California Impressionists :: Education by Design Store

Editorial Review
The years around the turn of the century were a dynamic time in American art. Different and seemingly contradictory movements were evolving, and the dominant style that emerged during this period was Impressionism. Based in part on the broken brushwork and high-keyed palette of Claude Monet, it was a form especially suited to the dramatic landscape and shimmering light of California. American Impressionism grew in popularity as artists from across the nation migrated to the Golden State. There they created a remarkable style, often referred to as California plein-air painting, combining several aspects of American and European art and capturing the brilliant mix of color and light that defined California.
This book celebrates forty Impressionist painters who worked in California from 1900 through the beginning of the Great Depression. A joint effort of The Irvine Museum and the Georgia Museum of Art, it includes widely recognized California artists such as Maurice Braun and Guy Rose, less well known artists such as Mary DeNeale Morgan and Donna Schuster, and eastern painters who worked briefly in the region, such as Childe Hassam and William Merritt Chase.
The contributors' essays examine the socioeconomic forces that shaped this art movement, as well as the ways in which the art reflected California's self-cultivated image as a healthful, sun-splashed arcadia. Beautifully illustrated, with 72 full-color plates, California Impressionists recreates the vibrant splendor of a unique period in American art.
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Customer Reviews

The Beauty of California Art

2002-02-18
This book is absolutely FANTASTIC!!!! Very pleased with it. There are 102 pages in this softcover book and many color reproductions of California Impressionists works of art to include: Wendt, Payne, Bischoff, Gamble, Rose, Hills, and many more. About 60 pages of color photos of the above listed artists and more. Chapter titles include; Impressionism's Indian Summer, From Giverny to Laguna Beach, The California Style In Perspective. The bottom line....I'm VERY happy that I bought this book and recommend it to others. Enjoy

The colors are perfect.

2001-03-30
I got curious about California impressionism a few years ago when someone saw my sketchbook and pointed out that what I was doing was called "plein air" art. One of my favorite things to do is to go up into the hills over Berkeley with my sketchbook and get pastel dust all over my nose and on some paper. I poked around for quite a while to find more images of this style but felt like the images I was seeing were not the real deal. They looked a bit flat and dull.

I had the good fortune of seeing an exhibit in Oakland, California at the museum there and got hooked on the luminous colors in the paintings. I managed to view the collections in Irvine and Laguna beach. I don't recall where I got this book, but I took it with me to Laguna Beach and held the pages next to some of the originals.

This books is the only book I have seen that comes even close to reproducing the beautiful and luminous quality of this genre of painting. For me, this book is helpful for those occasions when I struggle with picking a color in one of my own works that hits the quality of light I am trying to arrive at. Plus, it is wonderful to just sit back and say, "Wow."

I will be the first to admit that I have not read the text carefully. I just skimmed it. But the color quality and selection of images merits two thumbs up, a gold star and a California sunset.

An informative guide on Impressionism in the States 1998-11-14
When Europe and the West, including Russia were surged by new movements like Fauvism and Cubism, i thought that the spirit of Impressionism and its brevity were lost in the midst of the new trend in the art scene. Through this book i came to understand sequel story behind Impressionism when it was introduced to the States in the early 1900s. A must-read for any die-hard Impressionists out there who seeks to understand the culture and history set by the pioneering American Impressionists.