Fleischer Museum Exhibitions
Feminine Impressions: Women of the California School

The following has been extracted from the brochure used during the exhibition.

French Impressionism was first exhibited in 1874 in Paris. This style of painting originated as a reaction to the French art establishment of the time. These artists visually experienced urban and rural environments and communicated their interpretations on canvas. Capturing the beautiful vibrant light effects on subject matter, they used short brush strokes of juxtaposed colors side by side. Mary Cassatt, the first American artist to paint in the Impressionist style, studied and exhibited with the French Impressionists. Joining them in 1877, she sought a career that her family and society opposed, as women's pursuit of an artistic career was taboo. This lone female was instrumental in achieving American approval of the French Impressionists in the United States. Reflecting the style of her mentors, Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet, she established herself as one of America's leading Impressionist artists and became an inspiration for other women struggling to achieve a career in art. As travel to California was made easier with the completion of the Transcontinental and Santa Fe railways in 1869 and 1885, young artists followed. News of the diverse landscapes and bright sunny days, along with the desire to paint out of doors, piqued their interests to settle in San Francisco, the recognized art center in the West. Other artists chose the Los Angeles and Laguna Beach areas. These artists from Northern and Southern California became known as the California School of American Impressionism. In 1871, the first organized group of artists and supporters united as the San Francisco Art Association. Just three years later, the California School of Design opened, and nearly fifty of the sixty students were women. The California School of Design remained the center of art education for women living in the West for many years. For those women who could afford the luxury of European studies, the Beaux-Arts and the Academie Julian in Paris also provided an important educational resource. The San Franciso Art Association held its first major women's art exhibition in 1885. The all female Sketch Club, founded two years later, created a forum for camaraderie among women artists and generated public awareness. Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition were important exhibitions in which women of the California school exhibited. Alice Chittenden and Maren Froelich broke the Bohemian Club's all male dominated exhibition in 1898 when they were allowed to exhibit. The great earthquake and fire of 1906 destroyed the home of the Sketch Club along with most of the studios and works of the San Francisco artists. This disaster forced many artists to move and assimilate to other parts of California. In 1907 a women's club opened in Southern California, the Women Painters of California, and held their first exhibition in 1909. Later in 1915, the Palace of Fine Arts hosted the landmark Panama-Pacific International Exposition having over 7,500 exhibits, including many works by female artists. Probably the most important historic event for these women occurred in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution providing women's suffrage. Women of the California School enriched our great American art heritage with their achievements and contributions. These early frontier women served as art critics for newspapers, as staff in museums and owned galleries. They were jury members at public exhibitions, art instructors and greatly influenced society's attitude toward art.

	Donna Norine Schuster In The Garden, 30"x30"	Anna Althea Hills Old Ranch, 24"x20"
	Marion Kavanagh Wachtel Rising Mist, Ojai, 18"x24"

Feminine Impressions: Women of the California School reviews a few of these professional enigmas who lived in the ruggedness of the West; who painted, exhibited and competed with the same enthusiasm as their male counterparts. Women who sought to be compared and judged by the standards of the opposite gender. Women who sought to rise above the social taboos of a working artist. Women who strived to be recognized as a vital asset to the visual art history of America. Women who achieved their goals.