Portraits of a Community: The Art of Clarence Mattei

NOTICIAS Quarterly Magazine Of The Santa Barbara Historical Society Vbl. L. No. 3

Autumn 2004

Portraits of a Community The Art of Clarence Mattei

or over thirty years Clarence R, Mattel captured in pen a^id pencil, charcoal, and oil the portraits 0/ notablefigures oji the local, national, and international stage. Ihe artist had roots which went deep into the historical soil of Santa Barbara County. In 1886, hisfa ther, Felix Mattei,founded Mattel’s Tavern,in Los Olivos ivhen the stagecoach ivas still the primary means ofova’land travel. I iere Clarence grew up with hisJour brothers, ^though Mattel rnoved comfortably in the sophisticated salons oj Paris and in the drawing rooms of the privileged in New %rk City the pull of his ncstic childhood home remained strong and he eventually returned to Santa Barbara. /lere he became a l^eyfigure in the city s burgeoning art colony.

Erin Qrafjy de Qarcia draws herenvn portrait of this talented artist in this issue o/Noticias, by utilizing private awhives and interviezvs with family andfriends. This issue appears in conjunction with aneiv exhibit, A Fbrtraic of Santa Barbara: The Art ot Charles and Clarence Mattel, noivshoiving at the Museum.

Frontcoverillustration is a selfportrait by Clarence l{, Mattei,collection ofthe 5ci)itd Barbara Historical Society,gift ofLorraine(Mrs. Charles C.)Maitei.

THE AUTHOR: Frill Qroffy de Qarcia is the author ofa number ofbooks and articles on the histoi-y and culture ofthe Santa Barbara area. I ier latest Ixiok is Rcmcinbcring Jordanos 1888 CO 1988. I lerivorkhas appeared inSzntz Barbara Magazine,t/ic Santa Barbara Independent,the Santa Barbara News-Press,and in Noticias. She is a trusteefor the Mission-Archive Library at the Santa Barbara A lission and is the editorofitsJournal,La Gazeta. She also serves as historianfor Old Spanish Days Fiesta. author's acknowledgements; I would like to acknowledge the assistance of John Skarstad. archivist at Special Collections in the library of the University of Caliiornia, Davis; James Canby IV; andjim Norris of Los Olivos, California. I would like to thank Douglass Wilhoit, Sr., stepson of Clarence Mattel, and Douglass Wilhoit. Jr. My thanks to members of Molly Crittenden’s family; Ed Atkinson, his daughter Kathy Atkinson, and Marlyn Coffey. Molly Crittendon’s great-niece, for supplying information and artwork. Finally, a special note of appre ciation to Sheila DAmico, biographer of Molly Crittendon, who shared her time and research with me.

INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS; NOTICIAS is a quarterly joumal devoted to the study of the history of Santa Barbara County. Contributions of articles are welcome. Those authors whose articles arc accepted for publication will receive ten gratis copies of the issue in which their article appears. Further copies arc available to the contributor at cost. The authority in matters of style is the L'niveisity ofChicago Manual of Style, lyth edition. The Publications Committee reserves the right to return submitted manuscripts for required changes. Statements and opinions expressed in articles arc the sole responsibility of the author.

Michael Redmon, Editor Judy Sutcliffe. Designer © 2004 The Santa Barbara Historical Society 136 E. Dc la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara. California 93101 ● Telephone; 805/966-1601 Single copies $5.00 ISSN 0581-5916

Portraits of a Community The Art of

Clarence Matte

%

Clarence Mattei(1883--1945) painted a portrait of our nation from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic shoreline, from California cowboys to New England bluebloods. Sev eral hundred people sat before Clarence Mattel - from the captains of industry who commissioned portraits in oil ol themselves and their iamilics to the last survivors of

Felix Adaitei opened his successfid hotel and tav' eni in Los Olivos m i386. Clarence J^iattei ex ecuted thus oil ojhisfather ab<mt igio. Collectio7i of the Santa Barbara Historical Society. Qift of Albert Mattei.

this country's Wild West,captured by the artist in charcoal. His portraits formed an album oi an era which was melding the personalities ol the fearless rugged stage coach drivers on the Wild West Coast to

San Luis Obispo area tor ten years with his brother, Louis, where the two worked on farms, dairies, and raised driving horses.'

the quiet confidence and well-bred sophis tication ol East Coast philanthropy.

Upon learning a new railroad terminus was to be built in Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley. Felix strategically bought property there and opened a two-story hotel in 1886. What is today known as Mattel’s Tavern went through several name changes: Central Hotel. Hotel Los Olivos, Stagecoach Inn. The hotel originally of fered only seven rooms but grew through the years to include a number ol cottages and other outbuildings.

Location was all-important to Felix

Felix and Lucy Mattel The son of a Swiss-Italian immigrant.

Mattel was truly a man ol two continents, ol two coasts, but whose heart always re mained in Santa Barbara.

Clarence’s father, Felix Mattei (18541930), came to California about 1870. He worked on a number of dairy farms in northern Calitornia, before settling in the

Erin Graffy dc Garda 85

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NOTICIAS pM Maccci’s enterprise. It was at Los iHl Olivos that travelers coming by rail from the north would stop to catch a stagecoach to continue their journey. Rail passengers Irom the south would in turn catch a stage in Santa Barbara then climb over the San Marcos Pass to Los Olivos. Mattel’s inn was perfectly

Lucy LLhcrALittci, mother oj CLirciice Alattei, us portrayed Iry her son in u)io. Collection oj the Santa Barbara IIbtorical Society. Qiji ojAlbert Aiattei.

1^

located to take full advantage of these comings and goings.

The hotel also became cnor-

,

mously popular specifically because of its genial host, Felix Matcei. He continued the tradition of nineteenth-

century western hospitality to make his guests feel welcomed and wanted in the rustic setting. Felix also brought an unexpected cosmopolitan atmosphere into this rural village; he could speak four languages. His per sonality and charm piqued his guests' in terests with entertaining stories. Mattel re membered guests' names and faces and even their favorite foods, cooked to or der in the kitchen.^ Felix Mattci’s reputation as one of the great hosts of western hospitality made

Felix A lattei originally named his n«ru- business, the Central 1 lolel,slunvn here aUnit i8S8. Caiirtesy oj the Santa Jneg \'alley I listnrical Society.

87

CLARENCE MATTEl him popular statewide. Movie scars and cinema celebrities visited the inn; Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, and Gary Cooper rolled up in their limousines on their way to a party at William Randolph Hearse’s estate at San Simeon.^ Great men of industry and families of fortune such as the Vanderbilts. Armours.

Cudahys, and Rockefellers also made their way CO Mated’s. Here those seeking a re spite from the roar of big city life could find the restful peace of a rural hamlet. It especially appealed to sportsmen who en joyed hunting and fishing, or sought the company of cowboys. John Barrymore came annually and reserved a cottage to hunt doves,’ Clarence Mactci’s mother was Lucia (Lucy) Fisher Mattci (1860-1923). whose family was from New York. Her father was a German immigrant; her mother was a New York native. Tliis macron of Maccci’s Tav-

cm was a scalwarc member ol the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and did not condone drinking. She could not abide keep ing a bar inside the inn. One year after the hotel opened she had the bar moved out into a new building.^ Ironically, decades later al ter much remodeling, the bar was relocated to tlic main building, into a room that had served as Felix and Lucy's bedroom.

Clarence Mattel’s Early Years Clarence was born on his father’s dairy farm on the Huasna Ranch in San Luis Obispo County, about twenty miles north of present-day Arroyo Grande,on Novem ber 13, 1883. He was the middle of five sons born to the Maccei's over the course of fifteen years. Frank O.(1880-1930) ran the cavern after his father passed away.

Fred L.(1881- 1962) became a grain bro ker and rancher in Woodland. California.

