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Linda Sorensen & Daniel Rohlfing |
September 2009 Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Monthly News, articles, and opinions from the world of California’s heritage art and beyond, and reporting on gallery and museum exhibits, near and far |
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Visit the gallery Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays, 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM (or other times by prearranged appointment) Celebrating Early California, Western, and American Art 1580 Eastshore Road, PO Box 325, Bodega Bay, CA 94923, 707-875-2911 just around back of the well-reviewed Terrapin Creek Cafe email: Art@BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com | www.BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com |
On exhibit now through October Joshua Meador and selected Regionalist artists of California's Film Industry |
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Diane Disney Miller soon realizes a dream, The October 1 opening of the Walt Disney Family Museum |
A Busy Time for an Artist's Son, Philip Meador |
In 2010, the Musee d'Orsay visits SF's de Young with Back to Back Exhibitions |
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New Film Georgia O'Keeffe premieres September 19 on the Lifetime Network |
Listings of our Neighboring Galleries Listings of Museum Exhibits: The Greater Bay Area, Southern California & Beyond |
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Gallery Notes -Our archive page now features a much improved "clickable" photo index of present and past articles. |
Diane Disney Miller soon realizes a dream, The Walt Disney Family Museum |
Soon to open its doors on the Parade Grounds of San Francisco's Presidio |
Opening October 1st, the Walt Disney Family Museum has quite a tale to tell - the story of a genius, the story of a man who with both perspiration and inspiration laid the foundations for a a truly magical kingdom. Diane Disney Miller's father Walt was the epitome of a dreamer, a hard-working and risk-taking entrepreneur, a man with a passion for art, a fascination with the technology of his age, and the vision and energy to blend them in a creative flurry. Undeterred by false starts, he persisted and so began Walt Disney Studios. One of the most compelling evidences of Walt Disney's genius was his assembled team of artists. He was the master artist using his own creativity and his recognition of the excellence in others to express his vision. Together they created fantasy for millions, and made history. Walt recruited the best artistic talent he could find. Many of them were students of the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. Others, such as Joshua Meador, came from the top art schools elsewhere. To assist his team, he brought influential artists to the studio to inspire and guide. He melded and often created new technologies of filmmaking to bring this art to the screen. Walt came to Hollywood in 1923, a few years before the time when previously black and white silent films burst forth with sound and color. He came to the capitol of film making with a dream. He had little to offer, other than his own character, courage, and his willingness to never stop trying. During World War I, young Walt had lied about his age to enlist. He drove an ambulance for the American Ambulance Corps in France. Upon returning home, he began a couple of filmmaking ventures both ending in failure. Bankrupt, he headed west to join his brother Roy, already in California. In 1928, Walt created Mickey Mouse. Later that year, Steamboat Willie opened in New York, billed as the first animated cartoon with sound. It received grand reviews. Distributors flocked to Walt to obtain the rights for the character. But Walt had learned from a previous experience with a character creation named Oswald the Rabbit, that such deals were not in his best interest. The seed had been sown. Walt and his team continued their efforts, while the studio and its team grew. Meanwhile his family began to grow as well. Lillian and Walt gave birth to Diane Marie Disney in 1933. A year later, his creative team added Donald Duck to the studio's family of characters. In 1936, Walt welcomed a twenty-five year old graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago to the Disney team. In time, a series of successes built with names we all know so well: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Pinoccio, Bambi, and Dumbo and so many others. |
Disney Family Museum | Back to the Top |
Walt Disney Family Museum Exterior, SF Presidio |
A Busy Time for an Artist's Son, Philip Meador | |
When Joshua Meador 1911-1965 passed away unexpectedly at age 54 in the midst of great artistic success, his son Philip was twenty-five. But now, at age 70, Philip is amazed and grateful to witness a rebirth of interest in his father's paintings. During September and October, there is a confluence of three Joshua Meador events, causing Philip, his wife Hildur, and their family to pack suitcases and hit the road. In late September, Philip will be attending the opening festivities of the Walt Disney Family Museum. Joshua Meador was part of the Disney team for nearly thirty years, from 1936 to 1965, and Josh worked on all the classic films of that era. Philip is a retired cinematographer. |
