A New Year Begins! Welcome 2018

As a follow up to my last post, I will regale you with my take of the museum art shows we went to. To start, my son and I had a time of wonder and discovery together.

Starting with landing in LAX where my sister and her husband picked us up. We drove straight to the Pasadena Museum of California Art as it was 'on the way' home. The exhibit of E. Carlton Fortune was everything and more I could have hoped for. Photos were not allowed, unfortunately, so I did buy the catalog. I have not been impressed with exhibit catalogs of late so it is rare I will buy them.

The show started chronologically, but the first one that took my full attention was of Monterey Bay.
There are many artists who paint the coast, with the rocks, waves and coves, but not always do they take your breath away. Effie's (Effie is what her family and friends called her, but for her professional name she went by Charlton) handling of this subject was pure joy. Despite how many of her paintings I liked and would love to own, this one, for me, was the premier piece. I found this tiny image of The Lonely Shore to post here, but it does not do it justice nor does the image in the catalog.

Even as a thumbnail, I think it still shows it well enough. The colors and the paint application are stunningly luscious and varied.

If my memory serves, the image below is a view Effie painted from the old Santa Barbara Mission which burned down in the 1920's. The second painting below shows that Mission as a sprawling property with a cow grazing.

Charlton moved around quite a bit. She lived and worked all up and down the California coast painting as she went, mostly on site. One reason being, her home burned down in the SF earthquake. Eventually, she and her mother moved to Europe, where again, she moved around quite a bit. They lived and visited relatives in Scotland; they lived in St Ives, and also the south of France. While living in France, she entered the Paris Salon, and 'Mr Charlton Fortune' won an award and critical acclaim. She used her name to her advantage, as well she should!

Needless to say I could go on and on about Effie and this show; The good news is that after it leaves Pasadena in January it is going to the Crocker Museum in Sacramento so there is still plenty of time to pop over to CA to see this amazing painter's work.

Our next museum stop (not counting the Reagan Library, the Hearst Castle and the Monterey Bay Aquarium) was the Legion of Honor in San Francisco where the Klimt/Rodin exhibit is. Stay tuned...