Wayman Adams

"Fox Trot" Wayman Adams, circa 1915 New Orleans Figures Dancing American Scene

circa 1915

Wayman Adams The Courtship, circa 1920 Signed upper right; titled on the reverse Oil on board 16 x 12 inches Adams was born on a farm in rural Indiana near Muncie. His father, a horse farmer and amateur artist, encouraged the younger Adams’ interest in art. At age twenty-one, Adams moved to Indianapolis to attend the John Herron Art Institute. There, he began to paint portraits. He took two trips to Europe, the first in 1910 when he traveled to Italy with William Merritt Chase. Two years later, he accompanied Robert Henri to Spain where he met fellow artist Margaret Boroughs, whom he married six years later. In 1914, Adams painted a series of portraits for the city hospital in Indianapolis. He was to paint children whose families had been in the United States for generations and also children of immigrants to represent the various nationalities of which the city was composed. It was considered to be one of the most ambitious public art projects in Indiana’s history. Originally, twenty-four portraits were to be done; while some are now missing, they were all initially installed in the pediatric ward of the hospital. After painting a portrait of author...

Margaretha E. Albers The Ordell, Brooklyn Bridge Signed LR Oil on artist board 12 x 16 inches Provenance Kennedy Galleries, New York Private Collection, New York St. Lifer Art, New...

Beatrix Sherman Hialeah Park Race Track, Florida, 1947 Signed lower right Oil on canvasboard 16 x 20 inches Beatrix Sherman (1894-1975), who changed her first name from Beatrice by...

Frida Gugler Building the Westside Highway (Near the George Washington Bridge), circa 1935-37 Signed lower right Oil on canvas 20 x 28 inches Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the pain...

Mid-century city life is captured in this Clyde Singer painting, Market Woman, where he depicts a woman with her shopping in 1955. An accomplished American Scene painter, Singer su...

Industrial Mural Study, Veterans Memorial Building, Santa Barbara WPA American Joseph Edward Knowles (1907-1980) "Study for Industry Mural, Veterans Memorial Building, Santa Barbara, CA" 19 1/2 x 50 1/2 inches Oil on board, c. 1930s. Estate stamp verso Framed: 27 x 60 inches The completed mural is currently hanging on the wall, part of the building actually, at the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Barbara. A photo of the work insitu is included in the attached photos. BIO Joseph Edward Knowles was born in Kendall, Montana, on June 15, 1907. He grew up in San Diego, California. At age twenty, two years before the beginning of the Great Depression, he moved north to another town on the coast of California---Santa Barbara. There he began studying fine art at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts* (1927-1930), under the supervision of Frank Morley Fletcher, previously director of the Edinburgh College of Art. Fletcher, who was trained in portraiture, landscape painting, and woodblock* printing, was a great influence on young Knowles. It was there that Knowles learned the art of color woodblock printmaking, a medium in which he showed great skill. Not long after completing his studies with Fletcher, Knowles began teaching art. For a period of thirty years, from 1930 to1960, he taught at the Cate School in Carpinteria, California. In 1934-1935, Knowles traveled throughout Europe, further developing his artistic skills in England, France, and Italy. Upon his return, he continued to teach art at various schools and institutions: Cate School, Crane Country School, extension classes at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), and at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA). Knowles also served as an art education consultant for the County of Santa Barbara. In addition, he was founding co-director and president of the Santa Barbara Fine Arts Institute (1969-1972), which later developed a specialization in photography and became the Brooks Institute of Photography. Knowles died at his home in Santa Barbara on September 8, 1980. Much of Knowles' watercolor work is associated with what has been termed the "California School*," a loose grouping of artists throughout the state that included such figures as Millard Sheets, Phil Dike, Dong Kingman, George Post, and the Santa Barbara painters Dan Lutz and Standish Backus, Jr. The California School artists, including Knowles, were known for their fresh, direct, spontaneous style of watercolor painting. Knowles and other members of the school found inspiration in nature and the built environment alike, emphasizing elements of design in their exuberant, boldly stated, colorful scenes from everyday life. While painting in a representational* manner, Knowles generally avoided photographic realism, preferring subjective interpretation of his subjects. In this, as well as in his experimental approach and vigorous brushwork, he displayed a strongly modern sensibility. Knowles often used the wet-on-wet watercolor technique as he painted seascapes and landscapes, mostly along the California coast. He also employed dry-brush* techniques in many of his paintings, often leaving some of the white of the watercolor paper exposed. Some of the latter depict trees and other forms in a broken and airy manner that recalls Cezanne. Knowles' colored woodblock prints are more reserved and exact in their draftsmanship than his paintings. Spare, clean, lyrical lines are drawn to illustrate floral motifs and boat scenes with a touch of asymmetry conjuring Japanese woodblock prints. His murals from the post-World War II period are considerably more modern in their approach and show an emphasis on design and color. PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS California Watercolor Society (1940 - 1955) Santa Barbara Art Association (Vice President - 1952) ONE-MAN EXHIBITIONS Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) - San Francisco, California San Diego Fine Arts Gallery (SDMA) - San Diego, California Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) - Santa Barbara, California Cowie Galleries - Los Angeles, California Gallery de Silva - Santa Barbara, California Bradley Galleries - Santa Barbara, California MURALS Westmont College - Ellen Porter Hall Mural - Santa Barbara, California Safeway Grocery (now Vons Grocery on West Victoria Street) - Exterior Tile Mosaic - Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara Bank & Trust - Interior Mosaic Panels, Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara Girls Club - Interior Mosaic Mural - Santa Barbara, California Ernest Righetti High School - Mosaic Mural - Santa Maria, California Shell Oil Company - Mosaic Panel - California Beckman Instruments, Corporate Headquarters - Mosaic - Fullerton, California STAINED GLASS WINDOWS, WALLS and PANELS Katherine Thayer Cate Memorial Chapel - Cate School, Carpinteria, California William S. Porter Memorial Chapel - Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, California La Rinconada Building - Santa Barbara, California ILLUSTRATIONS "California's Wonderful Corner: True Stories for Children from the History of the Santa Barbara Region," by Walter A. Tompkins (1962 & 1975) China Designs: Two sets of dinnerware for Winfield China...

"Pay Day" American Scene Social Realism WPA Era Mid 20th Century Modern Workers Don Freeman (1908-1978) Pay Day 20 x 30 inches Oil on board, c. 1940s Signed lower right BIO Illustr...

"Study for Long Beach" WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Realism Modernism Ashcan Daniel Ralph Celantano (1902-1980) "Study for Long Beach" 8 x 10 inches Oil on artist bo...