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Tennessee Williams birthplace and museum in Columbus, Mississippi, and new home of the Joshua Meador animation museum. |
In October, Philip and the entire Meador family will be attending celebratory events in Columbus, Mississippi. Both Josh and Libby Meador grew up there, and the city is honoring Josh with an animation museum to be located on the grounds of the Tennessee Williams museum. (More information in the October issue) |
Philip discusses a Meador painting entitled "Village in the Valley," Cambria Pines near Hearst Castle during a Meador exhibition at the Bodega Harbour Yacht Club, November 2006 (catalogue available) |
While in San Francisco attending festivities at the Walt Disney Family Museum, Philip and his wife Hildur will be honored at Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery with a |
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reception on Sunday, September 27th during our current exhibit, Joshua Meador and selected Regionalist artists of California's Film Industry. |
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The Walt Disney Family Museum | Back to the Top |
In 2010, the Musee d'Orsay visits SF's de Young with back to back exhibitions ... In May, the Impressionists will visit |
Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre 1876 |
SF's de Young will host back to back visiting exhibitions from Musee d'Orsay, in Paris. In May 2010. "Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay" includes almost one-hundred works from the mid-nineteenth century masters. |
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In their early years, Renoir, Monet and other impressionists were hard pressed to be able to afford paint. But they were discovering new ways to depict light and shadow, and that shadow is not brown or black, but the reflected color of objects around them, resonating with the vibrancy of life. |
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Memory plays tricks, it edits, reevaluates, reorders and reconstructs, and so it was for Whistler as he recalled memories of his mother. The painting's clean lines, neutral chromatic colors, and intentionally balanced and sparse composition explores the artist's aesthetic memory of his early years. The monochrome print hanging to the left of his mother reflects the palette of the painting itself. It is a print of the Thames, an art form which interested Whistler. |
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, also called Portrait of the Artist's Mother 1871 |
Young Claude Monet had long been unsatisfied with what was being taught in art schools. But in 1862, as he studied under Charles Cleyre in Paris, magic happened. He met other young painters, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Frederic Bazille and Alfred Sisley. Together, they explored new approaches to painting the effects of light, en plein air, using broken color and rapid brush strokes. Monet painted The Saint-Lazare Station just after he left Argenteuil to settle in Paris. At that time, he wanted to be known as a painter of modern life. Monet was out to capture his first glimpse of a scene, his first impression rather than to study a scene to extract its detail. He believed that the first impression was the visual experience. Depicting studied detail would only detract from the initial impression. |
Claude Monet (1840-1926) The Saint-Lazare Station 1877 |
The exhibit's highlights will include: The Fife Player by Edouard Manet (1866), Family Reunion by Frédéric Bazille (1867), Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1 or Portrait of the Artist’s Mother by James McNeil Whistler (1871), The Birth of Venus by William Adolphe Bouguereau (1879), The Cradle by Berthe Morisot (1872), Saint-Lazare Station by Claude Monet (1877), Rue Montorgueil, Paris. Festival of June 30, 1878 by Claude Monet, Racehorses Before the Stands by Edgar Degas (1866–1868), The Dancing Lesson by Edgar Degas (1873–1876) Portraits at the Stock Exchange by Edgar Degas (1878–1879), and The Swing by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1876). |
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The de Young Museum | Musee d'Orsay | Back to the Top |
... In September 2010, The Post Impressionists |
Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night Over the Rhone 1888 |
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The Post Impressionists extended impressionism in new directions. The post impressionist painters continued using thickly applied paint and vivid colors applied with distinctive brush strokes, but emphasized form, often distorting it for effect, and used unnatural color. Vincent Van Gogh was fascinated with stars and the colors of the night. In a letter to his sister in 1888, he wrote, "Often it seems to me night is even more richly coloured than day". The Starry Night in the collection of the d'Orsay is serene, city lights reflecting on waters |
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Pierre Auguste Renoir Dancing in the Country 1883 |
