been born in Lafayette. Indiana, and graduated from Purdue University. Her extensive art back ground included study at the Art Institute of Chicago and training in Paris at the Academic Moderne and the Academic Ic Grand Chaumier. Harcoff. one of only five Santa Barbara artists selected for the Public Works of Arc Project in the 1930s.18 was one of California's leading woman artists and a regular contributor to the annual exhibitions at the Faulkner Gal lery. Her December 1941 show at the Mu seum of Arc was the first in a series fea turing state and regional artists. Flower compositions and figure studies were her subjects of choice and Donald Bear offered these words in his analysis. "Modern painting, such as this, chat is honest and sincere, has a life and dignity that is all its own. Wliile ic has implications of abstrac tion and exists for itself and by itself, ic is not divorced from life or the organic ne cessity for action.”16 Douglass Parshall was one of Santa Bar bara’s best-known and most prolific paint ers. as well as a tireless supporter for a va riety of local art causes. Parshall was born and raised in New York City, where he had early training at the Art Students’

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League before moving here with his par ents in 1917. He graduated from Thacher School in Ojai the following year and chose CO forgo the college experience, opt ing instead to immediately begin his ca reer as an artist. His first studio was in the old Harmer adobe on De la Guerra Plaza.

Parshall attended the School of the Arcs in the 1920s and. like Knowles, was influenced by Frank Morlcy Fletcher. Parshall would go on to become a faculty member at the School and. during the 1930s was the area’s point man for the art programs of the federal government, first as local di rector of the Public Works of Arc Project, followed by his selection as Tri-Counties district supervisor for the Federal Art Pro ject.17 Parshall’s many artistic accolades in cluded designation as an Associate of the National Academy of Design (ANA) while still in his twenties. His stature as an artist and steadfast dedication to expand ing Santa Barbara’s cultural base earned him a position on the Museum of Art's first Board of Trustees and a one-man show of his watercolors in February 1942.

Following Parshall on the museum’s gallery walls were the paintings of Jack Gage Stark, an artist of international re pute. Stark was born in Missouri and de veloped his artistic skills at beiore traveling to France study painting. He was in start of World War I and

an early age in 1900 to Paris at the served under

Homer Saint-Gaudens in the camouflage corps. He was on the front lines for seven months before being wounded.

Stark returned to the United States and traveled extensively around the country prior to his settling down in homes in Santa Barbara and in Silver City. New Mexico, with occasional, inspirational re turn trips to France, Arthur Millier, the Los Angdes Times art critic, wrote upon

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ARTISTS: 1940-1960 This bwnzc oj Rico Lc6mn was executed by Dudley Carpenter in ig^6. Fnmi the ColleC' tion of the Santa Barbara Museum ojArt, Qift of Katherine Peake.

March 1942 rcprcscnccd the firsc conncccion beeween the new Santa Barbara Mu seum of Arc and Santa Barbara State Col lege where Cheever had been an arc professor since 1927. The two institutions would maintain a network of mutual sup port throughout the ensuing two decades.

Cheever’s roots were in New England.

Born in Massachusetts, he studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arcs. He settled in Southern California in 1912. working on sec design for a Los Angeles theater and lat er became a draughtsman and figure paint er for Hoclzel Interior Decorators. He also began his career as an art teacher at this time, offering private lessons in his studio.

In addition to his long tenure at Santa Bar bara State College (he retired in 1948).

Cheever joined Bear and Hinkle as instruc tors of the adult arc classes at the Museum of Art. initiated in June 1943.

reviewing one of Stark’s Los Angeles exhi bitions. "Stark, a veteran Californian who spent many years in Paris, has an eye for the poetic rhythms, colors, and atmos pheres which usually pass undetected in everyday life."i''^ Stark was revered as much for his kindheartedness as the powerful expressiveness of his art. Bear, an ardent supporter, wrote that Stark was ". . . one of the most gifted, sensitive, and highly individual artists that have ever worked in the West. . . . No artist was more loyal in his friendships, more generous to his colleagues and more considerate of young painters."19 The exhibit of Walter Cheever in

The essence of Cheever's artistry resid ed in portraiture, and Hinkle, his friend and contemporary, expressed the follow ing in remembering his cohort, "Going back through exhibitions of California art ists. Walter Cheever was one of the pio neers. His portraits and pictures ol family painted with love and tenderness, as no one but himself could have done, always enhanced the exhibitions. The beautifully painted heads of his young daughters will remain in many an artist's and layman's mind a long time."20 The Santa Barbara Museum of Art's first year of operation was a resounding success, setting standards for others to emulate and ensuring its permanent place on the city's cultural map. The 1941-42 calendar had encompassed seventy exhibi tion changes, over one hundred lectures and radio talk shows, and a schedule of weekly music recitals. In the published re port. The First Year, Donald Bear stated, "A modern community museum of arc

NOTICIAS must be a practical, as well as a laborato ry, center where the various arcs meet upon a common ground. We insist chat it should be a meeting place for the artists as well. It should recognize the aspects of pleasure and recreation along with the meaning of beauty and the need for learn-

mg.”21 The early years of U.S, involvement in World War II did little in the way of hampering the museum’s advancement of its programs. Joseph Knowles, a worthy recipient, was given his first one-man mu seum show featuring watcrcolors and drawings in June 1942.

An artist of international acclaim, who had made Santa Barbara his home since 1938. was the Italian master, Rico Lebrun.

An extensive display of his recent paint ings and drawings was the subject of a museum exhibit in August 1942. Lebrun was born in Naples in 1900 and graduated from the National Technical Institute in 1917. World War 1 and military duties dominated the next five years of his life, but he found the time to attend free draw ing classes at the Naples Academy of Fine Arts. It was also at this time that he un dertook the study of mural painting under the guidance of noted Neapolitan fresco artists. In 1922. he was employed as a de signer for a stained glass factory, which sent him to Springfield, Illinois, to open a similar facility.

