Distinguished Gentleman

oil on canvas, 20" x 26"

William Barr was born in Glasgow, Scotland on April 26, 1867. He began his art career as a student at the Glasgow School of Art (1895-98) followed by work at South Kensington (London) and Académie Julian in Paris (1904). He then taught at the Paisley School of Art in Scotland for 10 years. After earning a reputation in his native land, he first visited California in 1912 and after joining the throngs who came to San Francisco for the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915, decided to remain. Working from a studio in his home at 311 Lyon Street, he painted romantic and historical interpretations of California including genre scenes, figure studies, and landscapes as well as many portraits of prominent local citizens. Having studied the Old Masters, he carried their spirit into his work. Barr died in San Francisco on February 25, 1933. Exhibited: San Francisco Art Ass'n, 1918-19; Fairmont Hotel, 1930; California State Fair, 1930; City of Paris (San Francisco), 1939 (solo). Works held: San Francisco's Palace Hotel (portrait, President Hoover); California Historical Society; San Francisco Parks Commission (portrait of John McClaren); San Francisco Union League Club (portrait of John McNab); San Francisco City Hall (portrait of Thomas Boyle); City of Paisley collection.

Chinese Children

oil on canvas, 12" x 15"

Frederick Bauer was born in Germany in 1857. He appears to have been well trained in his native land.

By the 1880s he had immigrated to California and in 1886 became a United States citizen in Visalia.

Upon moving north he lived in San Francisco and Fresno until about 1928. His trail is then lost.

Bauer painted in the realistic style of the Düsseldorf School. His California subjects include the Trinity Alps, coastal scenes, Chinatown and Indian genre.

Exhibited: Fresno County Fair, 1891 (first prize); Presbyterian Fair (Fresno), 1896.

Chinatown

oil on board, 6" x 8"

Louise D. Brown was born on September 5, 1878. By the 1930s she had settled in Los Angeles. She soon was active in the local art scene and in Laguna Beach. She died in Los Angeles on May 28, 1967. Her work includes Chinatown genre, still lifes, coastals, and landscapes. Exhibited: Laguna Beach Art Association, 1945.

Lady in Wild Flowers

oil on canvas, 14" x 20"

Marion E. Drewe was born in Sydney, Australia on March 6, 1867. She began her art studies in Sydney and continued in Paris and London. Arriving in northern California in 1900, she lived in San Francisco and Oakland with interludes in Martinez (1907), Eureka (1909), and La Jolla in 1918 when she worked for the Scripps Biological Institute. After her marriage to Rufus A. Coleman in Virginia City in 1906, she became a serious painter of western subjects such as the Comstock mines, the Hoopa and Klamath tribes of Humboldt County, the Hopi of Arizona and various other Indian tribes of the Southwest. Mrs. Coleman died in Oakland, California on April 16, 1950. Exhibited: Grafton Gallery (London), 1890s; Royal Art Society (New South Wales), 1890s (President's Prize); California State Fair, 1901-02; San Francisco Art Ass'n, 1906; Piedmont Art Gallery (Oakland), 1907; California Artists, Golden Gate Park Museum, 1915; Sequoia Club (San Francisco), 1916. Works held: San Jose Historical Museum.

Seated Gentleman, 1860

oil on board, 12” x 18”

Karl Wilhelm (William) Hahn was born in Ebersbach, Saxony, Germany on January 7, 1829. At age 14 he entered the Royal Academy of Art in Dresden where he studied for five years under Julius Huebner and continued for two more years at the Düsseldorf Academy. He received gold and silver medals from the Dresden Gallery. Some of his first watercolors were purchased by the King of Saxony and placed in the National Gallery in Düsseldorf. His paintings were exhibited in Boston, New York, and San Francisco including the California Art Union of 1865. In 1869 Hahn met artist William Keith in Düsseldorf and in 1871 came with him to Boston where the two artists shared a studio. In 1872 the two artists came to San Francisco and established a studio in the Mercantile Library Building. Hahn’s sketching trips took him to the Sierra Nevada, Yosemite, Napa Valley, Russian River, and southern California. By 1876 he was a resident of the Bohemian Club and director of the San Francisco Art Ass’n. The year 1878 was spent in New York and, while there, he exhibited at the National Academy of Design and the Brooklyn Art Ass’n. Upon returning to San Francisco, he exhibited locally and received high praise from the press. Hahn married local artist Adelaide Rising in Piedmont, CA in 1882 and then left for an extended European honeymoon. They lived in London for several years and intended to return to California; however, he died unexpectedly in Dresden on June 8, 1887. Although he painted portraits and still lifes of fruit and flowers, it is his genre scenes which are his greatest legacy to California art. Exhibited: California State Fair, 1873-95; San Francisco Art Ass’n, 1873-80; Mechanics’ Institute (San Francisco), 1874-96; California Midwinter Fair, 1894; Alaska-Yukon Exposition (Seattle), 1909; Metropolitan Museum, 1939; Oakland Museum, 1976 (retrospective). Works held: California Historical Society; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Oakland Museum; De Young Museum (Sacramento Railroad Station); National Gallery (Düsseldorf); Society of California Pioneers; Crocker Museum (Sacramento); Hudson River Museum (Yonkers, NY); California Palace of the Legion of Honor; Orange County (CA) Museum; Dresden Museum.