and stars overhead with lovers strolling in the foreground. Another starry night painting now in the collection of the MoMA in New York expresses more of the violence within Van Gogh's psyche, with flame shaped trees, while the sky and stars whirl in a cosmic vision. Pierre Auguste Renoir's Dancing in the Country is one of a pair of paintings, the other depicting a contrasting formal ballroom dance entitled City Dance. Studied together, there are many similarities and contrasts. Both paintings exhibit a pair captured by the magic of their dance. But it is easily apparent that the formality and restraint of the city ballroom lacks the spontaneity and gaiety of the country dance in the open air. |
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Paul Gauguin Tahitian Women, on the Beach 1891 |
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In 1891, Paul Gauguin relocated to Tahiti to be free of the need to struggle for money and "live in the ecstasy, calm and art." In his painting, Tahitian Women, on the Beach, he shows two women of status, covered fully with mission clothing, seemingly melancholy and in rigid poses. Its as if Gauguin who came to Tahiti to escape social structures and demands finds two souls imprisoned by similar forces even in a tropical paradise. Gauguin admired Manet, and here uses simplified shapes. He also exhibits the graphic style and vivid colors of Matisse. Notable works in this exhibition include: A Dance in the Country by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1883), The Circus by George Seurat (1891), Self Portrait, Starry Night over the Rhone, and The Artist’s Bedroom at Arles by Vincent van Gogh (1889), Portrait of the Artist with the Yellow Christ and Tahitian Women, On the Beach by Paul Gauguin (1891), Still Life with Onions by Paul Cézanne (1895), and The Snake Charmer by Henri Rousseau (1907) In our May edition, we reported on another reason why Gauguin may have escaped to Tahiti. German researchers have taken a second look at the archived evidence and offer a new explanation, that during a fight outside a brothel at Arles, Paul Gauguin cut off Van Gogh's ear. The story of his self mutilation was constructed to give Gauguin plausible cover. Soon afterward, Gauguin left France for the south Pacific. In its an interesting read with an accompanying video interview. http://bbhgallery.com/BBH_Gallery_Monthly_May_09.htm#VanGoghEar |
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The de Young Museum | Musee d'Orsay | Back to the Top |
The Yankee Driver, Thomas Hart Benton, 1920 |
San Marino's The Huntington Library's American Collection |
Henry and Arabella Huntington came by his wealth by working for his uncle, Collis P. Huntington, one of the owners of the Central Pacific Railroad. Henry began his California career in San Francisco, but moved to Los Angeles in 1902. At that time, he bought the San Marino Ranch, and began transforming the property into the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Today, the Huntington Library hosts half a million visitors a year. The art collections occupy three buildings. The European art is located in the Huntingtons' home, a large Beaux-Arts mansion designed by Myron Hunt. The American Art is located in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries, featuring art from the colonial period. A third gallery, the Susan and Stephen Chandler Wing, is used for temporary exhibitions. One of the most recent additions to the American collection is The Yankee Driver by Thomas Hart Benton. Benton was from Missouri, but spent summers |
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Breakfast in Bed, Mary Cassatt, ca 1894 |
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on Martha's Vineyard. His subject for The Yankee Driver was a Vineyard old time native named Billy Benson, a local character who did odd jobs. Benton believed American artists should represent the lives and stories of people they knew. He became a leader of a group of artists known as Regionalists, who celebrated American folkways and rural life. A real prize among the collection is Breakfast in Bed by Mary Cassatt. Born in Pennsylvania, Mary lived most of her life in France where she became |
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life in France where she became close friends with the French Impressionists. The French Impressionists used short strokes of unmixed color to capture their first visual impression of a scene. Mary became the only American to exhibit with the core group of French Impressionists, including Edgar Degas, Claude Motet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro. Another treasure is The Long Leg done by Edward Hopper. The painting shows the Long Point Light at Provincetown, Massachusetts in mid afternoon light. Although at first glance the painting appears to be a scene of leisure, there are no figures, and it contains elements of Hopper themes of isolation, melancholy and loneliness. |
The Long Leg, Edward Hopper, ca 1930 |
The Huntington Library American Collection | Back to the Top |
New Film Georgia O'Keeffe premieres September 19 on the Lifetime Network | |
The cable network Lifetime will premiere a newly completed original film George O’Keeffe. It stars Academy Award nominated Joan Allen as Georgia O’Keeffe and Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons as legendary photographer Alfed Stieglitz. The film will first air on September 19th. Please check local listings.