Lebrun moved to New York in 1925, and his career as an artist began to blos som. Working as a commercial illustrator, his drawings appeared in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and The TJciv Yorl^er. Regular vis its to Italy in the late 1920s and early 1930s played an important role in his artistic development, particularly in the me dia of drawing and fresco painting. In 1934, Lebrun was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship and joined the fa-

culcy of the Arc Students’ League in New York. Between 1936 and 1938, he worked on a mural for the Works Progress Ad ministration (WPA) in the Pennsylvania Railroad Station and was joined on the project by one of his students, Channing Peake. This association would be the be ginning of a lifelong friendship. It was at Peake’s urging that Lebrun left New York and came to Santa Barbara. While estab lishing a residence here, Lebrun also ac cepted a teaching position at Chouinard Arc Institute in Los Angeles. Donald Bear, as Lebrun's unwavering champion, played an instrumental role in the artist’s development. The director was not reti cent in expressing his admiration for the artist upon reviewing the 1942 Museum of Arc exhibit, "Lebrun’s exhibition is a reve lation and a brilliant one. One’s first im pression is chat here is an artist who, whether working with the loosest mean dering line or the most classically disci plined one. sees everything with an incense and passionate sense of life."22 Another artist who left a lasting im pact on the local arts scene was William Hcsthal (1908-1985). both in his role as an artist and as curator at the Museum of Arc in the 1950s. He was formally introduced to the community with a one-man show in April 1943, shortly after his arrival from San Francisco, his birthplace. Heschal’s talents were manifested while still a child, resulting in his acceptance as a member of the San Francisco Art Associa tion at the age of ten. He was a founding member of the Modern Gallery of San Francisco in the lace 1920s and traveled extensively in Europe, attending school in Munich.

art

Hcsthal was the first recipient of the Senator Phelan award which resulted in his decision to ship out as a sailor to the Far East, where he painted in China and

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ARTISTS: 1940-1960

Japan. He was in China during the Japa nese invasion prior to World War II. In 1940, Hesthal received the Rosenberg Fel lowship. which led to a year of painting in Mexico. Soon thereafter he arrived in San ta Barbara with his wife and fellow artist,

'

Edna, and they discovered their ideal home In a cabin studio at 826 Garden Street.23 Two of Santa Barbara’s most venerable artists were honored with one-man mu seum exhibitions in the summer of 1943.

De Witt Parshall in July and the dean of local painters. John Gamble, in September.

Both artists were born during the Civil War and lived into their nineties. Their

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careers paralleled each other in length and illustriousness.

Unusually. Parshall was not drawn to art as a child. His grandfather, by whom he was raised, was a banker in Lyons, New York, and De Witt studied engineer ing at Hobart College. After his 1885 graduation, he traveled to Europe with his mother and sisters for what would be an eight-year stay. While In Dresden, Par shall, to relieve his boredom, began doing caricature sketches, intrigued by the varie ty of subjects in the local populace. This marked the start of his creative career. Af ter a year's study at the Royal Academy in Dresden, he went to Paris and lived with the San Francisco artist. Charles Rollo Peters, through whom he learned about the beauty of California. Parshall enrolled at the Academie Julian and. within a year, had a portrait accepted in the Paris Salon.

During the summers. Parshall would trav el throughout France and Switzerland, and it was on a visit to the Swiss Alps that he became fascinated with landscape paint ing. A depiction of the Dent du Midi was hung at the World's Columbian Exposi tion In Chicago in 1893, the same year he returned to the U.S.

John Qamblc’s artistic tale^it and his ^6^'car residency in Santa Barbara earned him the title of the "dean of Santa Barbara artists.” Selfportrait fwm the collectim oj the Santa Barbara I listoiical Society.

He resettled in New York with his new wife. Carrie, in 1895. Like Winslow Homer before him. Parshall was attracted to Maine, where he spent time in the sum mers painting the coastal vistas. It was a 1909 nocturne marine. The Caverns oj the Deep, which earned him acceptance as an associate in the National Academy of De sign. In 1910. at the invitation of the San ta Fe Railroad, he and several other artists were transported in a private rail car to the Grand Canyon. This inspired many return visits over the next several years until the lure of the West took permanent hold, and Parshall moved his family to Santa Barbara in 1917.24 He devoted him self almost exclusively to depicting Cali fornia subjects from this point onward.

His contributions to the community in cluded a faculty post at the School of the Arts and vital participation throughout the planning stages of the Museum of

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Art. Indicative of his devotion to worthy civic causes, the proceeds from the 1943 exhibit of pastels were donated to the American Red Cross. It was not uncom mon during these years to offer for sale the local artists’ work being featured at the museum.

John Gamble had celebrated his eighti eth birthday earlier in the year and Donald Bear felt it appropriate to honor one of California’s elite, living landscape painters with a retrospective exhibition. Gamble was born in Morristown, New Jersey, but moved with his family to New Zealand at a young age, where his father represented a steamship company. The climate had an adverse effect on John’s health, so, in 1883. his parents sent him to San Francis co, It was here that Gamble initiated his career as an artist. Echoing the maturation process of many of his contemporaries, he made his way to Paris in the 1890s and enrolled at the Academic Julian, In 1906, following the San Francisco earthquake. Gamble arrived in Santa Bar bara for what was intended to be a short

tions. other events transpired which as sured a continuity in the vitality of the lo cal arts scene. On July 1. 1944, Santa Bar bara State College became the eighth campus ol the University of California.

Prior to that time, the emphasis at the col lege had been in the field of industrial arts with minimal attention to the fine arts.

Under the university’s umbrella, the pen dulum would begin to swing in the other direction. Bear, sensitive to the changes this new development would engender, "envisioned enlarged cultural and educa tional assets and a closer association be tween all institutions connected with learning and the fine arts, through the new connection with the state universi ty.”26 Bear brought substance to his vi sion by joining the college art faculty as a lecturer in 1945.

Another important development was Rico Lebrun’s return in December of 1944 as ”artist-in-residence” at the museum.

This program, another Donald Bear inno vation. further extended the art institu tion’s educational influence. It was made

stay, but. once here, he made it his perma nent home. From the time he landed in California, he was attracted to the state’s

possible through the generosity of Wright Ludington. among others. Lebrun had left the area in 1942. and a mutual ad

unspoiled fields of wildflowcrs as subjects for his paintings, and it was with these canvases that he made his permanent niche.

miration between artist and director per suaded him to come back, ”To have a

Gamble was sensitive to his role as an

step in the vitalizing of the communi ty,"27 Lebrun offered the following com ment. "This is a rare experience in my life, one of those things that probably will happen only once,"28

artist in an historical context. Cognizant of the inherent irony of depicting untrammclcd views of nature’s bounty while bat tles raged overseas, he knew "World War 11 would alter artists’ self-expression. "I have my way of doing things, and I won’t change, but there will be a change for the younger artists and for those who will come into the picture later.”25 While the on-going war reduced the availability of artists for feature exhibi¬

really creative artist attached to the staff." said Bear, "will, I think, be a tremendous

Artist-in-residcncc programs, in which the act of creating art was combined with lectures and criticism, had been employed at universities but never offered through the auspices of a museum. "The experi ence of having an artist-in-residence of Le brun’s caliber was a significant step and

ARTISTS; 1940-1960

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edged by critics as one of the outstanding Italian films of that period.

Di Cocco traveled extensively through out the U.S. before settling in Santa Bar bara. Among his endeavors were a special assignment at the New York World’s Fair in 1939 and work as an experimental set designer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

Donald Bear described Di Cocco’s work as "poetic and lyrical landscapes, quietly colored vistas of the imagination, steeped in fantasy.’’30 One of his most notable paintings. Luna Park, was a prize winner at the San Francisco Legion of Honor’s First Annual American Exhibition in 1946.