'The Mattcifamily, Standingjwm left to right: Clarence, Fred, Charles, Felix, and T'ranli Seated left to right:Albert and Liccy. Ihefamily had gathered on the occasion ofAlbert's tiuaity -jvst birthday.

Courtesy ajthe Santa 1 dlley I listorical Society.

NOTICIAS Clarence R. and Charles C. (1885-1961) both became artists, Albert "Bert” C. (1895-1969) became a geologist and then president of the Honolulu Oil Company in San Francisco.

Wlien Clarence was three years old. the family moved to Los Olivos and Clarence grew up in the bucolic Farmland of the Santa Ynez Valley. Here he observed first hand the changing landscape of California history. In the hills and valleys and woods that were his backyard, he played in the fading footprints of the Indians, rode over the hills and fields with the cowboys, and thrilled to the arrival of the stagecoach driv ers who snappily drove their six-horse teams up to the tavern after a dusty travel over San Marcos Pass, Mattel rubbed el bows with the larger-than life characters who were drawn to the independent, selfsuflicient lifestyle of the rustic land, on the eve of the twentieth centurv.

Budding Artistic Talent Artistic talent ran though the Mattel fam ily. Clarence’s paternal uncle, Valenti Mattel, was a renowned sculptor. Clarence’s brother, Charles, also became an artist and portrait ist. although he never achieved the promi nence of his older brother.

Clarence Mattel attended a school in Los Olivos located at Alta Road and the old Alamo Pintado Road. Clarence’s natu ral artistic ability was made evident early in life as he freely sketched the world around him. One apocryphal story re counted Clarence’s early artistic skills as demonstrated in grade school. While his classmates were at play during the lunch time recess, Clarence came into the class room and used colored chalk on the black board to create a drawing of a Christmas tireplace ablaze. The teacher, upon enter ing the room, reacted to its realism by in-

stinctively yelling "Fire! Fire!" before he could catch himself.® As a child Clarence created his own selfguided art program by copying famous paintings. Wlicn he was fifteen years old, Clarence executed a pen-and-ink study of Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's 1851 painting of George Washington crossing the Dela ware River. Tliis youthful piece of work would prove to be extremely important to Clarence's future. Clarence also had a unique opportunity for work on a larger scale: he decorated boxcars of the trains at the Los Olivos terminus.

The Duryea Connection Before the turn of the century, an East Coast couple, Herman and Ellen Duryea, visited Mattel’s, a stay which would for ever change Clarence Mattei’s life.

MeUtei's taUnt is evident in thisportmil oj Qin Lung Qin, the cookeit Mattel's Tavern. Mallei ivas sixteai ivhen he executed this drawing.

Cmirtesy ojLCDTJames B. Canby IV, "in honor of Aunt Oly & Uncle Dougic.”

CLARENCE MATTEl

A lattei’s rendition ofr.nianucl Cjottlieh Lcntze’s(joHrayaloJ Qcorge Washington crossing the Dehnvarezvds very important to theynimgartist's career. Ilennan and Ellen Dxiryeasaw the drawing unci zveiv so impressed they sponsored Wlattei s exUrance to the yMarl{I lophixis Art Institute in San Erancisco. Counesy of Douglass Wilhoit, Sr.

Originally Irom New York, Hermanus Barkulo Duryca (1863~1916} was a man who lived life on a grand scale, primarily through the pursuit oi sport. He inherited an ample fortune in the starch industry and indulged in yacht racing and the breeding of race horses.

In his youth he excelled at yachtijig. He built a number of boats, piloted them him self. and was often victorious in regattas.

He is credited with originating single-de sign boat races in the United States, In the 1895 America's Cup, one ot the entrants, the Earl of Dunraven. chose Duryca to rep resent him.

Two years later, Duryca purchased a large tract of land in the Hickory Valley ot Tennessee and built a mansion for his new

bride, Ellen Winchester Weld. He also saw to the construction of a two-story school and two churches for the community. As a progressive farmer he raised gamecocks and dogs. He passed his winters hunting on his estate.

Duryca also built a ten-bedroom man sion on thirty-live acres on Long Island's North Shore. Here Duryca bred race horses and was known for his gambling proclivi ties. In 1910, due to the enactment of stricter gambling laws in New York, he moved his racing and stud operations to Haras Du Gazon in Normandy. France.

Here he continued to enjoy success, including a victory in the English Derby with a colt. Dunbar II, which he trained himself.

Ellen Duryca was the widow of Com-

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NOTICIAS

modorc William Flccchcr Weld oF Boscon.

The commodore was a cousin to the Rev. George Francis Weld, long-time pastor of All Saints By-Thc-Sca Episcopal Church in Montccito. At the time of the Durycas' wedding in London in 1895, the bride’s wealth was estimated to he $5,000,000.

The wedding was a major story in the so ciety circles of New York and Boston. Ellen was a philanthropist, a patroness of the arts, and was regularly mentioned in the society columns.

Three years after the Duryeas were wed, John White Alexander, one ol the most highly esteemed American paint ers of the period was commissioned to paint a portrait ol Ellen,"Portrait of Mrs. V" In short, the Duryeas were used to aood art.

O

Herman’s brother. Pierrepont came to Santa Barbara in 1894. He became a charter member ol the Santa Barbara Country Club. The tollowin o year Herman came to visit and became a nonresident member of the club. During the autumn hunting season of 1900. Herman and Ellen Duryea decided to come out to the West Coast and use the Mattei lamily establishment as a base camp for dove-shooting season." Here the Duryeas met the teen-aged Clarence and were enor mously impressed with the youth’s render ing of the Leutze piece.

Ellen Duryea decided to take Clarence under her philanthropic wing and become his patron. She and her husband gener ously ollercd Clarence the opportunity to go to a professional art school, and sent the sixteen-year-old to attend the prestigious Mark Hopkins Art In stitute in San Francisco.

Away From Home

^J The Mark Hopkins Arc Institute renamed the San Francisco Institute

.●V

r r

r

m

ol Art after the 1906 earthquake and fire, was an outstanding institution.

It was here that Mattel began for mal training. The beautiful Mark Hopkins mansion which sac atop Nob Hill was the center of artistic expression in San Francisco. In the beautiful grand rooms of the first floor the works of faculty and excep tional students were shown. Upstairs the former bedrooms had been con-

One oJA iattci s most wi(x)ttant loorh^s ivas "Camille nj Paris, ’’ oil accepted to the Qrand Salon in igoy. Shown here is a small head study Jorthe piece. Courtesy of ICithy Atkinson and Adarlyn Crittendon

Cojjey.

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CLARENCE MATTEI verted to studios. Among Mattel’s contem poraries were Henry Raleigh and Charles Chapel Judson. Among the distinguished faculty members was Oscar Kunath.

Mattel stayed in San Francisco from 1901 CO 1902, and distinguished himselt sufficiently to secure a scholarship to go CO New York. There he became a member of the New York Students Art League, In the boarding house where he was liv ing, Clarence made the acquaintance ol an other boarder and fellow art stu dent.

Mary "Mollv" Edith Criccendon.^ The

graph shows them with friends in a park in the Bronx; Molly, a handsomely beauti ful woman, fashionably dressed in a dark suit, white blouse and tic. and stylish hat.

She picked up smoking trom Mactei and had the curious habit of smoking her ciga rettes right down to the bitter end, using a hat pin to stab cigarette butts too short to hold,^ She insisted on the Italian pronun ciation of her beau's last name, "Mattay,” as opposed to "Mattce,” familiar to his friends and family back home.

The

daughter of a Massachusetts

European Years

farmer. Molly had largely raised her two younger brothers due to

1904-1908

the early death of her father and the ill health of her mother. Perhaps these circumstances of life contributed to her sense of indepen dence.

Shc was a fas cinating, striking, and self-possessed woman with chestnut hair. She was also ten years older chan Clarence. Molly was an 1898 gradu ate of the School of Nursing at Massachu setts General Hospital in Boston and was supporting herself as a nurse in a New York hospital when she met Clarence.