Oil on canvas, 18” x 25” 

Lady with Sun Bonnet

oil on board, 16” x 12”

Jack Macartney was born in San Francisco, CA on March 15, 1893. He was first taught to paint by his father Henry (“Harry”) C. Macartney. After moving to southern California, he further studied with William T. McDermitt, Arthur Beaumont, Eliot O’Hara, Edgar Payne, and Sam Hyde Harris. For 30 years he was in the woodwork manufacturing business in Los Angeles while painting in his leisure. He also taught locally at the Businessmen’s Art Institute. Upon retirement, he moved to Laguna Beach in 1958 and was active in the local art scene until his death on July 31, 1976. Realistically depicted, his scenes of San Pedro harbor, the coast, and missions are from the brush of a talented painter. Member: Artists of the Southwest; Painters & Sculptors of Los Angeles; Laguna Beach Art Ass’n. Works held: Orange County (CA) Museum.

Blonde Girl

Oil on Canvas, 16” x 20”

Ruth Larimer was born in Denver, Colorado on February 7, 1901, the daughter of artist Barbara Larimer. Ruth was taught to paint early in life by her mother. The family settled in Los Angeles in 1911. Following graduation from Hollywood High School, she went to UCLA and studied privately with Jean Mannheim. After her marriage to engineer Thomas Myers in 1933, she continued to be active in the local art scene until her death in an auto accident in Los Angeles on April 30, 1958. Primarily a portrait painter, her work also includes scenes of Mexico, England, the Monterey Peninsula and southern California. Her work evolved from Tonalism (1920s) to Regionalism (1930s) to Abstractions (1950s). Exhibited: Women Painters of the West, 1920s-1940s; California Art Club, 1924-31; Painters & Sculptors of Los Angeles, 1928-30; California Watercolor Society, 1928-29; Artists Fiesta (Los Angeles), 1931; Hollywood Womans Club, 1931; City Hall (Los Angeles), 1931, 1939; Santa Monica, 1932; Gardena (CA) High School, 1933; Chamber of Commerce (Santa Paula), 1938; Oakland Museum, 1954. Works held: Santa Monica Athletic Club (mural).

Young Woman

oil on canvas, 28” x 36”

Albert Sheldon Pennoyer was born in Oakland, California on April 5, 1888, the son of a prosperous dry goods merchant who founded Capwell’s. The Pennoyer family moved to nearby Berkeley while Sheldon was a child. After one year at the University of California, he sailed to Paris to study architecture at Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He soon opted to become a painter instead and studied art at Académies Julian and Grand Chaumière under Ménard and Lucien Simon. At the outbreak of World War One, he left Europe and returned to his home in Berkeley. About 1919 he moved permanently to New York City but spent much time at his mother’s home in Litchfield, Connecticut. Although he maintained a studio in New York City during his last 38 years, he made many painting trips to California and had a studio shack on his brother’s property at Lake Tahoe. He was the author of This Was California (1938) and Locomotives in Our Lives (1954). Pennoyer died in an auto accident in Madrid, Spain on August 17, 1957. Working in pastel, gouache and oil, he painted coastals, portraits, landscapes, railroad subjects, and scenes from his travels in Spain, Portugal, Central America, and the United States. Member: American Federation of Arts; San Francisco Art Ass’n; American Watercolor Society; Century Club; National Arts Club; Allied Artists of America; American Artists Professional League; Oakland Art Ass’n. Exhibited: Schussler Galleries (San Francisco), 1914; Panama Pacific International Exposition, 1915; California Artists, Golden Gate Park Museum, 1915; Oakland Art Gallery, 1916; Doll & Richards Gallery (Boston), 1917 (1st solo); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1918, 1919 (solos), 1926; Macbeth Gallery (New York City), 1926; San Francisco Art Ass’n, 1919-30; Vickery, Atkins & Torrey (San Francisco), 1930; California Palace of Legion of Honor, 1958 (memorial). Works held: Oakland Museum; California Palace of Legion of Honor; Henry Ford Museum (Dearborn, Michigan); Metropolitan Museum; De Young Museum; Santa Barbara Museum; Smithsonian Institute; West Point Military Academy; California Historical Society.

Portrait of A Gentleman

oil on canvas, 24” x 30”

Frederick G. Quimby was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire in 1863. Most of his career was spent in Boston, Massachusetts. Primarily a marine painter, he was also a fine portraitist. He died in Arlington, Massachusetts in 1923. Exhibited: Boston Art Club, 1908-09; Society of Independent Artists, 1917. Works held: Boston Art Club.