"A man who has grown wise with age and whose mind never ceases to be in Dudley CarpenUr moved from painting to sculpture during the difficult years of the De pression. Qift ofMrs. Campbell Qrant.

was tremendously helpful in creating a specialized audience reaction on the part of the public toward the museum."29 Le brun’s two-year stint was an unqualified success and another testament to Bear’s in spired leadership.

Francesco Di Cocco, like Lebrun, a na tive of Italy, arrived in Santa Barbara in 1944 and had his paintings featured at the museum in August. Di Cocco had emi grated from Italy several years earlier due to the restraints imposed on artistic crea tivity under the Fascist regime. Prior to departing his homeland, he explored the modernist trends in Rome, Futurism and Surrealism, and his distinctive fantasy im ages reflected the influence of these move ments. Di Cocco was also drawn to the world of the cinema and directed one of Italy's first documentaries. II Venta ddla Citta (The Belly of the City), acknowl-

trigued with new ideas, he has given gen erously of himself and his talent. There are few artists who grew up here during the past 30 years who have not benefited by his wide experience.’’^! These words of praise describe Dudley Carpenter, whose work was first shown at the museum in March of 1946.

Carpenter was born in Tennessee and attended the Art Students’ League, where he became a vice-president. Attracted to Impressionism, he set off for Paris and, like Gamble and Dc Witt Parshall, en tered the Academie Julian. He returned to New York in 1893 after eighteen months in Europe and began a career as artist and teacher. Sixteen years in New York and eleven years in Denver preceded his move to Santa Barbara in 1920. Although he in tended to make a living as a decorator, he found a calling as a portrait painter.32 Carpenter’s credentials also landed him on the faculty of the School of the Arts where he taught portraiture and mural painting.

During the Depression, customers for

12

NOTICIAS

paintings were few, so Carpenter and some of his fellow painters turned to sculpture. One of his most celebrated pieces was a portrait bust of Rico Lebrun that he completed in 1946, short ly before Lebrun ended his artist-inrcsidence tenure and returned to Los

’

Angeles. A bronze was cast two years after Lebrun’s death and was added to the collection of the Museum of Art,33

f

After the School of the Arts closed.

Carpenter continued teaching at the Alhccama Art Center, the old Com munity Arts buildings which had been remodeled by Mrs. Max Schott and opened for art classes in 1939, The end of the war signaled a resur gent optimism and vitality which was reflected at the Museum of Art with the unveiling of new programs and ex- L_ hibitions. In June 1946, Joseph Standish Backiis, atop the ladder, poses zvith friend Knowles returned to the museum to and colleague Joseph Kno^vles. Ihe two are hard at teach a thirteen-session college extension course in pictorial composition

work on a mural at the offices ofBeck^vith InstJW' ments, Fullerton, California, ca. inid-ig^os. Courtesy ofVirginia Backus Vanocur.

sponsored by the University of Cali fornia, Santa Barbara College (UCSBC).

He also displayed twenty recent watcrcolors in his second one-man show in November.

As a leader in the art community, Knowles was a magnet for contemporaries seeking knowledge, guidance, or friendly dialogue from a kindred spirit. Two of Santa Barbara’s younger artists who con nected with Knowles and one another were Standish Backus, Jr. and Joseph Brad ley (1916-1987). Tliese three artists devel oped their artistic styles independently, ar riving at a common idiom in which the reality of an image was not a truth of na ture. but a truth born from a picture’s blend of bold composition, distinctive to nal interplay, and personal interpretation, Stan Backus’ first one-man exhibition

opened at the Museum of Art in January 1947. During the war. he was a Navy combat artist, and the show, lent by the Department of the Navy, was a wacercolor series of incidents of the war in the Pa cific. including scenes of the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima.

Backus was born in Detroit and ma jored in art and architecture at Princeton, graduating in 1933. Realizing that archi tects were "starving to death,” he depart ed for Europe to begin painting in ear nest.34 After a brief period of study at the University of Munich, he returned to the United States and settled in Santa Barbara in 1935. Prior to his Navy service. Backus concentrated mostly on landscapes in his chosen medium of watercolor. In 1940, he

ARTISTS: 1940-1960

13

for interpretation of plane and line, Bradley was born in Jacksonville. Flori da. and spent his childhood in the South east and New England prior to attending Cate School near Carpinteria, California.

He began painting while a student, and it was at Cate that he met joe Knowles, one of his teachers. Bradley graduated from Harvard in 1939, having studied the theo ry and history of art. He never had any formal training and was essentially selftaught. Bradley commented on this aspect of his background in an interview with art critic. Henry Seldis. "I never went to art school. Sometimes I think this gives me a certain advantage, because it forces me to work out my own particular approach.

You learn from other artists the methods

Joseph Bradley, ca. igSo. A graduate ofCate School in Carpintetia, hefeltnis lackofformal art training helped him develop his technique.

Courtesy ofM.rs.Joseph Bradley.

was awarded the first prize at the 20th Annual Show of the California Watercolor Society held at the Los Angeles County Museum.

Donald Bear’s analysis of the 1947 ex hibit included these insights, ". . . Backus achieves a strange, quiet kind of poetry which establishes mood and goes beyond illustration. His handling of watercolor is full-bodied. . . . His use of ink line is telling and gives a certain kind of vivid clarity which sparkles in contrast to the general sobriety of many of these composi tions.”35

Joseph Bradley’s work first went on view at the Museum of Art in April 1947. Formal design or a painting’s structure was the artist’s primary inter est, so. more often than not, he selected as subjects specific building motifs ready

and techniques of painting which teach you how to paint though no one can teach you what to paint.”36 Sandwiched between the Backus and Bradley exhibitions was a seminal event, the First Annual Tri-County Exhibition, an opportunity for the public to view and savor the wide spectrum of art being created throughout the immediate region.

This was the first large group exhibition of local artists held at the museum since 1942, reviving and expanding a tradition begun seventeen years earlier at the Faulk ner Gallery. One hundred-forty paintings and sculptures were accepted for the inau gural show by a jury of Clarence Hinkle.

Douglass Parshall. and Joseph Knowles, and the community’s enthusiastic re sponse to the exhibit ensured its spot on the museum’s annual calendar. A Santa Barbara News-Press editorial addressed the exhibit’s importance. "The Museum, which customarily presents the work of artists of unchallengeable standing, is serving well its function of stimulating widespread interest in art as a form of communication and expression, when it

14

NOTICIAS

opens its galleries co all comers in ics own geographical area.”37 Buelkon rancher and artist Channing Peake was invited to show his paintings and drawings at the museum in August 1947. Peake was born in Boulder. Colora

ried Katy Schott, an accomplished artist herself, and they set off for New York, where Channing enrolled at the Art Stu dents' League. "There was a course listed which said 'Mural Painting by Rico Le brun’. I'd never heard of Rico, but I took

do, and his family moved to California’s Inyo Valley in 1915. He attended both the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and the Santa Barbara School of

this course and my association with him became an important part of my develop ment as an artist.”39

the Arts as a scholarship student. In 1934. he journeyed to Mexico with the intention of studying mural painting under Diego Rivera, but he was disappointed in Riv era’s work which "looked like blown-up poster painting to me,"38 so he spent his time traveling around the country, sketch ing and painting the people.

