Santa Barbara, CA - The end of 2006 marks a shift in the wind for SBMA - this time it blows toward the west.  Flanked by two photography exhibitions that look at the art of Pictorialism, Artists at Continent’s End: The Monterey Peninsula Art Colony, 1875-1907 is the anchor for a theme that focuses on our own state of California as a point of inspiration and beauty in the overall history of art.

Included in this exhibition are some 70 paintings, photographs, and works on paper drawn from museums and private collections throughout California and beyond.  It features artists of major importance to California’s, and America’s, art history - including Jules Tavernier, William Keith, Evelyn McCormick, and photographer Arnold Genthe – as well as other artists, both well- and little-known, who each contributed to the reputation of what is now widely recognized as one of American’s most important art colonies.

Few regions rival the magnificence of California’s Monterey Peninsula.  In the late 19th century, the beauty of the landscape, together with a mild climate, rich history, and simplicity of lifestyle, attracted artists of all disciplines.  Whereas previous accounts date the establishment of the Monterey Peninsula colony just after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, this groundbreaking exhibition reveals that the Monterey Peninsula was a gathering place for artists well before 1906.  These kindred spirits shared their ideals and respective arts as they crafted a defining style of California art.

Artists of the Monterey Peninsula worked in three major styles: French Barbizon, Tonalism and Impressionism.  Beginning with Jules Tavernier’s arrival in 1875, art produced in the area signaled a move away from the strict description of nature toward a more subjective, meditative and harmoniously simple approach.  By the turn of the century, the majority of artists in the region had arrived at a deeply personal, tonal style, featuring close-value colors and moody atmospheric effects.

Organized by the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, this exhibition is the first to present an in-depth examination of Monterey Peninsula painting and photography from this critical period in California’s art history.  After premiering in Sacramento earlier this year February, SBMA receives this collection after having traveled to the Laguna Art Museum and before it makes its way to the Monterey Museum of Art.  Exhibition dates at SBMA ..October 21, 2006 – January 21, 2007.

The other exhibitions that complete the California theme include Lost and Found: California Pictorialist Photographs from the Dennis Reed Collection (Part II) on view October 21, 2006 – January 7, 2007.  This two-part exhibition of 60 vintage prints from the Dennis Reed Collection features works gathered during some 25 years of research and drawn from a selection of nearly 700 prints.  This second installment focuses on those photographers associated with the Pictorialist movement, one of the longest-running photographic styles of the 20^th century.  Many photographers featured include members of the Los Angeles Camera Club, the Camera Pictorialists, the Pictorial Photographic Society of San Francisco, and the California Camera Club. This follows the inaugural installation that opens in August, providing a rare glimpse of 30 photographs by a group of Japanese Americans who worked during the 1920s and 1930s before they were interned in relocation centers during WWII.  

Also on view is Alice Burr: A California Pictorialist Rediscovered October 21, 2006 – January 7, 2007.  Organized in conjunction with the artist’s family, this exhibition features approximately 27 prints drawn from the strongest known works of Alice Burr’s career from about 1920-1925 and provides the opportunity to view rare photographs that have been known only to her family and handful of curators and friends.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is a privately funded, not-for-profit institution that provides internationally recognized collections and exhibitions and a broad array of cultural and educational activities as well as travel opportunities around the world.

Visit the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA. www.sbma.net