Woman and Basset Hound

oil on board, 20” x 16”

Alice S. Cardall was born in Dayton, Ohio on December 17, 1883. At age 15 Alice came with her family to San Francisco where her father became co-owner of the Palms Restaurant on Market Street. While a pupil in the painting class of Gottardo Piazzoni in 1902, she met artist Francis Todhunter whom she married three years later. She then had further study at the Mark Hopkins Institute. After the earthquake of 1906, the Todhunters moved to New York City where she studied at the National Academy of Design under Robert Henri and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Returning to California in 1913, she was a resident of San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Mill Valley. Mrs. Todhunter died in Marin General Hospital on June 16, 1969. An oil painter, her subjects include portraits, still lifes, and genre. Member: Palo Alto Art Club.

Italian Beggar, 1875

oil on board, 10” x 16”

Virgil Macey Williams was born in Dixfield, Maine on October 29, 1830. He was raised in Taunton, Massachusetts and, after studying at Brown University, began his art training in New York City under Daniel Huntington. During 1853-60 he studied in Rome with renowned New York painter William Page and became a close friend of Page after marrying his daughter, Mary. Upon returning to the United States, he had a studio in Boston until 1862 when he was commissioned to come to San Francisco to design and install an art gallery at Woodward’s Gardens. After returning to Boston in 1866, he taught drawing at Harvard University and the Boston School of Technology. Williams divorced Mary Page about 1870, married Dora Norton in 1871, and returned with his new wife to San Francisco. The San Francisco Art Ass’n hired him in 1874 as director of the newly formed School of Design, a position he held until his death 12 years later at his summer cottage at St Helena, CA on December 18, 1886. His pall bearers included artists William Keith, Thomas Hill, and Samuel Brookes. During his 12 years at the School of Design he taught many artists who later became some of the nation’s most renowned painters. Williams was charismatic and well-loved by his pupils and the local art world; Thomas Hill and Chris Jorgensen named their sons for him. Most of his subject matter was derived from his years in Italy; however, he painted a few portraits and, on rare occasions, California landscapes. Member: San Francisco Art Ass’n (cofounder); Bohemian Club (cofounder and pres. 1875-76). Exhibited: Mechanics Institute Fair, 1864, 1875, 1876; California Art Union, 1865. Works held: Crocker Museum (Sacramento); National Museum of American Art; De Young Museum; Silverado Museum (St Helena, CA); Oakland Museum; California Historical Society; Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley).

Shepherd Boy, 1865

oil on canvas, 10” x 13”

Virgil Macey Williams was born in Dixfield, Maine on October 29, 1830. He was raised in Taunton, Massachusetts and, after studying at Brown University, began his art training in New York City under Daniel Huntington. During 1853-60 he studied in Rome with renowned New York painter William Page and became a close friend of Page after marrying his daughter, Mary. Upon returning to the United States, he had a studio in Boston until 1862 when he was commissioned to come to San Francisco to design and install an art gallery at Woodward’s Gardens. After returning to Boston in 1866, he taught drawing at Harvard University and the Boston School of Technology. Williams divorced Mary Page about 1870, married Dora Norton in 1871, and returned with his new wife to San Francisco. The San Francisco Art Ass’n hired him in 1874 as director of the newly formed School of Design, a position he held until his death 12 years later at his summer cottage at St Helena, CA on December 18, 1886. His pall bearers included artists William Keith, Thomas Hill, and Samuel Brookes. During his 12 years at the School of Design he taught many artists who later became some of the nation’s most renowned painters. Williams was charismatic and well-loved by his pupils and the local art world; Thomas Hill and Chris Jorgensen named their sons for him. Most of his subject matter was derived from his years in Italy; however, he painted a few portraits and, on rare occasions, California landscapes. Member: San Francisco Art Ass’n (cofounder); Bohemian Club (cofounder and pres. 1875-76). Exhibited: Mechanics Institute Fair, 1864, 1875, 1876; California Art Union, 1865. Works held: Crocker Museum (Sacramento); National Museum of American Art; De Young Museum; Silverado Museum (St Helena, CA); Oakland Museum; California Historical Society; Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley).

Portrait of A Man

pen and ink, 7" x 7"

Frederick Yates was born in England in 1854. He abandoned a desk in a London mercantile house for art study in the Paris ateliers of Bonnat, Boulanger, and Lefebvre. Following his art training, in 1886 he moved to San Francisco where his family had settled a few years before. Locally, he became a popular portraitist and taught at the newly formed Art Students League. He made several trips back to England, and also France and Italy, for further work. On one of these trips he became acquainted with the Dowager Marchioness of Downshire who became his patroness and introduced him to London society. Yates was active in San Francisco until 1900 and then returned to England where he remained until his death in 1919. Member: Bohemian Club. Exhibited: Paris Salon; Royal Academy (London); Art Students League of San Francisco, 1886; Mark Hopkins Institute, 1897; Kilohana Art League (Hawaii), 1897; Bohemian Club, 1897, 1902, 1904, 1913; Alaska-Yukon Exposition (Seattle), 1909; California Artists, Golden Gate Park, 1915. Works held: Bohemian Club.