Upon his return from Mexico, he mar-

Forrest Flibbits, iQji. Initially a coimnercial artist, he eventually devoted himself to landscape canvases. Photograph by Donald Ritssel. Courtesy ofthe Estate ofForrest Flibbits.

After working with Lebrun on the WPA mural at the Pennsylvania Station.

Peake returned to Santa Barbara in 1938 and settled down at Rancho Jarabi, a 1300-acre ranch near Buelkon. where he raised quarter horses.

Another Santa Ynez Valley artist whose status was elevated by museum representation was Buelkon resident For rest Hibbits. His first one-man show opened in January 1948. Hibbits was born in Lompoc and graduated from the Cali fornia College of Arts and Crafts In 1928.

His early career was in the commercial field, working as an advertising artist, il lustrator, and decorator in San Francisco.

A 1937 trip to Europe was followed by service in the military. He settled In Buellton in the mid-1940s and began making frames to earn a living. This enabled him to move away from the commercial appli cation of art and toward the satisfaction of his creative Impulses.

His 1949 exhibition centered around sketches from a recent return trip to Bel gium. Hibbits preferred the lighter medi um of watercolor and casein, treasuring the spontaneity and Immediacy inherent in their application.

The year of 1948 was an important de parture point at Santa Barbara College.

Since becoming a member of the University of California, it was Intended that the new campus would be a place where the fine arts would be emphasized. Donald Bear’s as signment as a lecturer in 1945 was an incipl-

15

ARTISTS: 1940-1960 enc move in chat dircccion. In 1946, Renzo Fend (b. 1914) arrived on the Riviera cam pus as an instructor in sculpture, joining Walter Cheever. Ruth Doolittle, and others in what was the beginning of an effort to ex pand students’ access to an art education.

Howard Fenton (b. 1910) arrived in 1948, having been recruited from a teaching post at UCLA. Fenton was told at the time that UCSBC was committed to being a college known for the excellence of 40 its fine arts program.

The 1949 La Cumbre yearbook confirmed that 'UCSBC boasts one of the

notable bas-relief, Maternity. A copy of Maternity was purchased by the gallery at the Pitti Palace, making Fcnci, at nine teen, the youngest person to be honored with permanent representation,42 One of his first commissions upon arriving in Santa Barbara was the portrait bust of Joan Easton, Faust’s granddaughter, whose family lived here. It was a bitter sweet assignment, for Faust had been killed on May 11 in Italy while serving as an Ameri can war correspondent.

Howard Fenton was born in Toledo, Ohio, and

most complete and out standing art departments in California.”41 Renzo Fenci was born in Florence and first en tered art school at the age of twelve. After graduat ing with a Maestro D’Arte degree from the Royal Institute of Art, he decided to leave his native country amidst the grow ing Fascist influence and sailed to New York in 1938. He maintained a studio in New York before

arrived in Los Angeles at an early age, where he graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1930. He attended Chouinard Art Institute in the late 1930s, and, after the war, entered the graduate program at UCLA, where he received a master’s dcKmzo Faid, shortly after his umvat in Santa Barbara in ig^4. The sculptor served on the Santa Barba ra Art Association's first exhibitions committee, arranging shoivs at the Faulkn^ Memonal Qalh^'at the Santa Barbara Public Library.

Courtesy ofRenzo Fenci.

moving west to Wiscon sin and then on to Pullman. Washington, where he became a member of the Washington State College faculty in 1942, Fenci arrived in Santa Barbara in 1944.

His first introduction to California had been through a friendship he cultivated with the author. Frederick Faust, who also wrote under the pen name. Max Brandt.

The young sculptor and California scribe had met in Italy during the 1930s, and Faust became a friend and patron. Fcnci was commissioned to do portrait busts of family members, and Faust also bought a

gree in drawing and painting in 1947. Wliile at UCLA, Fenton was particularly influenced by one of his professors. Stanton

MacDonald-Wright, the founder of Synchronism, and an Asian art scholar. From him Fen¬

ton learned the intricacies of color theory and attended all his courses covering the art of India, China, and Japan. It was MacDonald-Wright who recommended Fenton to fill a faculty position in the UCSBC art department.

Fenton's own distinctive art style be speaks his fascination with Asian art and the bold use of color. The resultant imag es arc powerful, personal statements.

"Above all else, I am convinced that it is the individual's personality, his tempera-

16

NOTICIAS

menc. chan finds ics way into his vocabu lary of forms as an arcisc and gives them validity, ”‘^●3 As the decade drew to a close, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art continued the un wavering support of local artists. Jack Gage Stark and Dudley Carpenter re turned as solo exhibitors in 1948, The mu seum purchased individual works by Back us and Peake from a November National Drawing Show with funds provided by Mrs. Sellar Bullard, A group exhibition in December featured forty-nine works by ten local artists, including Lebrun, Di Cocco, Ludington, Hinkle, Fend. Peake, Parshall, Knowles, Backus, and portraitist Goode Davis, Featuring a smaller group with several pieces each evinced a clarity of contrast and congeniality not possible with large group shows where partici pants submitted one work each.

A retrospective for Lyla Harcoff in Feb ruary 1949 was followed by Wright Ludingcon’s first one-man show of oil paint ings. In a special catalogue printed for the show, Donald Bear, with typical elo quence. offered his thoughts. "Each pic ture is a vignetted passage, a motif, a small situation in nature described but de scribed largely and generously with the painter’s personal means, which make of nearly every pictorial situation in Wright Ludington’s painting a new world of dra '44 matic magic.

William Dole (1917-1983) arrived in Santa Barbara in 1949, adding his presence on the art faculty roster at UCSBC and contributing additional credence to ics quest for excellence. Dole was born in An gola, Indiana, and his intent to become an arcisc controlled his choices from a very young age. Arc books at the public library were among the first available resources of inspiration, and hands-on experience was provided by a sec of oil paints and a dozen

/ Howard Fenton brought his loveJor Asian an to his position 07i the expanding an faculty at > UCSBC in the late ig^os. Counesy of H0ivard Fenion.

academy boards ordered from a SearsRoebuck catalog. A family crip to the 1933 Century of Progress fair in Chicago facilitated Dole’s first visit to a major mu seum. the Arc Institute, which was an awe-inspiring event for the teenager. The indelible images of masterworks, particu larly those of Hopper and Courbet, were tangible validations chat the pursuit of arc was his correct course.