Molly was also a capable artist, excel ling at landscapes and still lifcs, especially flowers. She greatly admired his work, and Mattei in turn cook to her. A 1903 phoco-

As Mattei was intent on improv ing his technique, he applied to at tend the Academic Julian in Paris. His talent earned him a scholarship and he left for Paris on October 27. 1904, on the DeiUsch' land and was to spend the next four years studying in Europe.Wishing CO pursue her own artistic endeavors, Molly sailed to Paris on June 28. 1905, on the

ABOVE: M.attei Viet Aloily Crittendon shortly after his anival in Alnv %rk City in i gn^.Mattei painted this portrait in igo^- Eie two married in London in igoy. Courtesy ofKiithy Atldnsonand Marlyn Crittaidon Cojfey.

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NOTICIAS

Potsdam, accompanied by the landlady from the New York City boarding house where she and Mattei had lived.“

nude as a model, perhaps to absorb the to tal artistic experience from both sides of the canvas.

The Academie Julian was one of the

During these European years, Mattei took side trips to England and Italy, Madrid, Seville, and Segovia, Spain,some times accompanied by Molly. In Septem ber 1906 he traveled to visit relatives in

most significant art institutes in Europe.

The school emphasized the linear tradition, order, and discipline, which did not make it particularly popular with the Impressionists and up-and-coming Modernists, even though the likes of Marcel Duchamp and Henri Matisse had studied there.

At the Academie Mattei met other as piring American artists who later became distinguished in their own right, such as Thomas Hart Benton and Morris Hall Pancoast. During this time, he painted a number of oil studies of Molly, dated 1905.

Here Mattei studied with Jean Paul Laurens, whose work had won critical acclaim, including the MedailLe d’honneur. Laurens was one of the most respected artists of his time, and special ized in painting historically significant scenes such as The Death ofthe Duke of Enghien, The Austrian Commander Before the Corpse ofMarceaua.nd The Excommunication ofPpbert the Pious. He also did portraits, including well-known works such Le Cardinal, Portrait de Aladeleine Villemsens, and his own self-portrait.

Laurens’ emphasis was on the mastery of techniques, and balance in composi tion. The discipline learned under his tutelage would further refine Mattei’s skills.

Although Mattei had an eye for por trait work, he also pursued landscapes and painted scenes of Paris from an unusual vantage point—across its rooftops. As all students do, Mattei copied the paintings of the masters. He also experimented with Impressionism and did studies of paintings

by Renoir, deciding that he preferred a more structured approach. He also posed

Cevio, Italy. Although he did not speak much Italian, he communicated well enough, as he explained in a September 5, 1906 postcard to Molly in Paris, "Mr. Bennetti, a second cousin of mine, did all the translating for me and we made out fine as he speaks perfect English.”*^ In the summer of 1907 Molly and Clarence were in England, staying at the Haxell Hotel in the fashionable Strand dis trict of London along the Thames River.

On July 5,they walked into the Registrar s Office in London and were married; he was twenty-three, she ten years his senior. She continued with her paintings, now signing her work,"Mary Crittendon M.” In 1907 Mattel’s work, "Camille of Paris,” a life-size oil canvas, was accepted at the Grand Salon. This was an impor tant milestone for Mattei. The Salon dur ing the nineteenth century was an annual public exhibition of artworks by contem porary artists. As a state-controlled insti tution, founded during the reign of Louis XIV it operated as an official system of recognition and could accept or reject new works submitted for consideration. As such,it provided artists with wonderful ex posure for their work and the opportunity to have them reviewed and talked about by the art community. Acceptance by the Salon showed Mattei was considered an artist of note and merit.

Molly would later write of this work: Camille, an Italian, was the best knoum ofthe Beaux Arts models...impossible to get

CLARENCE MATTEI

93

him to po.se oiitsidc the school. He saw : some ojClarence's workand came to the j studio and ojjered to pose as long as I Clarence wayited fwn, if Clarence I ivoidd paint a portrait ofhim. Clarence I painted both Camille and jvladame C. I (French),a very interesting woman,and I gave than the portraits. \ Clareyice later painted a life siz^ of.

Camille and exhibited it at the Qrand I Salon. After we came home he sold it to I the "writer" Stewart Edward White. I Camille wasa magnificent Roman—aC I ways wore a most voluminoiis,gracefid, I blackbroadclothcape—blacks outlined I zvith deep red.'-^ I The couple also go: :hc opporcunicy CO nice: ocher imporcanc arciscs: Claude Monce in Giverny.John Singer Sargcnc wich whom Clarence scudied, and Guezon Borglum. chc sculpcor^* who became famous for his works of Abraham Lincoln and on Mounc Rushmore, Borglum sawphocos of Molly’s arms and asked her co pose for his "church angels.” which mosc likely refer co che an gels chac adorn che Cachedral of Sc. John che Divine in New York Cicy*'’ Molly could be quice a characccr. She wcnc co see Monce and carried on a conversacion wich him as he worked. Evencually Monec curned cranky and barked.

"Who arc you?" She announced her name chen rccLirncd chc favor, "And who arc vou?"’-^ Back to the U.S. 1908-1923 After several years, che couple was ready co go home co the States and open their own studios. In July 1908, they re turned CO New York and Clarence started his career painting portraits. He opened a studio, which he maintained for four years.

One of blattei’s closestfriends wasfelloiv artist John Qamble,zvho, at the end of a distinguished career,ivas hnotim as the "ciecin ofSanta Barbara artists. Collection of the Santa Barbara Histori cal Society. Qift of Cecil and Qenevieve Smith and AdabellM.'Kdlant.

Noc only were his arciscic calcncs appredaced. buc chc social skills honed by receiv ing and greecing gucscs ac his lacher's cavcm proved useful wich Ease Coasc society.

Maccci lie in well wich chc well-heeled crowd, being wcll-cravelcd and cultured.

Additionally, he also knew some of chc notable families because they had been gucscs ac Maccci’s Tavern. His patroness, Ellen "Nellie’’ Duryca, had a home in Wesebury, Long Island, and she no doubt would have incroduced Clarence co many figures of chc fashionable sec.

He received commissions co paint por traits of banker John Pierpone Morgan,

NOTICIAS

94 perhaps the most successful financier in American history, as well as the Viennese designer and architect Josef Hoffman, whose name became part of the vocabu lary of Art Nouveau. Clarence painted Marion Hollins, the remarkable sports woman.She was the greatest horsewoman of her time, a U.S. golfing champion in 1921,and she also built the Pasatiempo Golf Course in Santa Cruz. Harvey Gibson was another commission, a New York finan cier who developed the first ski resort and mechanized ski lift.

Mattei also executed a portrait in oil of his benefactor, Ellen Winchester Weld Duryea. Her husband had passed away in 1916, but she stayed connected both to Clarence and to Santa Barbara. She main tained contacts with in-laws in Santa Bar

She also suggested a name change to "Mattel’s Tavern” which she thought was much more appealing.*^ The operation re tains that name today.

There was one very intriguing mystery about Clarence and his relationship with Molly. It seems the couple kept their mar riage a secret from virtually everyone. Nor is there any record of Molly coming back to California with Clarence. Some of their correspondence at this time hints that per haps they felt it best to keep the informa tion about the marriage from Ellen Duryea.

She certainly knew about Molly, sent her little notes, but addressed them to "Miss Crittendon.”

To JVloLLy in Paris, PostmarkHickpry VaLLey Thin 26 Feb igo8

bara, and continued to make annual treks out to Santa Barbara, staying at the El Mirasol Hotel.

Since Molly and her brothers had main tained their family home in Otis, Massa chusetts, Clarence painted several scenes of the house there. Her family members became subjects for his portraits as well.

Mattei painted his brother-in-law. Dr. George Crittendon, and, working from a sepia photograph, he rendered a graphite portrait of Molly’s father, Theodore Crittendon.

