‘Circles’ traces arc of Southland’s art

Claudia Figueroa

Almost two years in the making, “Circles of Influence: Impressionism to

Modernism in Southern California Art 1910-1930,” will open today and run

through Sept. 3 at the Orange County Museum of Art.

Organized by the museum, the exhibit explores the development of art and

artists in the region. It focuses mainly on the transition from

Impressionism to Modernism around the turn of the century but also

manages to throw in the beginnings of other notable movements, including

Cubism.

“The concept of the exhibition comes from the first three decades of the

20th century of California art, and pieces together what was happening at

the time,” said Sarah Vure, the museum’s assistant curator who

coordinated the exhibit.

“One of the interesting discoveries I made was that California artists

were a part of, and knowledgeable about, trends in art,” she said.

“There is particularly a lot of focus on certain time periods and groups

of artists who really believed in the type of art that was at the

forefront of art nationally during this period,” Vure said. “The exhibit

looks at those different movements, especially the Independent Exhibition

Movement and the Los Angeles Modern Art Society.”

None of those social circles would have been possible, however, without

the influences of artists from around the country, who helped shape those

trends, she added.

The exhibit’s thrust comes together with some spectacular Impressionistic

and modern pieces by local artists Mabel Alvarez, Stanton

Macdonald-Wright, Guy Rose and Donna Schuster that are shown with the

work of East Coast artists, such as William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri

and Edmund Tarbell.

“There was not any one style that influenced the artist during that

time,” Vure said. “We call the exhibit ‘Circles of Influence’ because

there were many artists.”

The show features 70 paintings--a mixture of watercolors and oils--on

loan from public and private collections, including the Albright-Knox Art

Gallery in New York, the Detroit Institute of the Arts and the Corcoran

Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Vure selected the works for the exhibit and wrote lengthy descriptions of

their historical significance in a 135-page catalog. Securing those rare

pieces of early California art for a prominent exhibit and publishing the

exhaustive essays wasn’t easy, she said.

She made dozens of phone calls and wrote many letters to track down

certain paintings. She spent hours making arrangements for shipping the

art, which almost equaled the hours she spent studying the roots of early

20th century American artists in libraries and archives.

Vure said she is satisfied with the final product.

“All along, [the museum’s] mission has been to expand and enrich the

understanding of early 20th century art history,” she said. “We are

committed to doing scholarly exhibitions that will appeal to a wide

audience in our community.”

In addition to Vure’s writings, the full-color catalog features a

chronology by California art scholar Nancy Moure and an essay by state

librarian Kevin Starr.

“It’s great that the museum can contribute to the scholarship of this

period of California art,” Vure said. “It is still a relatively new field

of study.”

FYI

* What: “Circles of Influence: Impressionism to Modernism in Southern

California Art 1910-1930”

* When: Opens today. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays

until Sept. 3.

* Where: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport

Beach

* How much: $5 for general admission; $4 for seniors and students. Free

every Tuesday.

* Call: (949) 759-1122.