Following his high school graduation.

Dole was offered scholarships from both the John Herron School of Arc in India napolis and Olivet College in Michigan.

He chose the liberal arcs program of the latter and ended up majoring in art history and minoring in English literature. He re turned CO Olivet after graduation to earn a teaching credential in arc and was subse quently appointed Supervisor of Arc for the Angola public schools in 1939.

Military service during World War II included a position as arc instructor in a

ARTISTS: 1940-1960

Spokane convalescent hospital. During this period. Dole took the opportunity to pursue an art course at Eastern Washing ton State College taught by Glen Wessels.

This was a propitious encounter, for it would be due largely to Wessels' encour agement that Dole entered the graduate program at the University of California.

Berkeley in 1946, where Wessels was an instructor. Dole stayed on at Berkeley af ter graduation, accepting a teaching posi tion as Lecturer and instructing students in a course on introductory drawing. Two years later he joined Fenton and Fenci on the Riviera campus of UCSBC.45 The evolving relevance of the arts pro gram at the college was further evidence that Santa Barbara was dedicated to build ing on the foundation of cultural growth which had been secured over the previous decade. Bear knew that strengthening the bridge between the museum and the col lege was a logical move, consistent with his goal of instilling the local art scene

Wright Ludington, ca. igSi. Ludington zvas a majorfigure on the Santa Barbara art scene as an artist in his own right and as a most generous patron ofthe arts. Photograph by David Doerner. Courtesy of the photographer-.

with a centralized and focused energy. He wasted little time in scheduling exhibitions for Renzo Fenci in September 1950 and William Dole in February 1951.

17

Henry Seldis, in his News-Press col umns, conveyed these observations, "San ta Barbara College, whose art department has recently been augmented by a number of talented and productive young artists, including Fenci, can well be proud of this member of the faculty,”46 and ",..the men who teach art at Santa Barbara College arc not only experienced pedagogues, but outstanding artists. Perhaps the name most often seen on recent releases regard ing important museum exhibitions in vari ous parts of the country was that of Wil liam E. Dole."47 The year 1951 began with the election of Wright Ludington to the position of president of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Board of Trustees, a fitting reward for a man who had given so much of him self and his resources to the museum. The Dole exhibit was followed by encore dis plays of Di Cocco. Douglass Parshall. and a memorial retrospective for Jack Gage Stark, all of which led up to the museum’s tenth anniversary celebration in June. The NewS'Press devoted a full page to the thoughts and reflections of a few individu als whose efforts were indispensable to the museum’s successful first decade including Rico Lebrun, Joseph Knowles, and Donald Bear. Lebrun praised the artist-in- resi dence program, both as an innovative con cept and an invaluable lift to his artistic career, and he lauded Bear’s brilliant direc tion of what many believed to be the "greatest small museum in the country."

Knowles addressed the museum’s accom plishments in providing a variety of edu cational opportunities, among which were an active junior art program and a contin uing series of stimulating exhibitions. Bear assessed past and future and closed with his fundamental philosophy. "Let us re member that if it were not for artists, there never would be art museums or pic ture galleries.4S

18

The next young arcisc and ceacher to arrive on the UCSBC campus was Wil liam Rohrbach (b. 1925). In 1951 Fenton and Dole traveled to Berkeley where Rohr bach was in his last year of graduate school. Santa Barbara College was in search of a talented, young instructor to augment their arc faculty and Rohrbach was being considered as a likely candidate.

Upon reviewing his work, both as an arc isc and teaching assistant, Fenton and Dole recommended him for the job.49 Rohrbach’s birthplace was Stamford, Connecticut, He developed an affinity for painting as a boy, but unlike most budding artists, did not immediately opt for a for mal art education. After service as a cox swain on a Navy freighter during World War II, where sketching occupied his free time, Rohrbach entered the University of Michigan. He graduated in 1948 with a B.A. in medieval history and moved on to graduate school at UC Berkeley. It was there that he finally conceded chat what had been a life-long avocation would make a rewarding profession, and he earned a master’s degree in arc.50 Rohrbach was soon urged by Eliot A. P. Evans, the art history professor who was chair of the UCSBC art department and current head of the Museum of Arc's educational committee, to approach Don ald Bear about a one-man show. Evans, like Bear, wanted exposure for the artists on the college faculty. Rohrbach’s abstract paintings were approved for exhibition and went on display in January 1952. The show was reviewed as "one of the finest exhibitions seen here in months. TTie young painter . , . not only shows great knowledge of his medium, but also paints with an assurance which is astonishing for such a youthful artist.’’51 An era came to a shocking and sudden close on March 16. 1952, with the prema ture death of Donald Bear. He was return ing from presenting a lecture at the Arc Center in La Jolla and stopped to visit Francesco Di Cocco, then residing in Pa-

NOTICIAS William DoU jmmidly shows his worl{_, ca. 1^44Dole would later move awayfrom rep^-esentational an into a more abstract style. Counesy of Mrs. William Dole.

cific Palisades, Feeling ill. he lay down to rest and never woke up. The magnitude of the loss was profound, but even more pro found was the lasting legacy of Bear's genius, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Testifying to Bear's stature in the art world were the numerous letters of condo lence mixed with high encomium sent by luminaries from throughout the country.

Andrew C. Ritchie. Director of the Paint ing and Sculpture departments at New York's Museum of Modern Art encapsu lated the feelings of Bear's many friends, cohorts, and admirers. "By the death of Donald Bear American Art has lost a most sensitive painter, a perceptive critic, and a courageous and enthusiastic mu seum director. Speaking as a fellow mu seum man, I know how widely loved and respected he was in the profession. He was a rich personality in which the criti cal and creative faculties were generously fused. . . . Of his own accomplishments he was extraordinarily modest, but he was always generous in his praise of artists whom he admired, particularly those who were struggling for recognition. Good hu mor he had, a dry wit, and. above all, a profound sense of decency. There are all coo few of his kind at any time. That there is one less today is a great loss.”52

ARTISTS; 1940-1960 Although Bear had shown his own work locally on a limited basis in private galleries, he had felt it inappropriate to promote self-exposure on the walls of the museum he directed. This gap in the pro cession of leading local artists was filled with a retrospective exhibition in May and Santa Barbara was able to delight in discovering another facet of Bear’s bril liance. The show, expressive paintings and drawings of landscapes, cicyscapes.53 and still life arrangements was critiqued in the NcivS'Press by William Dole, for whom Bear’s approval had been un matched inspiration. "He was a serious painter, devoted to his art. He brought to his painting a fund of knowledge and a degree of emotional intensity equaled by few painters who devote their entire time to painting.