Back in California around 1915, Mattei visited the family in Los Olivos, where his father was enlarging the hotel in addition to other changes. Clarence provided Molly a picture of the old homestead, which showed one side of the hotel building on which had been painted "Mattei’s Hotel.”

Drawing on his wife’s clever and creative side, Clarence asked Molly what she thought could be done to improve it. Molly suggested painting out the lettering on the building altogether and replacing it with a small sign, which would be less intrusive.

"My dear Miss Crittendon 1 was very glad to hearfrom you & to know that Clarence is quite well—Mr.C[indecipherable] worried me as he thought Clarence did not Loohparticularly well CT'he is sofar away jrcrni hisfamily that 1 should hate to have him ill. 1am delighted to hear that he has a good studio &Mr.Duryea &1are lookingforward to seeing his work, We have decided to stop in Londonfirst, so we shall not be in Paris until the zist of March. Will you tell Clarence this as 1 wrote him that we should be there earlier. Tell him abo that ifhe over works that you D’1 will have toget togetherand "boss"him a little,just as we did before —With kind remembrances &thanking youso muchforwriting - Very sincerely yours Nellie W.Duryea Clarence’s mother, Lucy, knew about Molly, but also addresses her letters to "Miss Crittendon,” while never spelling her first name correctly:

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CLARENCE MATTEl

Laccr letters sound as though Molly had

yTvlay igi6 DearM-ollic[sic]— I-wish to thank

definitely endeared herself to the family: much indeedfor

the heautifid painting and lovely bag yon so kindly sent me. I ivas most happily surprised

June gth igi8 DearMollie[sic]—

and pleased with them. 1 do appreciate the

... Ido hope he had been up to your place

landscape painting as it is a change from

fora rest and gotsomenicefresh air. Hedoesn't

Clarence's work—no doid)t you enjoyed

say ivhen he expects to return home on a visit

painting it very much. Eva'y cme admires it —

—ive are all getting quiet[sic] anxious to see

that sees it. 1 have it hanging in the lobby.

him again am so glad he k^eps ivell and no

Clarence wasso pleased with it as ivell as the

doubt very busy and doing some wondetfid

rest ofthefamily

ivork 1 hearfrom Airs. Duryea indirectly a7id

Sincej'ely loiws Mrs.F.Mattel

also from you. 1 am indeed very proud of Clarence.

1 do hope by pray this terrible ivar will

One ofthe anist !s rnost acclaimed canvase.s was his portrayal ofFelix Mittd and (Jus Berg playing their nightly game ofpinochle. Ihe oil pamting

exhibited in New %rk’s Metropolitan Museum of

Artfor a time. CJits- Berg, t/ long time employee at Mattel’s Tdvem, was one ofFelix Mattel's closest confidants. Photograph collection ojthe Santa Barbara Ilistorical Society.

96 soon be won and over.1do hope thisfinds you well and in good spirits as it leaves me at present. We serve two afternoons a week,for the E^d Cross. Thanking you againfor your kindness.

With much love to you Mrs.F.Mattei Is it possible that Clarence changed his mind about Molly after marriage and no longer finds her appealing? This does not bear out. In his letters to Molly, Clarence’s brother, Fred, writes that he has heard a many good things about her from his brother. One letter from Clarence says that Fred married his wife Elaine because Elaine reminded Fred of Molly. This did not mean Fred had met Molly, for he had not, but rather that Elaine had positive attributes similar to those Fred thought Molly had.*^ For the next fifteen years Clarence re peatedly bounced between the east and west coasts. He maintained a studio with other artists in Santa Barbara, working there for weeks or even months at a time.

He then would go back to the East Coast to paint more commissions or to travel, sometimes with Mrs. Duryea. Still, Clarence never revealed that he was mar ried to Molly.

When not in the east, he wrote to Molly and he sent her money,so he appar ently felt an obligation to be a proper hus band. His letters were short, but warm and tender and he signed them "with all my love.’’ As time passed, however, most of his letters became increasingly brief, usu ally just apologies for not sending money sooner. Mattei called himself a poor letter writer; even his mother mentioned it was a "weekness’’[sic] of his.*** During 1918 and 1919, it would appear Mattei did not keep an active studio in Santa Barbara,as he is not listed in the city

NOTICIAS directories. He spent most of his time on the East Coast, staying in New York for the first half of the year, and traveling to Molly’s home in Massachusetts for August.

Mattei got a whiff of patriotic fever and he toyed with entering the armed forces during World War I at the age of thirtythree. Perhaps he was inspired from his visit to his brother, Charles, who was in the Navy and stationed in Chicago, or by his youngest brother, Bert, who was in officer training at the army’s Camp Lewis, Wash ington.

In September 1918, Mattei came out to Los Olivos and wrote to Molly that he in tended to register for the military with the hopes that enlisting in Santa Barbara would put him with the home crowd, and away from the general riff-raff in the infantry.*® It is unclear whether he did enlist, but the war’s end,just weeks later, made the point moot. He later spent the holiday season with Nellie at the Duryea farm in Hickory Valley, Tennessee.

In March 1919, Mattei traveled to Aitken, South Carolina, presumably with Nellie, as there are renowned thoroughbred farms there. In the following months he spent most of his time on the East Coast, in New York City and Connecticut and Washington, D.C. He then spent the Christmas season with Molly. In 1920 and 1921 Clarence was traveling in Europe 20 probably with Nellie Duryea.

Professional Life, 1908-1923 Once Mattei returned to the Santa Bar bara area, he became part of the artist colony that was starting to take shape at that time. In Los Olivos, he struck up a warm friendship with John Gamble.

Gamble was a landscape artist and the pre mier painter of California’s wildflowers. Al though he was old enough to be Mattei's

CLARENCE MATTEI father. Gamble shared some mutual expe riences with Mattci; they had both stud ied at the Academic Julian and in San Fran cisco. Gamble came to Santa Barbara in 1907 after the San Francisco earthquake destroyed his studio.

97 began his work here with the warm and worn, familiar faces he grew up with around the tavern, Tom Coe, the bearded stagecoach driver with the big black hat, was one of his first subjects, painted in 1910, Other personalities included cowboy Chino Cota from the Mattci ranch, stagecoach driver John Waugh, and the artist’s mother, Lucy, the matron of the tavern, who posed in a sunbonnet.

Gin Lung Gin. the Chinese cook at Mattel’s, sat for his portrait. He was well-known for his dove pies during the hunting season. As he was not me ticulous about removing all ol the shot, his pics retained a certain infamous crunchincss.^' Another subject was Gus Berg, the Sw^edish immigrant who served as chief clerk and Felix Mattel’s right hand man, and who was close as a brother to the tavern owner. Mattci

Charles Stork.c came to Santa Barbara in iSyi to teach school and became one ofthe city !s most prominent citizens as a businessman, politi cian, and nezi’spaper publisher. Collection of the Santa Barbara Historical Society. Cjift oj Jean Storhe Alenzies.

Gamble sat tor his portrait, painted by Mattci in 1910, He allowed Mattei to work in his studio in the mornings and, from 1910 to 1914. Clarence used Gamble's stu dio at 813 State Street.

In contrast to his portraits ol Ameri can aristocracy on the East Coast, Mattci

did a charcoal portrait of "Old Gus’’ and also captured Gus’ and Felix’s evening pinochle game, an activity that actually could last several nights.

