Classic 1954 short film "Dong Kingman," directed by
Academy Award-winning cinematographer James Wong Howe.

Works Progress Administration. During his time with the WPA, he completed over 300 works. He joined the Army during WW II and worked for the Office of Strategic Services at Camp Beal, CA and in Washington, D.C.

In 1942, Kingman received the Guggenheim Fellowship. He settled in Brooklyn and taught art at Columbia and remained in New York for the next fourteen years before making San Francisco his home.

His obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2000 said, "Mr. Kingman's watercolors of San Francisco's cable cars and Golden Gate Bridge were nearly as popular as the landmarks themselves."

In September of 1986, SF Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote, "Dong Kingman was buying the drinks at the White Horse on Sutter a few cocktail hours ago; his big water color of the Statue of Liberty, with the Spanish flag prominently displayed among others, has been bought by  King Juan Carlos of Spain for $45,000, a record for a Kingman and maybe even the king man."

In the 1960's, Hollywood came to call and Dong Kingman was ready and willing to answer. He put his watercolor storytelling skills to work.

Bohemian Hugo Anton Fisher (1854-1916) had exhibited at the Paris Salon and salons in Dresden and London. After coming to America, Hugo found success in New York as a Hudson River School painter. Later on, he moved to San Francisco.

Hugo and his American wife raised two sons who became famous artists in their own right. The family made their home in Alameda. Hugo commuted to his San Francisco studio by ferry, often sketching pastures as the boat glided by. In 1906 he lost much of his studio work due to the quake and fire, not to mention all his sold paintings hanging on parlor walls throughout the City.

In 1896, Hugo Anton Fisher was 42 years old. His youthful son Hugo Melville Fisher had gotten a job with a newspaper in Honolulu. Hugo went out to the Islands to visit his son. During his extended stay, he established a Honolulu studio where he completed paintings of Oahu and the Big Island.

The article transcribed below is from the Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette. The Hawaiian citizenry were thrilled whenever a famous artists would visit their remote and exotic locale.

Artist Fisher to Paint Hawaii -- Will Visit the Islands and Paint Pictures

Has had Exhibitions in Dresden, Paris, and Berlin. -- Yosemite Valley and a Favorite Subject, Monoa Valley to be Portrayed -- Waipio Gulch and Falls

For the first time in many months the people in Honolulu are to be treated to an exhibition of paintings from the hand of an artist whose reputation in California is the best. Nor is he entirely unknown here, for on the walls of the houses of a few art connoisseurs paintings in oil or water colors by Hugo A. Fisher are to be found.

Mr. Fisher was born in Bohemia forty-three years ago, and when old enough studied under his father, a celebrated artist in Prague. At eighteen years of age he went to New York, opened a studio and began making a reputation. Ten years ago he moved to San Francisco and during his residence at the Golden Gate he has become through conscientious treatment of his subjects, one of the best known and most sought after artists on the coast.

He has painted for the barons there, and his works are to be found in the homes of the Hopkins, Fairs, Stanfords, Donohughs and others. One picture, a study of the Yosemite, was painted on an order from a Mr. Le Roy and by him exhibited in the Paris Salon. Mr. Fisher was also exhibited in the salons at

Berlin, London and Dresden. He took first prize at the State Exhibition in California for a painting of Grass Lake.

He brought with him to Honolulu a painting of Yosemite Valley, showing the Merced river winding through the valley, the giant peaks on either side throwing their shadows in wonderful grandeur. This is said to be the only painting of Yosemite made from this particular point, and the subject has in no way lost its interest or attractiveness through Mr. Fisher's handling. The painting is a large one, and the price -- well! it is beyond the reach of the average Honolulu art lover. But as W. G. Irwin has a half dozen of Mr. Fisher's paintings, he may want to possess this one when he sees it.

The artist was seen at Sans Souci Friday, where he had gone for the purpose of studying the effects. In response to a question by an Advertiser reporter, he said, "This is my first visit to the Islands, and I come with two objects in view: First, to exhibit some paintings I have brought with me; this I have arranged to do with the Pacific Hardware Company. They have taken the pictures and will exhibit them soon as their art rooms have been newly decorated in warmer tones than they now have on the walls. Second: For new ideas.

In the meantime I will make some sketches of whatever strikes my fancy on the Island, and then visit Hawaii, where I understand there are some romantic gorges and high waterfalls, rivalling in some respects the great Yosemite. There are several of these falls in Waipio, I think it is called, but I do not remember ever having seen a painting of them. I shall visit there and make some pictures. These, of course, will be sold if customers are found for them. Then I will make other paintings and exhibit them in San Francisco and New York, where I feel quite sure they will be of interest.

The ideas of the people over there regarding the scenery here are rather vague and are confined principally to some excellent paintings of the volcano by the great Tavernier and your Mr. Hitchcock, who, I believe, was a pupil under him. Beyond the glowing fires in that wonderful natural furnace, the people of New York have seen nothing of the grand scenery to be found here.