"The range and breadth of his knowl edge of the great traditions of painting was never a handicap to him as it often is to painters with a more scholarly chan creative approach. His knowledge was al ways at his service, but it never obtruded on his unique and personal vision of the world. This exhibition proves what a tru ly tine artist he was."54 An irony of Santa Barbara’s evolution as a vital and prominent art center was the lack of an organization and exhibition space to accommodate the increasing number of artists spawned by this vibrant culture. Individuals of merit benefited from representation at the Museum of Art or lo cal private galleries, such as GeddisMartin or John Flynn, and the annual TriCounty Exhibition at the museum was a popular, successful spring event, providino a comprehensive overview of regional art ists and prevailing trends. Yet these oppor tunities did not satisfy the fundamental need for a vehicle which could program matically provide a permanent and consis tent source of exposure for the growing le gion of Santa Barbara artists.

Initial rumblings were felt in i951 when some artists began circulating petitions

19

proposing chat the Faulkner Arc Gallery be reopened as an exhibition space. The wealth of activities at the museum during the previous decade and the war years had rendered the biannual Faulkner shows of the 1930s obsolete. The need had now reemerged and artists joined together, com mitting themselves to the shows' revival.

The directors of the library were fully supportive of the idea, but "as trustees of public property felt chat they could only deal with a formally organized and incor porated group of Santa Barbara artists."55 Assuming the role of point man was Douglass Parshall, the leader of formative meetings at which the early designation of Santa Barbara Artists Group was coined.

Others volunteering their efforts were Hinkle. Backus. Knowles, Hcsthal, Harcoff. Fend, Hibbics, Dole, and John Gor ham (1910-1985).

By early 1952. with objectives solidi fied. the group was ready to undertake the necessary steps for formal organization.

On February 14, about fifty artists gath ered at Parshall’s Moncecito home and voted to establish the Santa Barbara Art Association. "By adopting a constitution and by-laws calling for the establishment of membership and an exhibitions com mittee, the artists met the conditions sec by the Library board . . . .”56 Parshall was elected as the Association’s first president with Joseph Knowles, vice president; Francois Martin, secretary; and Scandish Backus, treasurer. The membership com mittee was comprised of William Heschal. Forrest Hibbics. Lawrence Hinklcy.

Edward Nicholson, and William Dole.

The exhibitions committee, which planned to stage three or four Faulkner ex hibits a year, consisted of Clarence Hin kle. Renzo Fend, Knowles, and Backus.

The careful planning and sincerity of effort was reflected in the SBAA’s pream ble to its constitution, delineating accepta ble artistic criteria for maintaining a lofty level of quality.

Among its primaryfunctions this organi-

20

Z<2tion, in presenting the artistic product ofits members before the public, must endeavor in all its dealings to distuiguish good art from bad, sincere ejjortsjrom thefalse, substantial luorks from the vacuous. It must insist on standards ofexcellence so comprehensible to the public that no "adt of beivilderment” among the artists ivill resultfrom public mis conceptions ofthe aims of contemporary art....

The artist is urged to assure his responsibil ity of spiritual leadership, stnving for closer ties ofcommon understanding ivith the public.

Fie is reminded that nature and mankind are always an inexhaustible source of inspira tion, and that, although world avide difficul ties will remain with us, he should not retreat into personal cynicism, lo best contribute to ward the developments ofa virile national cul ture able to counteract the present world ten dencyfor chaos, the artist must be strong and clear in his convictions of the tnith.

It is ourfirm beliefthat the greatest public service ivhich this group can peiform is the endorsement of that art ivhich is a synergy of the artist's creative impulses springing both from experiment and tradition. It is not ac ceptable that the art of our times be judged solely in terms of intellectual revolution ivhich has produced so-called "modem art” nor is extreme conservative reaction to be regarded as other than a dangerous obstruction to creative progress.^^ On June 1. 1952, uhe Arc Association was unveiled to the public with the open ing of its inaugural exhibition at the Faulk ner Memorial Arc Gallery. Approximately eighty members had already joined the fledgling group and most of them were represented at this premier event. This en thusiastic support from within and the collective, public approval trom without was the early stage of a symbiotic ex change which would establish the Santa Barbara Arc Association as a permanent fixture on the local arc scene.

The birch of the SBAA. the passing of Donald Bear, and the eminent stature he had brought to the Santa Barbara Museum of Arc were all factors resulting in more cm-

NOTICIAS Frances Rfch stands next to her statue of St. Francis on the gwunds ofher Flope Ranch sludio, early uj^os.

% phasis on museum exhibitions of national and international significance and less in the direction of local artists. Ala Story was chosen as the new director to lead the mu seum through its next phase. Her back ground was in international arc, having been born in Vienna, operated galleries in London, and. most recently, organized and directed the American-Bricish Arc Center in New York. Upon taking over in lace summer 1952. Story was open about her philosophy, "Above all I believe in show ing quality whether in extreme modern or academic arc. 01 course the exhibition poli cy ot a museum must rely to some extent on the director’s personal castes. I hope chat whatever influence I might have on the standards ot our exhibition will reflect that fact that my taste is catholic.

Although local presence on the mu seum's annual calendar was abbreviated, exhibitions for chose considered to be the best of regional talent were available.

Frances Rich (b. 1910). a Santa Barbara sculptor, was one of chose chosen few, and her first one-man show went on dis play in October 1952. Rich, daughter of

ARTISTS: 1940-1960 Irene Rich, a noted stage and screen ac tress, was raised locally and attended the Santa Barbara Girls School where her pen chant for sculpture was first recognized in a clay modeling class. Her higher educa tional pursuits included Smith College and the Cranbrook Academy of Art. where she studied under Swedish master. Carl Milles. Trips to Paris and Rome were in valuable for her maturation as an artist.

Her reputation as a sculptor took a giant step with the Army-Navy Nurse, monu ment commissioned for the Arlington Na tional Cemetery in 1938. Another careerembellishing commission was a scries of six nine-foot bas reliefs she completed for Purdue University.

She returned to Santa Barbara in 1940 to establish a studio on her mother’s Hope Ranch property, but service in the Navy during World War II shortened her stay.

After chc war. Rich resumed her arc edu cation at Claremont College and Columbia University, where she earned her master’s degree. A post on the faculty of Smith College was chc next scop, handling public relations. She left there in 1950 to study sculpture techniques in Rome and finally made it back to Santa Barbara in 1952 as a nationally recognized sculptor.

UCSBC had made the decision to move its campus to the present-day Goleta sice in 1949, when the Board of Regents ap proved funds CO develop the new location.

The new campus opened beginning with the 1954-55 academic year, and this major change was accompanied by a slightly dif ferent look CO the arc department. Howard Fenton assumed the chairmanship and Robert Thomas (1924-1987) replaced Renzo Fenci as sculpture instructor.

Thomas was born in Wichita, Kansas, and. following high school, joined the air corps, serving as a sergeant in Germany.