This oil brought Mattci much atten tion and acclaim. The painting even hung for a while in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

ClarenceMattci’s painting of the two old cronies at this interesting game under the title of "Pinochle"won him as much renotvn as anything he had ever dime, and the painting was lithographed and sold by the hundreds over the country. Ihe perfect likeness is a pre dominantfeature of the picture.'^ In 1916 Mattel came out to Santa Bar bara to visit his uncle, James Warren, who was a banker with Santa Barbara County National Bank. Warren had developed dormitories lor the Santa Barbara State

98 Normal School of the Manual Arcs and Home Economics (the forerunner of DC Santa Barbara) when it first opened its new campus in Santa Barbara’s Riviera neigh borhood in 1913, He also built several

NOTICIAS ranching family, his dear family friend Samuel Dabney and his wife Frances Kolscat Dabney. After 1924 he almost ex clusively embraced charcoal, only occa sionally executing an oil.

houses and cottages for boarding stu dents and faculty, which later became part of the El Encanto Hotel complex, including the Warren Court Apart ments on Mission Ridge. One of these cottages became a gathering place for Mattel and his friends, including Clarence V Vivian, who worked in real estate. John Gamble, and A.R. Patterson.

Mattel befriended painter Alexander Harmcr and became part of the cadre of artists who had space in the Harmcr studio, located in the Yorba-Abadie adobe in De la Guerra Plaza. Mated parked his easel there from 1914 to 1917 painting, among others, a magnificent portrait of news paper publisher Charles A. Storkc.

John Singer Sargent was another artist who had a significant influence on the young man’s life. Clarence had studied with Sargent in London. Singer was the preeminent portrait painter at the turn of the century. Wearying of the demands on his time for commissioned portraits, by 1908 Singer had abandoned his formal paintings of high society, switching to watcrcolor landscapes and charcoal por traits. It was Singer who suggested to Mattel that he could add this quicker me dium of charcoal to his repertoire along with his paintings.

Painting primarily in oils during the early part of his career, he now began pro ducing portraits in charcoal, graphite, even crayon during the period 1914 to 1924. He did a study of his father in conte range in 1914. He created oil portraits of his father, his mother. Peggy Stow from the Golcta

One a}Mattel's most evocative canvases luas his portrait oj Margaret "Peggy"Stow, "A Portrait in CandieLighi."'Ihe Stowfamily ivas a prominent Qoleta Valley pioneerfamily. Col lection oj the Santa Barbara Historical Soci ety. Qift ojLorraine(Mrs. Charles C.)Mattel.

Charles Mattel. Clarence’s younger brother by two years, was also a fine painter. He did portraits as well, including Santa Barbara figures Byron Abraham.

Sam Stanwood. and Maria de la Guerra y Taylor. Clarence was very fond of Charles and the brothers kept a studio together in the McCabe Building at 740 State Street during the years 1920 to 1924.

Artist and illustrator Belniore Browne became a longtime, close friend. He was

99

CLARENCE MATTEl an avid naturalist naturalist, outdoorsman. and mountaineer; he was one of the first men to climb Mt. McKinley In 1902 he joined the American Museum of Natural History expedition to the Yukon and Alaska and recorded the wildliic with his illustrations; he also famously painted scenes of the Canadian Rockies. He also did sculpture and, like Mattel, had attended the Academie Julian.

Browne moved to Santa Barbara in the late 1920s and kept a studio on East Canon Perdido Street. During his ten-year stay in Santa Barbara. Browne was an active fig ure in the local arts community. He served as Director of the Santa Barbara School ol the Arts from 1930-1934. and he also cre ated landscape dioramas for the Santa Bar bara Museum of Natural History. Mattel was honored with a commission by the Royal Academy to paint his good friend’s portrait.

The Santa Barbara Years 1923-1945 As Mattel commuted back and forth across the country, he longed to remain

in chc wide-open spaces and with the un bridled personalities of the West Coast.

He told his close friend Clarence Vivian.

"I would rather fish off the end ot the wharf here than paint the finest portrait in New York."2.5 Around 1922. after more than a decade of cross-country travel, Clarence decided to move permanently to Santa Barbara.

There was an additional personal reason compelling him to make the move. His mother's mental health had been deterio rating for some time. It seems that clinical depression had haunted her own tamily lor some generations; Lucy's mother and two sisters had suffered severe depression which lead to suicide by all three family mem bers. Lucy suffered from an increasing de pression and grew preoccupied whether this was to be her destiny. As Clarence was a favorite son of Lucy, Felix wrote to him to return to Santa Barbara to see if his pres 26

ence could change her disposition.

Clarence felt a natural duty to go back to the West Coast and tend to her.

His permanent return to Santa Barbara meant a permanent separation from his wife. It seemed Molly could not bear to leave the East with which she was so familiar, and particularly she wished to stay in her beloved Berk shire mountain home in Otis, Massa chusetts. where she would live out the remainder of her days. Living on op posite coasts, the couple remained on amicable terms. Clarence did some what support Molly financially, periodically sending her checks of one ■BMi hundred dollars.

Felix Lind Lucy Mattei, igi6. Seven years later, Clarence’s mother ivould commit suicide, the victim ofdeep depres sion. Courtesy ofthe Santa I listorical Society.

Valley

100

NOTICIAS

A lattd cxecuud this draiving oj Ihomas Storl{ii, Oitir/L’.s Storl{ti's son, in 193^. publisher oj the Santa Barbara Press,Storhe ivoidd become so injhiential he u-oidd be knmvn as "Mr. Santa Barbara.”Photog7-aph cnllectum oj the Santa Barbara I Ustoiical Society.

Clarence came home ac Christmas.

1922. It may have been at that time the family decided a change of scen ery might brighten Lucy’s spirits. Per haps tlicy were afraid her dark moods would disrupt business at the tavern.

Whatever the case, in the New Year Clarence rented a house in the 1500 block ot Canal Street, now Olive Street, for his mother and himself, In June 1923, the coroner was called to the home and signed a death certificate for Lucy Fisher Mattci. He ruled it was "suicide bv hanging,”-^ Clarence sent this curt, somewhat disin genuous note to his wife; / lave some very sad news to tell you -poor mother passed away very suddenly a short time ago - acute dilation ofthe hea^t.She had been a little nervousjoraivhile but seemed to begetting better. Father is bearing it in a very wonderjxd way. Mope 1 can arrange things so that Iivill he able to come east before very long.

Mope you are well. Am sending cheeffor one hundred dolLirs.

With all my love la' Clarence Clarence’s work now caught the eye and the interest of Santa Barbara's leading citi zens. Many wanted the chance to be im mortalized by the hand of their local boy who enjoyed a national lollowing, Isabella Greenway. a Santa Barbara resident and

patron ol the arts and who later became one of the first U,S. Congresswomen had her portrait painted. Attorney Francis Price and businessman Jack Parma sat for their portraits, as did publishers Alfred Holman of the Argonaut. Reginald Fernald of the Santa Barbara Morning Press and Thomas Storke of the Santa Barbara Daily Mews.

Local philanthropists such as B.F. Goodrich Rubber Company executive Charles Raymond. Oaklcigh Thorne, and Dwight Murphy also had their portraits done.

About 1923 Clarence met an attractive young single mother, divorcee Merle Wilhoit. Born on January 22. 1896. Merle Ruth Gossett grew up in northern Califor nia. attending Castcllcja School for Girls in Palo Alto. She was said to be a woman of much charm and poise, qualities inher ited from her mother. She came from a fam ily ot musical talent, and was herself an accomplished musician who could "play the piano and sing like a lark.’’’^

CLARENCE MATTEI In 1916 she married John Wilhoit. de scended from pioneer and banking families trom Stockton, Calitornia. With him she had one son, Douglass Woods Wilhoit. born in 1918.John and Merle divorced two years later and Merle came with her little boy to Santa Barbara,settling in Montccito on Lingate Lane off ot San Ysidro Road.

101 the photographer, W Edwin Gledliill, at 114 Chapala Street. Hertcr and his wife, Adcle, were both artists, and had designed the decor tor his mother’s villa, El Mirasol, later translormed into a hotel for high-end visitors, in cluding Ellen Duryea.

MattdmctJvlerle Qossett Wilhoit in 1923. The two married in IIc became especially close to his stepson, Douglass. Alattei drexv this portraitfour years after the couple met. Coitrtes)i ojAlatt and jej]Nichob,Brothers ResWurant at Alattei’s Tavern.