The film explores the turbulent twenty-year-long relationship between O’Keeffe and Stieglitz as O’Keeffe struggled to establish her own artistic path. In 1929, she began spending part of each year in New Mexico, a location which inspired her to new heights of artistic expression. Twenty years later, she made New Mexico her permanent home. |
Joan Allen as Georgia O'Keeffe |
Georgia studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Student's League in New York where she studied with William Merritt Chase. But it was Stieglitz who promoted her work. By the mid 1920's, she was one of America's best known artists. With fame came the need for new material. |
Footage of the 92 year old Georgia O'Keeffe taken in and around her home in New Mexico |
http://www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/movies/georgia-okeeffe | Back to the Top |
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What's showing at Bodega Bay Galleries & Beyond? click on their links and discover the wonder to be found in the galleries of West Sonoma County |
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While in Bodega Bay ... | ||
IN BODEGA BAY Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery |
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NEW IN BODEGA BAY SMITH & KIRK FINE ART & CUSTOM FRAMING GALLERY Reception, Friday, July 3, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM Libby Kirk's fused glass, Susan Amalia's multi-media works, and Gary Smith's Custom Framing. Also offering works of the late Gail Packer. Conveniently located next to The Ren Brown Collection 1785 A Highway One, PO Box 1116, Bodega Bay, CA 94923 SWFraming@Comcast.net | 707-875-2976 |
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IN BODEGA BAY Local Color Gallery |
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IN BODEGA BAY The Ren Brown Collection Now showing - Carol Brighton: "Notes from a Mountain Journal" Monotypes and Handmade Paper Works August 13 - September 27, 2009 & Paintings by Robert DeVee http://www.renbrown.com | Back to the Top |
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Liya and Andrew |
And while in Bodega Bay, visit Liya and Andrew at |
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And nearby, in Sonoma, Napa & Marin Counties | ||
IN DUNCANS MILLS Christopher Queen Galleries 3 miles east of Hwy 1 on Hwy 116 on the Russian River through September: 19th annual Artists of the Bohemian Club show "BOHEMIAN RENDEZVOUS". http://www.christopherqueengallery.com | Back to the Top |
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IN DUNCANS MILLS Quercia Gallery "An On Going Exhibit, of Small Works" Through October 31 Hours: 11am-5pm, Thur - Mon (707) 865-0243 http://www.quercia-gallery.com | Back to the Top |
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IN Guerneville John Rizzi Glassworks Retail Gallery and Studio specializing in unique glass sculpture, beads and jewelry http://www.JohnRizziGlassworks.com | Back to the Top |
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IN Santa Rosa The Annex Galleries specializing in 19th, 20th, and 21st century American and European fine prints http://www.AnnexGalleries.com | Back to the Top |
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IN CALISTOGA the Lee Youngman Gallery |
Paul Youngman "Mustard" |
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IN TOMALES Tomales Fine Art |
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IN FORESTVILLE The Quicksilver Mine Co. |
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IN GRATON Graton Gallery |
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IN BODEGA Bodega Landmark Gallery Collection regional seascape and landscape painting, fine art photography, blown glass, etching, sculpture, ceramics, stained glass, woodwork, and jewelry by local artists. 17255 Bodega Highway Bodega, California USA 94922 Phone 707 876 3477 http://www.artbodega.com | Lorenzo@ArtBodega.com | Back to the Top |
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IN VALLEY FORD West County Design |
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IN FREESTONE Boho Gallery 463 Bohemian Hwy, Freestone, CA 95472 Phone 707-874-9792 fine art oils, encaustics, collage, ceramics, and jewelry. You'll find romantic wine country landscapes, ocean vistas, animal portraits, and whimsical narrative collages. April through December: Fri, Sat. & Sun 11 to 6 barbara@bohogallery.com | http://www.bohogallery.com | Back to the Top |
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IN PETALUMA Vintage Bank Antiques Vintage Bank Antiques is located in Historic Downtown Petaluma, corner of Western Avenue and Petaluma Blvd. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Warren Davis and the rest of the team at Vintage Bank Antiques has assembled a spectacular inventory of paintings. From the 18th Century to Contemporary Artists. We have paintings to suit every price point and collector level. If you have a painting for sale, please consider Vintage Bank Antiques. Contact Warren Davis directly at WarrenDavisPaintings@yahoo.com http://vintagebankantiques.com | Back to the Top |