He attended college for two years after his discharge and then journeyed to Paris to begin active pursuit of an education in sculpture. He studied under chc guidance of Ossip Zalkine. Upon his return from

21

France, Thomas cnccrcd chc college here where his teacher was Renzo Fenci. Upon graduation, it was acknowledged that he had been "one of the most gifted art ma jors in the college’s history.”60 Thomas went on to earn his master’s degree from the California College of Arts and Crafts before returning to UCSBC as a teacher.

In 1955, Howard Warshaw (19201977) arrived as a faculty member at UCSBC, rounding out the nucleus of an art department which had been built over the previous six years and achieved an im pressive depth of talent. Warshaw was not a stranger in local art circles. His paintings and drawings were first shown at the Museum of Art in 1946.

Warshaw was born in New York City, where he had all his early training. As a youngster, he attended the Pratt Institute and the National Academy of Design. In 1938. after auditing classes at Columbia University, he studied with Rafael Soyer at the Art Students’ League and at the Nation al Academy School. Warshaw moved to Los Angeles in 1942 and began selling his work through a gallery in Westwood. Vin cent Price was an early purchaser of his paintings, and. with the proceeds from the actor and others’ support. Warshaw was able to return to New York. With letters of recommendation from Price and Dorothy Miller, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, he was accepted by Julien Levy into the noted dealer's stable of artists. Through this contact. Warshaw met Rico Lebrun, who became a friend and artistic influence throughout Warshaw’s career.

In 1950 he accepted a teaching position at the University of Iowa and in the same year won first prize in the California Cen tennial Exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum. From Iowa, he moved west again to Los Angeles and joined the staff of the Jepson Art Institute, renewing his relationship with fellow teacher. Le brun. In 1953, Warshaw executed his first mural at the Wyle Research Laboratory in El Segundo. Two years later, his path

22 would lead him to Santa Barbara.

In 1955, a major group exhibition was staged by the Museum of Art, the First Pacific Coast Biennial Exhibition. The judges for accepting entries were Rufino Tamayo; Percy Rathbone, director of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; and Wright Ludington. This was open to artists from all over the West Coast and locals who earned ac ceptance were Warshaw, Peake, Dole.

Bradley. Carla Tomaso. Hesthal. and Hibbics. Warshaw's painting. Classical Study, received the $750.00 purchase award.

It did not take long for Warshaw to strike up an association with Channing Peake, as they had something in common, an abiding friendship with Rico Lebrun and an uninhibited willingness to allow the genius of his expression to infiltrate their personal styles. The common bond among the three colleagues was clearly and exqui sitely defined in 3 Painters, an exhibition featured first at the Santa Barbara Mu seum of Art then at the H. M. Dc Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco, be ginning in December 1956. Henry Seldis called it. "one of the most dynamic con temporary exhibitions in the Art Mu seum’s history.”61 Their shared back grounds and personal interactions were "reflected in their mutual concern for a hu manistic approach to painting which is es '62 sentially scholarly and classical.

There were two additional notable events during the late 1950s when Peake and Warshaw shared the spotlight. The Second Pacific Coast Biennial Exhibition was held at the museum in March 1958.

The two artists were among several locals accepted as entries. One of the show’s jur ors. Gordon Washburn, director of the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, was drawn to two paintings in particular, Warshaw’s T'darhon Florse and Peake's Cowboy. The result was an invitation to both artists to have these works included in the prestigious Carnegie International Exhibition, the most important annual event for both American and European painters.

NOTICIAS

Campbell Qrant, at left, bases ivith his fiend, Channing Peake, 1930. Both were students at the Santa Barbara bchool oj the Aits and both went on to become highly acclaimed mnralists.

Qift ofTdrs. CampbellQrant. ■

^ .●

The project which was their most inti mate collaboration was the mural com missioned for the Santa Barbara Public Li brary, featuring four scenes from Don Quixote, completed in June 1959. The mural was a literal labor of love for War shaw and Peake as inadequate financing nearly scuttled the project during the competition phase. A committee com prised of James W. Foster, Jr., who had replaced Ala Story as Santa Barbara Mu seum of Art director in 1957. artist Carla Tomaso Duncan, and News-Press critic Richard Ames had "recommended that the library abandon the mural project be cause of insufficient finances to guarantee a permanent realization of a mural that would be exposed to the weather.”63 Warshaw appeared before the library's Board of Trustees to plead his team's case, as did Stan Backus, another finalist.

The third competitor. Joe Knowles, was not present. Backus negated his opportu nity by stating that the only viable medi um to ensure durability would be mosaic at a cost of $19,000. far exceeding the $1,000 allocated by the Board. Warshaw said he and Peake could complete the mu-

23

ARTISTS: 1940-1960 ral for the proposed price by utilizing a plastic paint which had withstood the ele ments on past projects, "We considered it to some extent a public service. Wc live in this town. We could afford to do it.”64 The Board acquiesced and Peake and Warshaw were granted the commission.

Richard Ames called the PeakeWarshaw mural, "a vital statement of Santa Barbara in the late '50s of the 20th century,”65 h was the culmination of a decade marked by unprecedented advance ment of the visual arts. The 1950s were memorable not only for the rising stars like Dole, Warshaw, Peake, Knowles, Backus, and Douglass Parshall, but also for those who passed away, such as Stark, Carpenter, Harcoff, Dc Witt Parshall, Gamble, and. of course, Donald Bear, for they fashioned the springboard from which their successors could leap. These were the individuals, together with their fellow artists and a supportive communi ty, who had the visions, the talent to ex press them, and the energetic commitment to translate their visions into reality, thereby forging a cultural expansion in the 1940s and 1950s from which Santa Barba ra continues to benefit.

NOTES 1. Gloria Rexford Martin and Michael Redmon, "The Santa Barbara Schotd of the Arts: 19201938," A^oti'da5 40(Autumn, Winter 1994): 47.

2. Piri Korngold Ncssclrod, Biogi-aphy ofa Library (Santa Barbara: 1990), 14-llx 3- SantaBarbaraNews-Press. 7 August 1938.

4- SantaBarbaraNews-Press. 17 August 1939.

5. Ibid.

6. Jules Langsner,"The Bear of Santa Barbara," Art A^exfs,September 1951. 33.

7. Nancy Doll, Robert Henning,Jr., and Susan Shin-tsu Tai. Santa Barbara?4usewn ofArt Se lected Worlds, Santa Barbara Museum of Art. 1991. 12.

8. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 15 May 1992.

9. Ibid.

10. Clarence Keiser HinhJ.e (i88o-ig6o)A Selection of his Paintings, Arc Department, University of the Pacific, 1978.

11. SantaBarbaraNews-Press. 24 April 1955.

12. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 12 October 1941.

13. Joseph Knowles, "Santa Barbara's Historic Link

CO Color Wood Block Princing," Noticias 16 (Winccr 1970): unpaged.