Hez^kiah Q. Chase, u)2~. //● Q- Chase became one oj the leading realtors in Santa Barbara Ccninty. His children, Pearl and Harold, became prominent loealjigures in theiroivn right. Collec tion oj the Santa Barbara I listorical Society. Qij't oj Qertrude Chase Schumacher.

Mattel and Merle became a wellmatched couple. Tliey were witty conver sationalists and enjoyed any number of pursuits together. They had a wide circle of friends that included Tubby and Alice Davis, Louis and Alice Walker Soles. Mar

From 1925 to 1927, Mattel produced many portraits for the leading families in Santa Barbara, These included poet/publisher Robert Cameron Rogers, and his brothers. Eliot and Sherman; and members

garet Waterman Canby, Aldcn Painter, publisher Reginald Fernald. and. of course, artists like John Gamble and Albert Hertcr.^''’ Clarence moved his studio in with Albert

of the Chase family; realtor Hezekiah Griggs Chase; his son, Harold, who devel oped Hope Ranch, and Harold's wife.

Gertrude.

Hcrter. who had rented an apartment from

At the end of 1927. Mattel’s patroness.

Ellen Winchester Weld Duyrea, passed

102

NOTICIAS

Dr. I km-y Smith Pritchettserved as president oj the Carnegie Foundation Jor twenty-five years.

Foundation funding aided a 7iwnber oj local agencies including the Commioiity Arts ^^snciation and the public lihrai-y. Pritchett zoos also ve}~y active infund raising in the ajtamath ojthe 1925earthijuake. Collection ojthe Santa Barbara !listorical Society. Qift ofAlary Pntchett.

away. She had remained forever fond of him and concinued to support him even al ter her death. Her last will and testament provided tor her "dear friend Clarence Mattel of Santa Barbara California,” $100,000. quite a sizeable amount tor that time. She also left him "all the guns” in her Park Avenue apartment.

In 1929 Mattel opened a studio in the El Pasco complex in downtown Santa Bar bara. His studio was directly above that ot Western artist Ed Borcin, and Mattei became part of the milieu surrounding the popular cowboy artist. During this time more ot Santa Barbara’s notables came to sit for their portraits.

Mattel was especially adept at children’s portraits. He was able to amuse and occupy them long enough to capture their innocent expressions, their somber moments, their guileless smiles, and the twinkle in their eyes.

He did charcoals and crayons ot not only local youngsters, such as the

Vpo7i Curtis Wolsey Cate's retiremait as headmaster in ig=^o, the prep school near Carpinteria zvas named in his honor.'loday Cate School is ojtai ranlted afnong the out standing private schools in the country.

PluHographcollectionojthe Santa Barbara I listorical Society. Qift ojAleide (Airs.

Clarence

)A lattei.

103

CLARENCE MATTEI Lcadbetter sons, Barbara and Patricia Brintoii, and young Edward Stanton, but also members of the Hollywood set, such as the children of movie directors, and the sons of Bing Crosby. Phil and Gary.

In 1930, Mattei lost two more family members. His oldest brother, Frank, died in an accident involving his pick-up truck.

His father, Felix, the man whose tavern and inn stood at the crossroads of a time and place in California history passed away at age seventy-six.

Mattei was quite settled in Santa Bar bara and seeing much of his lady Merle.

After several years, however, he had to summon his courage to tell her he was ac tually still "technically’' married to a woman back cast.^^ Merle was stunned. They had been together enjoying community activities as a couple for years now, yet she had no knowledge there was another woman in the picture. The revelation nearly shattered the rela tionship. but Mattei quickly made plans to get a Nevada divorce.

In August 1932, he moved to Washoe County and took up resi dence at a dude ranch for six weeks to qualify for a Nevada divorce from Molly. Merle and son Douglass also came to Nevada while Mattei waited out the time at the Desert Inn in Sutcliffe.

Mattei decided to make the most of their surroundings and took Douglass fishing at Pyramid Lake.

Here they pulled so many twentytwo-pound trout out of the water, they could afford to toss the eightecn-pounders back in the lake.^^ On October 11, 1932, the three

Fonner U. S. Prcsidait Herbal. Hoover sdt for Matteiat the behest of the artist's brother,Albert, ivho knew H(X)ver through theircommon Stanfnxl University ties, hi addition to the oil painting, Mattei abo executed this charcoal. Photograph collection ofthe Santa Barbara Historical Soci ety. Qift ofMerle {Mrs. CLiraice

)Mattei.

stood together in open court before judge Thomas Moran, who was memorably dressed in a cutaway jacket and string tie, as the decree of di .^4 vorce was granted.

Although the divorce papers stipulated a $100 monthly alimony until Molly’s death or remarriage. Clarence was incon sistent about payment. He wrote to her every couple of months,apologized for not writing more often, and would enclose a

104

NOTICIAS

check lor cwo hundred to Five hundred dol lars, Molly never did remarry, but lived in her Berkshire home succcsslullv selling arc and ornamented talc, (painted tins), until her passing in 19vOZ Interestingly, it does not appear that Mattel ever cold Molly he had remarried, Clarence and Merle were wed on Oc tober 12 in Reno, with fourteen-year-old Douglass standing in as best man. The newlvweds settled down with Douglass on Olive Road in Moncecico, Mattel was lond of his stepson, who called him "Pops,” He had painted a por trait of the bov when he was voung and dedicated it "To Duddic," Mattel caught the boy to lish, goll. and hunt. Mated was reputedly one ot the best golfers at the Valley Club in Moncecico. with a handi cap around seven, and he cook Douglass to ’’Father-Son" tournaments,'^’’ Mattel was a sportsman of the first or der, an outstanding horseman, and excelled at golf, hunting, and fishing. Yet he also was a portrait artist moving in fashionable circles and he maintained his scvlc and stKial graces without ever appearing foppish. He had a great sense ol humor, and his friends loved his zeal lor practical jokes, which he pulled 36 oil in a dry droll style.

He continued with commissions of civic figures. From the medical community came Dr, George Luton and his wife; Dr. Edward Lamb, founder ol the Children's Clinic; and Mimi Koefod, daughter of Dr. Hilmar Koefod. From Moncecico came Katherine MacDonald Holmes, the

l^cginutd rernald tuns rme ofMatin’s closest Jnciids. Ihe tivo slured a love ofthe outdoors and xvere ardent supporters of the I{epublican Paity.

Collection ofthe Santa Barbara 1listorical Soci ety. Cjift of Elmer And.

Foundation was also portrayed in a char coal rendering.

Another notable commission was that ol former president Herbert Hoover. A.C "Bert" Mattel, Clarence’s younger brother, had become an engineer and,eventually, presi dent of the Honolulu Oil Company. Hoover had become a mentor to Bert, as they both had Stanford University ties. It was Bert's suggestion chat Hoover sic for Clarence, a tremendous honor lor the artist.

"American Beauty" silent screen scar

The painting was completed and sene off , and Mattel waited to receive payment and congratulations for his work. Instead,

who had scarred opposite Douglas Fairbanks; brother and sister Earl Gra ham and Geraldine Graham, heirs to

he received in the mail an autographed pho tograph of the former president. "To Clarence Mactci. to whom I am under ob

Bdlosguardo; and Curtis Wolscy Cate, founder of the school chat bears his name.

ligation for an idealized presentation."

Apparently, Hoover had accepted the por trait as a gift rather chan understanding it w'as a commissioned work,^^

Dr. Henry Smith Pricchccc. president of M.I.T and chairman ol the Carnegie

CLARENCE MATTEI One of Maccci’s dearest friends was Reginald Fcrnald. publisher of die Santa Barbara T^loming Press. The two shared an interest in politics(the friends were fer vent Republicans) and in fishing. They enjoyed the use of Fernald’s yacht on the Columbia River and on more than one oc casion Mattei took Douglass with him to Oregon to fish.

