The purpose of this paper is to discuss my visit to the Irvine Museum, which is situated at 18881 Von Karman Ave, Irvine, CA 92612.
I chose the Irvine Museum because it is dedicated to the display and preservation of the Impressionist Period style which was painted by Californian artists. As I have read a library book on this genre and am very drawn to it, I took the opportunity to go and see some original works of art as I was not aware there were Californian renaissance artists. The exhibition is entitled: Masterpieces of California Art. It is showing between 15 October 2016 and 19 January 2017.
I found that the Irvine Museum is very well laid out: there is a great deal of space and light, which adds a good ambiance. There is also interesting information available on the walls; for example, I learned that the Impressionist era ran for 40 years, between 1890 and 1930. There are a substantial number of famous works which were done by Californian artists between 1890 and 1940. These include a mixture of wonderful paintings from a few private lenders as well as the Irvine Museum’s own collection.
For me, the highlights were three magnificent paintings by Guy Rose (1867-1925). These included
the 1916 Laguna Eucalyptus, which the plaque stated was the signature work of Rose’s trips to Laguna Beach. This is an oil on canvas. I thought that the color and tone were very appealing. Another piece by Rose which I viewed was The Blue House (circa 1910), which was painted in the region of Giverny, France. This is another oil on canvas. The use of paint brushes which generated small touches of color were outstanding. The third painting that I saw by this artist was The Green Parasol (circa 1909). This is a wax-resist opaque and translucent watercolor, over graphite on a paper sheet. I thought that Rose’s choice of watercolors was superb.
I also viewed two works by Arthur F. Mathews (1860-1945) and other revered works by Anna Hills (1882-1930), Campbell Cooper (1856-1937), Alson S. Clark (1876-1949), and Franz A. Bischoff (1864-1929).