What is California Scene Painting?

California Scene painting (c. 1920s - present) flowed from the California Impressionism movement that flourished in the early years of the 20th century, but it differs from that style in some significant ways. First -- in contrast to the Impressionists, who painted scenes of the unpopulated California coastline, mountains and wilderness -- the California Scene painters always included evidence of mankind in their works. Their art reveals signs of humanity by including or focusing on people or manmade objects: buildings, wharfs, boats, automobiles, ranches, factories, cities, even portraits. Second, many of the artists in the California Scene movement were also working for the movie studios in Los Angeles -- especially Walt Disney's -- painting studio backdrops and doing work on animated films, especially from the 1930s through the 1970s. Their fine art often reflects the imaginative, kinetic style of those studio works. Also, the California Scene movement was part of both the larger American Scene (Regionalism) art movement and the Social Realism movement -- important cultural currents in the early to mid-20th century that attempted to define a uniquely "American" style of art.

Portraying a State’s Growth and Change

This exhibition of about a dozen paintings from the Hilbert Collection will trace how California Scene painters portrayed the cultural and historical shifts that occurred in California during roughly the period from 1930 through the 1970s. The earliest painting in the exhibition is a farm scene from the '30s, when much of the state's economy was agrarian. The most recent painting, from 1980, shows a family in a beachside hotel, with leisure activities (sailing, fishing, strolling on the beach) happening in the background. The entire sweep of paintings will show the state's development from farming to car and surfing culture to the entertainment/leisure juggernaut it is today.

A New Museum for Chapman

This exhibition marks the first time the public can see a selection of the paintings that will be part of the new Hilbert Museum of California Art that will open at Chapman this November. It's an exciting prospect for Chapman University to be the new home of this brilliant collection that has been so lovingly and carefully assembled by Mark and Janet Hilbert. Collectors like the Hilberts are the lifeblood of the art world - their vision, passion and connoisseurship often run far in advance of what's currently prominent and lionized by art media or the art establishment.

The best collectors are those who don't collect for the investment value, but simply because they love what they collect - and even better is when they decide they want to share their collection with the world. That's what the Hilberts decided to do last year, and in searching for the right place to donate their treasured paintings and establish a museum for them, they found Chapman. As Mark Hilbert told me, "This museum belongs in Orange County, at Chapman University, in a historic building right in the heart of Old Towne. This is where history, culture and imagery coincide, and it makes perfect sense to have it here."

Mary Platt, Director

Image:

Phil Dike

“Afternoon at Divers Cove”

1980

Watercolor

Gift of The Hilbert Collection