A quiet and composed man, Mattei could speak volumes with few words. On one occasion he and Merle were out for a picnic in the hills outside of Los Olivos with several other couples. Douglass was a couple of hundred yards away up on a hill side shooting quail with a shotgun. Duddie was having trouble with a bird he felled.

He did not want the bird to suffer, but he

i05 spected and respectful, and had exuded a certain strength through his calmness.

Around 1936, Clarence moved his stu dio f rom El Pasco into his home among the oak trees and flowers of Olive Road. With Merle's inspiration and support. Mattei was now to do some of his finest portrait work.

He began working more in oil again.

One of these portraits, "William Slater 111,” was shown in the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Fran cisco, in the California Building. The painting received the 1939 Artists’ Fund prize, Sculpture Annual, from the San Francisco Arc Association.

was afraid to wring its neck. He decided to put bird out of its misery and shot the bird on the ground. At that close range, the bird was blown apart. Young Duddie was stunned and overcome at the unintended consequence. To let off steam, he shot his double-barreled gun into the air at a fortyfive-degree angle. The buckshot struck the tree overhead of the picnickers and caused no small alarm.

No one was hurt, but it was appar ent to the picnic party just who the guilty party was. Mattei immediately stood up, silently and methodically mak ing his way 150 yards away and up the hill to Douglass who stood trembling in his boots at what he had just done, and the expectant aftermath.

Clarence walked deliberately and somberly straight up to Douglass and, without ever raising his voice, said, "Duddie. did you learn anything just now?" It was a kind and thorough les 39 son that made its point.

That was the gentlemanly way of Clarence Mattei: he never laid a hand on Douglass, nor did he need to. He was re¬

Sam Stanivood served as a Santa Barbara County supervisorjrom igi6 through

and

zvtisEl Prcsidcncco/ Old Spanish Days Fiestajnr twenty'four years. Collection oj the Santa Bar bara I listorical Society. Qift ojLorraine (Mrs. Cluirles l{.)Mattei.

Maccci’s work was exhibited at the San

Francisco Museum of Arc and in the Oak land Arc Gallery and was also represented at the Sacramento Arc Center, Salinas Jun ior College, and Stockton Junior College.

NOTICIAS

106 In 1938. well-known Louisiana philanthro pists, General Lewis Kemper Williams and his wife, Leila Hardie Moore Williams,sat for their portraits, which now hang in The Historic New Orleans Collection.

After U.S.entry into the Second World War in 1941, a number of the young men who enlisted in the armed forces sat for their portraits in uniform includingJohn De Blois Wack, George Nelson Groman. and Curtis Hutton. Additionally, Mattel ex ecuted the portraits of two very prominent Santa Barbarans: long time county super visor Sam Stan wood in 1943 and Santa Barbara News-Press publisher Thomas Storke in 1944. Tliese were to be among

the last portraits done by Clarence Mattel.

At the end of 1944, Mattel was diag nosed with leukemia. The disease pro gressed quickly and in March of the fol lowing year he entered Santa Barbara Cot tage Hospital. Clarence Mattel passed away on April 3, 1945.

Clarence Mattel was a man of con trasts, a private person who mingled well with the public. He knew the glamour of New York and the artistic atmosphere of Paris, yet was most at home in the rustic setting of the West. His portraits, of cow boys and cooks, captains of industry and community leaders, captured the spirit of a changing nation.

NOTES 1 Owen H. O’Neill, ed.. History ofSanta Barbara County State ofCalifornia, Its People and Its P^ources(Santa Barbara: Harold McLean Meier, 1939), 376.

2 Obituary of Felix Mattel, Santa Bar bara News-Press. 11 December 1930.

3 Walker A. Tompkins, "Santa Barbara Yesterdays,” Santa Barbara NewsPress. 19 July 1959.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid. Also Edward R. Atkinson, unpub lished monograph on Clarence Mattel, Amherst, MA., 1981.

6 Edward A. Gilbert, "Clarence Mattel,” Noticias 7(Winter 1961): 1.

7 Atkinson.

8 Edward R. Atkinson, interview with author, 19 June 2004; Sheila D’Amico, interview with author, 23 June 2004.

Edward Atkinson’s wife was a niece of Molly Crittendon Mattel.

9 Atkinson interview.

10 Santa Barbara News-Press, 3 April 1945.

11 Mary Edith Crittendon Papers, Crittendon Hill Archives. Otis. MA. 12 Ibid.

13 Ibid. This was written on one of Camille’s business cards by Molly ac companying a small crayon sketch of him done in 1908.

14 Crittendon Hill Archives; D’Amico in terview.

15 Sheila D’Amico, "Berkshire Artist, Mary Crittendon,” The Artful Mind (Nov. - Jan. 1997):33.

16 Crittendon Hill Archives, journal of Molly Crittendon Mattei, entry dated 19 November 1952.

17 Crittendon Hill Archives.

18 Ibid.

19 D’Amico interview; Crittendon Hill Ar chives.

20 D’Amico interview; Crittendon Hill Ar chives.

21 Menu notes, Mattel’s Tavern, 2002.

22 Stella Haverland Rouse,"Felix MatteiDean of California Innkeepers,” Santa

107

CLARENCE MATTEI Barbara News-Press, 14 September 1980.

23 Gilbert, 2; Santa Barbara News-Press, 3 April 1945.

24 Gilbert, 2.

25 Santa Barbara News-Press, 3 April 1945.

26 Ibid.

27 Death certificate of Lucy Mattei, County of Santa Barbara Book 2 State Index 2409, 21 June 1923.

28 Crittendon Hill Archives.

29 Douglass Wilhoit, Sr., interview with

author, 9 June 2004.

30 Wilhoit interview; Gilbert, 2.

31 San Francisco Chronicle, 30 December 1927 32 Wilhoit interview.

33 Ibid.

34 Ibid.

35 Gilbert, 3.

36 Wilhoit interview.

37 Santa Barbara News'Press, 21 Octo ber 1945; Wilhoit interview.

38 Wilhoit interview.

39 Ibid.

The Works of Clarence Mattei—A Partial List Subject ● Year ● Medium Washington Crossing the Delaware 1899 pen & ink Gin Lung Gin 1900 pencil Mary Crittendon Mattei 1905 oil Mary Crittendon Mattei (study in blue)1905 oil Mary Crittendon Mattei (study in brown) 1905 oil

Marion Hollins cl913 oil J. R Morgan cl913 oil Charles Albert Storke cl914 oil John Gamble 1914 oil Margaret "Peggy” Stow cl914 oil Sally Alexander(Stow) 1914 oil John Waugh (stagecoach driver) 1915 oil Thomas M.Storke 1916 oil

Mary Crittendon Mattei (with hat)1905 oil Clarence Mattei (self-portrait)ci907 oil Camille 1908 crayon Camille of Paris 1908 oil

Pinochle Players cl916 oil Chino Cota cl918

Landscape—Roofs of Paris cl908 oil Tom Coe 1910 oil

Mrs. Lansing—mother of Alonzo Lansing cl920 oil

Gustave Berg 1910 oil Crittendon house (from a distance)ci9i0 oil Crittendon house cl910 oil

Leadbetter Family; Daughter 1920 oil Leadbetter Family: Son #1 1920 oil Leadbetter Family: Son #2 1920 oil Eliot Rogers cl920 charcoal Samuel Dabney cl920 charcoal Jack Parma cl920 oil Mrs. Isobella Greenway cl922 oil Frances Kohlstat Dabney(Mrs. Samuel) 1924 charcoal Geraldine Graham 1924 charcoal