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IN PETALUMA Petaluma Arts Council "... to celebrate local artists and their contributions and to involve the whole community in appreciation, involvement and recognition of art http://www.petalumaartscouncil.org | Back to the Top |
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And, while on the Big Island, visit these friends of our gallery ... | ||
In Waimea, Big Island, Hawaii Isaacs Art Center visit a superb Museum and Gallery. http://isaacsartcenter.hpa.edu | Back to the Top |
Links to current museum exhibits relevant to Early California Art The Greater Bay Area, Southern California, & Beyond |
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The Greater Bay Area | |||
Oakland Oakland Museum of California The Art and History Galleries are currently under renovation, and will reopen in 2010. |
San Francisco de Young Museum de Young Museum: American Painting Collection, & "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" |
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San Francisco California Historical Society Think California September 24, 2009- February 5, 2011, an exhibition highlighting the colorful history of California through the institution’s remarkable collection of artwork. |
San Francisco Legion of Honor John Baldessari: A Print Retrospective from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation July 11, 2009 — November 8, 2009 |
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San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak COMING SOON: September 8, 2009 - January 19, 2010 |
Moraga |
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Santa Rosa Sonoma County Museum Edwin Deakin California Painter of the Picturesque July 3 - Sept 20 Spectacular 19th century California landscape artist and Bohemian Club Mmbr |
One month to go ... Opening October 1 in San Francisco's Presidio The Walt Disney Family Museum read more ... SF Chron & the LA Times |
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Santa Rosa Charles M. Schultz Museum -To Remember: Charles Schulz Commemorates D-Day through Oct 12 |
Sonoma Sonoma Valley Museum of Art 551 Broadway, Sonoma CA 95476 (707) 939-7862 Metamorfaces: The Curious Work of Warner Jepson, Curated by Jim CallahanSurprising manifestations of blended electronic video and audio signals. |
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Sonoma Mission San Francisco de Solano Museum featuring the famed watercolor paintings of the California Missions by Christian Jorgensen |
Ukiah Grace Hudson Museum http://www.gracehudsonmuseum.org Edward S. Curtis Refocused through November 8, 2009 |
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Sacramento Crocker Art Museum Permanent Exhibit, plus Soaring Voices: Contemporary Japanese Women Ceramic Artists Opens August 8 |
Sacramento |
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Monterey Monterey Museum of Art Made in Monterey --presents the most important works in the Museum's permanent collection through Oct 25 |
San Jose San Jose Museum of Art Alexander Calder: Color in Motion |
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Southern California | |||
Santa Barbara The Santa Barbara Museum of Art Works of Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, July 4 - Oct 11, 2009 |
Irvine The Irvine Museum The Outsiders Modernism in California, 1920-1940 through September 16 |
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San Diego San Diego Museum of Art Oceanic Art: A Celebration of Form Through January 3, 2010 |
Palm Springs |
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Pasadena The Huntington Library American Art Collection Paintings by John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper, Robert Henri, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, William Keith, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Hart Benton and many more. |
Santa Monica |
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Pasadena |
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& Beyond | |||
Seattle, WA Seattle Art Museum Andrew Wyeth: Remembrance June 25–October 18, 2009 |
Portland, OR Portland Art Museum Permanent Collection |
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Washington D.C. The Renwick Gallery 1934: A New Deal for Artists Now through January 3, 2010 Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum through January 10, 2010 Grand Salon Installation—Paintings from the Smithsonian American Art Museum |
Chicago, IL Art Institute of Chicago Permanent collection |
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Washington D.C. The National Gallery Edouard Manet's "Ragpicker" from the Norton Simon Foundation May 22–September 7, 2009 |
Atlanta, GA High Museum of Art Opening Soon Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of the Genius October 6, 2009 through February 21, 2010 |
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Cedar Rapids, IA The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art Grant Wood: In Focus is an ongoing permanent collection exhibition. |
Roanoke, VA The Taubman Museum 19th & 20th Century Paintings John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Robert Henri, Childe Hassam & others. Permanent Exhibit |