The California Art Club will mark its Centennial anniversary by presenting the 100th occurrence of its hallmark annual exhibition – the “100th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition” – at the Pasadena Museum of California Art from April 3 to 24, 2011.
The exhibition will coincide with the publication of “California Light: A Century of Landscapes – Paintings of the California Art Club.” The 276-page deluxe book from Skira Rizzoli will feature 300 lush California landscape paintings created over the past 100-years by artist members of the Club and document the organization’s history from its founding in 1909 at an artist’s studio in the Arroyo Seco Canyon to its current activities that involve six chapters throughout the state.
This year’s event will showcase nearly 200 representational works of art, spotlighting sculpture as well as paintings of genres ranging from pristine landscapes and seascapes to figures and still life. In celebration of the Gold Medal’s 100th anniversary and the release of “California Light,” the exhibition will also feature approximately 60 miniature paintings and sculpture that focus on a visual journey through the Golden State.
The more than 150 participating artists include nationally renowned artists Peter Adams, Belá Bácsi, Peter Brooke, Scott Burdick, Scott Christensen, John Cosby, Dennis Doheny, David C. Gallup, Nancy Guzik, Steve Huston, David Leffel, Jeremy Lipking, Kevin Macpherson, Joseph Paquet, Mian Situ, Richard Schmid, Christopher Slatoff, Tim Solliday, Alexey Steele, Zhiwei Tu and Jove Wang.
“For more than 100 years, the California Art Club has been the standard bearer of great traditional art and so it is this year. The 100th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition exemplifies the very best in traditional American art,” says Jean Stern, Executive Director of The Irvine Museum.
Stern was one of five California museum scholars on the jury that selected the artwork for inclusion in the exhibition. He was joined by Catherine Hess, Chief Curator of European Art, The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens; Peter Keller, Ph.D., President, The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art; Jenkins Shannon, Executive Director, Pasadena Museum of California Art; and Scott A. Shields, Ph.D., Associate Director and Chief Curator, Crocker Art Museum.
During the evening before the exhibition opens to the public, the Club will host the Artists’ Gala Reception. Tickets for the April 2 preview event, at which Best of Show honors and other awards will be announced, are $75 in advance and $100 at the door. Included in the price of admission is a copy of the full-color exhibition catalogue.
Because an important component of the organization’s mission is to educate on the merits of traditional fine art, the Club will offer three educational programs during the Gold Medal Exhibition.
Urban Art & Antiques 