Lucy(Mrs. Felix) Mattei 1910 oil Felix Mattei 1910 oil Gin Lung Gin cl911 charcoal Dr. George Alanson Crittendon cl911 oil Theodore Crittendon ^rvm a photograph) cl911 pencil Carmen Dibblee Underhill (fragment) 1911 oil Ellen(Mrs. Herman)Duryea cl912 oil Harvey Gibson cl912 oil Ellen Gleason cl912 oil Josef Hoffman cl913 oil

Lucy(Mrs. Felix) Mattei (insunbonnet)ci9i8 Chico B. cl920 oil

Sally Armsby(Mrs. Robert Neustadt) 1924 charcoal Mrs. Charles Hu 1925 charcoal Gustave Berg cl925 charcoal Charles Raymond cl925 charcoal

NOTICIAS

108 Mary Perkins Raymond 1925 charcoal Reginald Fernald cl925 charcoal

Avery Brundage 1932 charcoal Colonel French 1932 charcoal

Reginald Fernald cl925 oil Marie Turner Gavit 1926 charcoal Earl Graham 1926 charcoal

Julia Myrick 1932 oil

Mrs. Fritz Henshaw 1926 charcoal

Richard Myrick 1933 charcoal Lolita A. Mitchell cl932 oil

C.H. Jackson. Jr. 1926 charcoal Dwight Murphy 1926 charcoal Frances Rich 1926 charcoal Sherman Rogers 1926 charcoal Claire Wilcox Squires 1926 charcoal Oakleigh Thorne cl926 charcoal Marcia Ann Gavit Jackson cl926 oil Harold Chase 1927 charcoal E.P. Gavit 1927 charcoal Merle Mattei (profile) 1927 charcoal Francis Price 1927 charcoal Hezekiah Griggs Chase 1927 charcoal Gertrude Chase cl927 oil John Heaney 1927 charcoal Peter McBean 1928 charcoal Barbara & Patricia Brinton 1928 charcoal Katherine Holmes 1928 charcoal Dr. Henry Smith Pritchett 1928 charcoal Cameron Rogers 1928 charcoal

Curtis Wolsey Cate 1933 charcoal Herbert Hoover 1933 charcoal

John J. Mitchell Jr. cl932 oil John J. Mitchell III cl932 oil Lolita S. Mitchell cl932 oil Alice Walker Soles cl933 charcoal Louis Soles cl933 charcoal Dootie Francis 1934 charcoal Thomas Storkc 1934 charcoal Mrs. George (Caroline) Luton cl935 charcoal Dr. Edward Lamb 1935 charcoal Sophie Hutton 1935 charcoal George Roscoe Luton 1935 charcoal Fred Harvey 1936 charcoal Deborah Godwin Pelissero cl937 charcoal Brother of Richard Bell 1938 oil Sister of Richard Bell 1938 oil Bill Luton 1938 charcoal Earl Graham 1938 charcoal John Parma 1938 charcoal

Josephine Squires Hazen 1928 charcoal Nellie(Mrs. Theodore) Wilcox 1928 charcoal

General L. Kemper Williams 1938 pencil

Douglass Wilhoit, Sr.{as ciyoung b(yy) 1928 charcoal

Mimi Koefod Lloyd Butler 1939 charcoal William Slater III cl939 charcoal

Anna McLaren Edwards cl928 charcoal

George Nelson Groman cl942 charcoal Curtis Hutton cl942 charcoal

Margaret Waterman Canby Wilson cl928 charcoal

Leila Hardie Moore Williams 1938 pencil

Jamison. Unidentified 1929 charcoal

Richard L. Thornburg 1942 charcoal John De Blois Wack cl942 charcoal Paul Grafe 1943 charcoal

Gary Crosby (son of Bing Crosby)i93S charcoal

Sam Stanwood 1943 charcoal

Phil Crosby (son ofBing Crosby)cl938 charcoal

Olympia Wilhoit and son Douglass, Jr. 1943 charcoal

Belmore Browne cl930 oil Ed Stanton cl931 charcoal

Paula Grafe 1944 charcoal Tliomas M. Storke 1944 oil

Alfred Holman 1929 charcoal

Helen Grafe 1943 oil

SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 2004 La Fiesta del Museo Contiibutors The Sanca Barbara Hiscorical Society wishes to thank and to acknowledge with pride the following individuals, businesses, and institutions for their most generous contributions to the Society’s 2004 Fiesta Party: PATRONS

BB's Knits Bel Viso Italian Skin Care

Andrew Murray Vineyards Au Bon Climat Philip & Leslie Bernstein Louise Duque Brant Jon & Martha Bull Catherine Butts

'

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Best Western Pepper Tree Inn Sherry Beven David Bisol bo*tan*ik Brander Vineyard Kathleen Brewster Brostrom's Bryant & Sons. Ltd. CallaGold CAMA Cambria Winery & Vineyards Carry & Carry Antiques & Decorative Arts C'cst Cheese Chumash Casino Resort Channel City Club Chaucer's Bookstore Coldwater Creek Country House Antiques Cox Communications Gordon Crary Creative Services Catering Curtis \Mnery Marilyn De Young Wendy Edmunds Roy & Elizabeth Edwards Eladio's El Encanto Hotel & Garden Villas Emilio's Ristorante Ensemble Theatre Company Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort Firestone Family Estates Four Seasons Biltmore Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation A H. Gaspar Jeweler Gelson's Market Giuliana Haute Couture Glamour House Jean Smith Goodrich Larry 6d Astrid Hammett Scott Hogue Harbor View Inn The Hitching Past Hotel Bel-Air

Stuart F. Wading Elizabeth S. Youker

Jcdlicka's Saddlery. Inc. John Hall Designs Harry & Leslie Hovey Kai Sushi Shabu Shabu

SILENT AUCTION CONTRIBUTORS ABC-CLIO

Kaleidoscope Flowers La Casa Del Zorro William Laman

Acapulco Restaurant George M, Andcrjack Antique Alley Antoinette Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Art £rAntiques Barcliff & Bair Baroncclli Linens & Accessories

Furniture Garden Antiques La Playa Pilates & Wellness Center Lewis & Oark Lily Lorraine Lim Catering Lost Horizon Bookstore Louies Restaurant Lucky's Restaurant

Marty & Darla Maciel Magellan's Travel Supplies Cree Mann Keith J. Mautino Asian Art & Antiques Frank & Sheila McGinity George Meta Jewelers Montecito Confections Montecito Village Grocery Mosby Winery & Vineyards Jane Rich Mueller NBC. Inc Occhiali One on One Fitness Paradise Cafe Park Hyatt Los Angeles Irene Parker Peregrine Galleries Personal Tours. Ltd. Jordan Fbpe/Partico Gallery Radisson Hotel Rams Hill Country Qub Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Rancho Zacarias Restaurant Mimosa Rideau Vineyards Don & Nylctta Robinson Rumors Saks Fifth Avenue San Ysidro Pharmacy San Ysidro Ranch Santa Barbara Back & Neck Care Santa Barbara City College John Dunn Dining Room Santa Barbara Magazine Santa Barbara Maritime Museum Santa Barbara Scrapbooks Santa Barbara Symphony Santa Barbara Zoo Richard & Robin Schutte See's Candies Shear Pleasure Hair Design Tana Somcr Belin Spencer's Limousine & Tours Judy Stanton The Stationery Collection Sunstonc Vineyards Tccolote Book Store The Territory Ahead Tiffany & Co. Barbara & William Tomicki Trader Joe's Trattoria Grappolo Trattoria Mollie Turk Hcsselund Nursery Upham Hotel & Country House Via Maestra 42 Marlene R. V^tanza Peregrine Galleries Vons Montecito Claire Waterhouse Waterhouse Gallery Patti Werner

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Quarterly Magazine of the Santa Barbara Historical Society 136 E. Dc la Guerra Street Santa Barbara. California 93101

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CONTENTS Pg. 85; Portraits of a Community: Hie Art of Clarence Mattci

Non-Profic Organi-acion U.S. Postage PAID Santa Barbara California Permit No. 534