Why, today, as I walked out here, the mountains and valleys on the left of the road were to me most charming, and I wonder they have not been put on canvas by some of the numerous artists who have visited here."

(Reporter:) "Do you mean the place that meets your eye after you have left King street and made the first turn on the road?"

(Fisher) "The very spot. Some one -- a Mr. Norton, I think, who walked with me part of the distance -- told me it was Manoa Valley!"

(Reporter:) "You should wait, then, Mr. Fisher, until the clouds are hanging low in the valley and the sun shining above. You will find the effects in coloring that are seen nowhere but in these Islands.

It is said there are more different shades of green in the foliage here than can be found in the largest paint factories in the United States."

(Fisher) "But not so many that your local artist, Mr. Hitchcock, has been unable to find them. I have seen his work, and it cannot be spoken of too highly."

"Effie" at her easel

In her day, women artists often disguised their gender by signing their paintings with an initial instead of their first name, but in E. Charlton Fortune's case, she really disliked her first name, "Euphemia!" Her friends knew her as Effie, but professionally she signed most of her paintings E. Charlton Fortune.

Effie was born to a Scottish family in Sausalito. It is generally believed she chose never to marry or have children because of her cleft palette, a trait she did not want to pass on.

Her family had trouble understanding Effie's desire to become a painter. They had strived to instill in her old world values. They truly disapproved of her dream to become an artist. A short time after their father died, Effie and her brother moved to Los Angeles.

She returned to California an accomplished young lady and settled in San Francisco. She continued her art studies at the Mark Hopkins Institute with Arthur Mathews. Among her fellow students were Maynard Dixon, Armin Hansen and Maurice Logan.

In 1906, Effie and her family suffered great property damage during the earthquake and fire in 1906. All of her paintings were destroyed. After the loss, Effie and her family moved to New York where she studied at the Art Students League. It was a time when Effie's style matured, noted by her masterful use of light, movement and continuous lines. She gained illustrating skills from Luis Mora, and she especially loved her teacher Frank Vincent DuMond who encouraged his students to create their own expressive style. While at the Art Students League, she also studied with William Merritt Chase, and contributed illustrations for Harper's Magazine.

In 1910, Effie returned to San Francisco. Luis Mora used his influence to help Effie get a job illustrating for Sunset Magazine where her friend and colleague Maynard Dixon was well known. During the summer months, Effie and her mother established an annual migration to the Monterey Peninsula where they loved spending their summers. Effie taught art, but was far less successful in mixing words to explain her theories than she was in mixing colors on her palette.

In Monterey, her attire was commonly a corduroy suit with Belgian shoes with shining buckles. She had a special carrier on her bicycle for painting supplies. In later years, she did buy a car, but was known as a scary driver. Apart from painting, she volunteered with the Red Cross.

In 1920, she moved to Monterey full time, drawn by the reasonable cost of living. In this same year, she was elected to the National Academy of Design. In 1927, her work was exhibited at the Beaux Arts Gallery in San Francisco and was highly acclaimed. Later that year, her work was shown at the Oakland Gallery where it was criticized for being too beautiful while ignoring focus on social realities.

Effie did not take the criticism well. As art critics piled on, eventually calling her work "outdated," Effie took her talents to what she considered a more appreciative audience. She spent her later years doing religious paintings, some of which decorate St. Angela's Catholic Church in Pacific Grove.

Our Gallery Hours are from 12:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M., Wednesday through Sunday. We are also available for scheduled appointments, especially for those who wish to view the gallery on Mondays or Tuesdays. Please call Dan at the gallery and schedule a visit, or call him on his cellphone, 510-414-9821

Follow us on Facebook ... Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery In mid-July, we began publishing our Art Moment of the Day. To the right is our Art Moment for Sunday, August 24, the day of the earthquake. You may view all our past Art Moments in our archives. http://bbhgallery.com/BBHGallery_Archives_FB_Jul_14.html http://bbhgallery.com/BBHGallery_Archives_FB_Aug_14.html When looking at our FB posts, please ... Like / Comment / Share (especially share) the resulting Buzz helps!

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Labor Day Weekend, Aug 30, 31, & Sept 1 Jean Warren, Watercolor ~ Inside & Out (exhibition closes Sept 3) Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Tippi Hedren Autograph Signing Appearance at The Tides Restaurant Sat, 11:00 - 4:00, Sun, 11:00 - 5:00 , Mon 11:00 - 4:00

Annual Bodega Bay visitors and Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery friends, Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden have been busy researching a new mystery series. Both Betsy and Michael are University of Wisconsin-Madison professors emeriti The second in the series, The Body in Bodega Bay, is now available Read more ...

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, 101 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma, CA 94952, ph: 707.769.3097
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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.