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Paintings Of California
California embodies the American desire to explore frontiers. Collected here in Paintings of California are the works of over sixty of America's finest artists, all of whom were drawn to the beauty of California's kaleidoscopic geography and the pioneering spirit of her people.
The more than seventy landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes in the book are a revealing depiction of not just the changing topography, but of the creation and persistence of the myth of the American dream, too. The images depict the origins of Californians' love affair with the sun, sky, and sea, and range from awe-inspiring renderings of giant sequoias to prophetic warnings about the cost of urbanization. Included are works by Millard Sheets, Childe Hassam, Albert Bierstadt, Granville Redmond, George Bellows, Wayne Thiebaud, and David Hockney. Accompanying this collection of masterpieces are selected writings from such prominent authors as John Muir, Henry Miller, and John Steinbeck that echo the passion of the paintings. In her introduction, Ilene Susan Fort amplifies these excerpts, exploring not just the history of California and its art, but also the unique sensibility that makes the state so continuingly seductive for explorers, tourists, and artists alike.
For the artist or the explorer, Paintings of California is an important look at the edge of the American art world, one with a beauty and a poetry to be enjoyed for years to come.
The more than seventy landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes in the book are a revealing depiction of not just the changing topography, but of the creation and persistence of the myth of the American dream, too. The images depict the origins of Californians' love affair with the sun, sky, and sea, and range from awe-inspiring renderings of giant sequoias to prophetic warnings about the cost of urbanization. Included are works by Millard Sheets, Childe Hassam, Albert Bierstadt, Granville Redmond, George Bellows, Wayne Thiebaud, and David Hockney. Accompanying this collection of masterpieces are selected writings from such prominent authors as John Muir, Henry Miller, and John Steinbeck that echo the passion of the paintings. In her introduction, Ilene Susan Fort amplifies these excerpts, exploring not just the history of California and its art, but also the unique sensibility that makes the state so continuingly seductive for explorers, tourists, and artists alike.
For the artist or the explorer, Paintings of California is an important look at the edge of the American art world, one with a beauty and a poetry to be enjoyed for years to come.
- GenresArt
128 pages, Hardcover
First published March 16, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 5, 2025
Comprised of more than seventy paintings, this book’s focus is solely on the golden state of California, with seascapes, landscapes, and cityscapes from several different artists. Each piece of art gets its own page, and some have relevant quotes from famous authors on the opposite page. This is an easy book to read and enjoy, as the selections are just about perfect.
Often, when the clouds pile up in the north and the sea is churned with white caps, I say to myself: “This is the California that men dreamed of years ago, this is the Pacific that Balboa looked out on from the Peak of Darien, this is the face of the earth as the Creator intended it to look.”
(Henry Miller)
Miller hit it just about right. California is a gorgeous state, especially because its elongated shape gives it several different climates in one fell swoop. Deserts, mountains, beaches, lakes and rivers can all be enjoyed in one day, even with the notorious Golden State traffic. Each section of Cali has its own personality and food, and it seems to take forever to leave the state (my Canadian friends take three days to drive from Palm Desert to the Oregon border). The blue of the Pacific Ocean makes a sharp contrast to the yellow drought-ridden hills, which draws artists from all over the world.
These are three of my favorite paintings from this book:
(Capistrano Mission by ELMER WACHTEL – 1900)
(Downtown Los Angeles by EMIL JEAN KOSA, JR. – 1931)
(View From Twin Peaks by RICHARD ESTES – 1990)
The book isn’t a coffee-table sized book, which makes it easy to hold and browse. Theoretically, such a book is usually a fast read, but I loved to look at it in the evenings, when the California heat died down and the seductive yaps of coyotes filled the nights.
Book Season = Year Round (redwoods to the deserts)
Often, when the clouds pile up in the north and the sea is churned with white caps, I say to myself: “This is the California that men dreamed of years ago, this is the Pacific that Balboa looked out on from the Peak of Darien, this is the face of the earth as the Creator intended it to look.”
(Henry Miller)
Miller hit it just about right. California is a gorgeous state, especially because its elongated shape gives it several different climates in one fell swoop. Deserts, mountains, beaches, lakes and rivers can all be enjoyed in one day, even with the notorious Golden State traffic. Each section of Cali has its own personality and food, and it seems to take forever to leave the state (my Canadian friends take three days to drive from Palm Desert to the Oregon border). The blue of the Pacific Ocean makes a sharp contrast to the yellow drought-ridden hills, which draws artists from all over the world.
These are three of my favorite paintings from this book:
(Capistrano Mission by ELMER WACHTEL – 1900)
(Downtown Los Angeles by EMIL JEAN KOSA, JR. – 1931)
(View From Twin Peaks by RICHARD ESTES – 1990)
The book isn’t a coffee-table sized book, which makes it easy to hold and browse. Theoretically, such a book is usually a fast read, but I loved to look at it in the evenings, when the California heat died down and the seductive yaps of coyotes filled the nights.
Book Season = Year Round (redwoods to the deserts)
December 27, 2023
Quotes and pictures of paintings. What more do you need for a great art book?
August 5, 2023
Quotes and paintings actually. I enjoyed the paintings much more.
August 17, 2026
cool to look at paintings of different parts of California and different styles. Essays were boring. Seemed a little San Francisco and Northern California heavy.
July 13, 2009
I was fortunate enough to tour a home in the historical are of San Francisco before a magazine shoot. In one of the rooms were the most unbelievably beautiful oil paintings of old California. I have been fascinated by them ever since. I cannot get enough of their beauty and understand why they are so highly esteemed.
The light and color brings the true warmth of California. Not many painters know or use the technique today. I feel like I could just walk into one and feel the peaceful beauty and warmth.
Since I will never own one of these paintings this book is what I like to look at when I dream of the 'real' California. These paintings are poetry without words.
The light and color brings the true warmth of California. Not many painters know or use the technique today. I feel like I could just walk into one and feel the peaceful beauty and warmth.
Since I will never own one of these paintings this book is what I like to look at when I dream of the 'real' California. These paintings are poetry without words.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews