Changing views
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Jennifer K Mahal
Many of the views depicted in “Continuity and Change: Southern
California’s Evolving Landscape” no longer exist. They’ve been paved
over, developed upon, torn down by time. Which is precisely why the
exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art has been put together. To
remind people of what the Southland looked like between 1890 and 1950. To
give us a sense of history.
“We had the idea that they had to be real locations rather than
[showing] generic poppy fields or idealized views,” said Sarah Vure,
curator of the exhibit.
The 31 paintings, on loan from a variety of private collections and
museums, show landscapes from Pasadena to San Diego. The majority of the
exhibit is made of plein air and scene painting from the 1920s through
1940s. Accompanying some of the works are present-day photographs by
Christopher Bliss.
“I think it gives people the chance to reflect and relate to the place
in which we live,” Vure said. “To reflect on and appreciate their
history.”
It was history that gave birth to the exhibit in the first place --
or, more accurately, the museum’s Historical Collections Council. The
council is made up of about 80 members who have an interest in the art of
early California, especially art that captures a moment in time.
Many are art collectors or involved in local museums. A number of the
pieces in “Continuity and Change” come from the private collections of
council members.
Bob Ehrlich, council president, has lent the museum “Evening Light,
Laguna” by Joseph Kleitsch for the exhibit.
“It’s actually a church that existed in Laguna Canyon,” Ehrlich said,
describing the 1922 painting. “Kleitsch bought it and moved it to Legion
and Through [in Laguna Beach]. . . . He used it as his studio.”
The original church building is no longer there.
“I think what they tried to do [with the exhibit] was bring together
the early art of California, of the region,” Ehrlich said. “The time is
lost -- a whole period that’s gone to development.”
Development has marred the skyline that can be seen in “Across the
Rooftops” by Emil Jean Kosa Jr., a painting of Los Angeles as it was in
the early ‘40s.
“Part of the interest is caused by the depiction of [Los Angeles] City
Hall as an icon,” Vure said. “It stands out as a building, the highest
building on the horizon.”
When Vure and Bliss went to take a photograph from the perspective of
the painting, it was almost impossible to get a shot. The photo on
display was actually taken from the other side of town.
“The building and development of downtown has far surpassed the old
City Hall,” Vure said. “But it’s quite spectacular for the time period.”
Mission San Juan Capistrano, Balboa Park, Olivera Street, Griffith
Park, even the Cannery in Newport Beach, are among the locations the
landscapes document. A few places look almostunchanged, such as the Santa
Ana River wash painted by John Frost in 1921.
“There are parts of the Santa Ana [River] area that look surprisingly
similar,” Vure said.
The photo that accompanies Ben Abril’s “The Cannery” shows a
modernized version of the old Newport Beach landmark -- but the lines of
the buildings in both are closely related.
Vure, a relative newcomer to the Southland, said it was fun to go to
many of the places depicted in the paintings.
“The one that I didn’t get to, that I’d like to see, is Catalina,” she
said. “Turns out, where the painter was standing is actually where the
casino is today.”
FYI
WHAT: “Continuity and Change: Southern California’s Evolving
Landscape”
WHERE: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport
Beach
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays until Sept. 30
COST: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, and free for members
and children 16 and younger
CALL: (949) 759-1122
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