14. Santa Barbara Museum of Art,'TTie First Year: Report on the Activities ofthe Santa Barbara A4usewn ofArt,June ig^i-June% 1942.

15. Patricia deck,"Santa Barbara Muralists in the New Deal Era,” A^odcius41(Autumn 1995): 48.

16. SantaBarbaraNews-Prcss. 30 November 1941.

17. deck. 48, 53.

18. Santa Barbara News-Press. 8 December 1950.

19. Santa Barbara News-Press. 6 May 1951.

20. Santa Barbara News-Press. 11 April 1951.

21. Santa Barbara Museum of Arc, The FirstYear.

22. Santa Barbara News-Press,9 August 1942.

23. Santa Barbara A’ewS'Press, 21 February 1943.

24. Santa BarbaraNetvs-Press, 11 July 1943.

25. Santa Barbara Neics-Press, 7 February 1943.

26. SantaBarbaraNews-Press. lOScptcmbcr 1944.

27. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 3 December 1944.

28. Ibid.

29. Langsner, 45.

30. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 4 March 1951.

31- Santa Barbara NcivS'Press, 21 August 1951.

32. Ibid.

33. Martin and Redmon, 56.

34. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 15 October 1989.

35- SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 15 January 1947.

36. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 4 April 1954.

37. SantaBarbaraNeies-Press, 28 May 1948.

28. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 28 October 1951.

39. Ibid.

40. Howard Fenton, conversation with author, 3 November 1995.

41. Associated Students oi the University ot Calilornia, Santa Barbara College, pub.,La Cumbre (1949): 127.

42. Santa Barbara Neics-Press. 24 September 1944.

43. UCSB Art Galleries. ARetrospective Exhibition, October 8 - November 10, 1968.

44. Santa Barbara Museum of Arc, Catalogue for the Wright Ludington Exhibition. April 1949.

45. G. Nt)rdland, William Dole Retrospective, igSoigj^. Municipal Art Gallery of Los Angeles, April 14-May 16. 1976.

46. Santa Barbara News-Press. 24 September 1950.

47. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 11 November 1950.

48. SantaBarbaraNeivs-Press. 10June 1951.

49. William Rohrbach. conversation with author, 9 September 1996.

50. Santa Barbara News-Press. 14 October 1951.

51. SantaBarbaraNews-Press. ISjanuary 1952.

52. Santa Barbara News-Press, 23 March 1952.

53. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 23 March 1952.

54. Santa Barbara News-Press, 11 May 1952.

55. Santa Barbara News-Press, 27 January 1952.

56. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 17 February 1952.

57. Santa Barbara Navs-Press. 10 February 1952.

58. SantaBarbaraNews-Press,7 September 1952.

59. Santa BarbaraNews-Press. 7 September 1952.

60. Santa Barbara News-Press. 3 March 1956.

61. SantaBarbaraNews-Press. 9December 1956.

62. Ibid.

63. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, lOOctobcr 1958.

64. Ibid.

65. SantaBarbaraNews-Press, 14 June 1959.

The Santa Barbara Historical Society wishes to acknowledge the generous Financial support oF

Dora bradLey Jean Smith Goodrich Jane l\ich /V\ueLLer

towards the publication oF this issue oF

Doticias

SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES Lani Mcanlcy Collins . .

Jo Beth Van Gelderen . jane Rich Mueller Ruth Scollin Warren Pullman Miller

Victor H. Barcolomc

President . . First Vice President Second Vice President

George E. Brakes Richard Glenn

Marilyn B. Chandler Barbara Cleveland Alexandra Crissman Dan Cross

Jean Smith Goodrich Lawrence Hammett Robert G. Hansen

Oswald J. Da Ros

Nancy Marston

Secretary Treasurer

Jack Overall John Pitman Barbara Robinson Michael Rodrigue Marlene Schulz Cicely Whcclon

George M. Anderjack. Executive Director

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS The Santa Barbara Historical Society wishes to thank and to acknowledge with pride the following members and institutions for generous contributions in 1996.

PRESIDENT'S CIRCLE ($10,000 and above)

California Council for the Humanities Mr. and Mrs. Richard Cleveland

Mr. and Mrs. Amory J. Cooke Miss Sally Ganc Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Hammett John Moran Incorporated, Antiq uc and Fine Arts Auctioneers Santa Barbara Foundation Smith-Walker Foundation Mr. Charles A. Storkc Mr. and Mrs. Donald Van Gelderen

Mr. John B. Crawford The Danielson Foundation

MAJOR BENEFACTORS {$5,000 and above)

\

Mr. Donald Harcourt III MacFarlane, Faletti and Company Mrs. Jane Rich Mueller Mrs. Harold V. Scollin

Mrs. Molly K.. Dolle Mrs. Calvin T. Goodrich Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Hammett Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Harriman Mr. and Mrs. Palmer G. Jackson Joan Irvine Smith Fine Arts, Incorporated Mr. Essam Khasho '1 Ladcra Ranch Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Henry Levy. Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Thad MacMillan Mrs. Keith Marston Mr. and Mrs. Warren P. Miller Mr. and Mrs. John Moseley Mr. and Mrs. H. Travers Newton Mr. and Mrs. Jack Overall Miss Frederica D Poett Mrs. Rena Redmon Santa Barbara News-Press

PATRONS ($1,000 and above)

BENEFACTORS ($500 and above)

Aesthetic Frames and Art Services Mr. and Mrs. Robin J. Bicker Mr. Geoffrey Bloomingdale Mrs John Braun

Ms. Meredith Brooks Abbott Bartham and Associates.

Mr. Victor H. Bartolomc Mr. James Jeter

Mrs. Cedric Bocseke Mr. and Mrs. Ernest A. Bryant III Mrs. John K. Case Chubbs Insurance Mrs. Zclva Pierce Fischer Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Fish Mrs. Walter H. Gainey Gentlemen Antiquarians, Mr. Michael Olivas Mr. Richard Weiss Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Glenn Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Hansen Mr. Robert Isham Dr. and Mrs. C. Seybert KinscII Ms. Frances D. Larkiin Mrs. Pat Licker Northern Trust Bank Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Rahm Mr. John Reynolds Mr. and Mrs. Michael Rodrigue Mrs. Edmund H. Rogers. Jr. Mrs. Teresa Wagstaff Sicbert South Coast Fine Arts Conservation, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Springer Mrs. Marie J. Thornbury Mr. Robert Veloz Mr. Ivano Paolo Vit

Wells Fargo Bank Mr. and Mrs. Albert Wheelon Mrs. William H. Wilson. Jr.

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Santa Barbara Caliiornia Permit No. 534

NOTICIAS Quarterly Magazine of the Santa Barbara Historical Society P.O. Box 578 Santa Barbara, California 93102-0578

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CONTENTS Pg.1: Santa Barbara Artists, 1940-1960