Show Preview | Gold Medal Exhibition - Southwest Art Magazine

Pasadena, CA
490 East Union Street, March 2-29

Kathleen Dunphy, Winter Waters, oil, 24 x 48.

This story was featured in the March/April 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art March/April 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

“YOU CAN’T HELP but get excited if you want to know what’s going on today in traditional fine-art painting and sculpture,” says Elaine Adams, the California Art Club’s executive director, about the organization’s 108th annual Gold Medal Exhibition. Filling about 9,000 square feet of gallery space in the former Pasadena Museum of California Art, the show features some 270 works by 203 artists, juried from among the club’s approximately 1,800 artist members. All of the works are for sale.

: Ernesto Nemesio, New Beginnings, oil, 20 x 16.

: Michael Obermeyer, On Broadway, oil, 18 x 14.

: Mian Situ, Moment of Peace, oil, 30 x 30.

“It’s like we’ll be running our own museum,” Adams enthuses about this year’s venue. Her excitement is warranted. Last year’s show, held at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, was very well attended, and “this year, we can give it even more of a personal touch.” The schedule of events kicks off on Saturday, March 2, at 6 p.m. with an Artists’ Gala Reception attended by many of the participants. The show opens to the public on Sunday, when there is a tour and book signing with Jean Stern, executive director of the Irvine Museum Collection and the foremost authority on the California Impressionist movement. Among several other events planned, artists are in the galleries to talk about their works from 2 to 4 p.m. on opening day, on Saturday, March 16, and on Sunday, March 24.

: Yun Wei, A Cowgirl’s Table, oil, 24 x 30.

: Kenn Backhaus, Gold Rush in the Blue Pacific, oil, 30 x 40.

: Kevin Courter, In the Quiet Hours of Night, oil, 20 x 24.

For club members themselves, the exhibition is highly anticipated. “Most of the artists dream of their works hanging in the show,” says Michael Obermeyer, a plein-air painter based in Laguna Beach who currently serves as the CAC’s vice president. A member “going on 20 years” and juried into the exhibition for 19 years, he’ll be represented by works that express his interest in “capturing a moment in time”: a moody cityscape of downtown Los Angeles and a peaceful rural scene near the historic California mission town of San Juan Capistrano.

Sharing similar sentiments about the show is Kathleen Dunphy, also a member for almost two decades, who’ll likely be driving six or seven hours to attend the opening from her home in the Sierra Nevada foothills town of Murphys. “I’m in awe to know that there are contemporary artists doing work as good as anything that has been done in history,” she says. Her contributions this year are a tranquil studio piece portraying snow geese in the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, as well as a miniature piece—one of 72 small works included in the show.

: Gary Fishman, Zion, oil, 26 x 26.

: Aimee Erickson, Morning, Crystal Cove, oil, 18 x 24.

: Timothy Horn, Bathed in Blue, oil, 24 x 24.

Now in just her second year of membership and her second Gold Medal Exhibition, still-life and portrait painter Yun Wei—a native of the northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin who has lived in Southern California for 11 years—feels “so excited to be part of one of the oldest art organizations in the United States.” Wei’s still life, A COWGIRL’S TABLE, demonstrates a mastery inspired by Dutch Golden Age greats like Willem Kalf and Willem Claeszoon Heda.

Unlike works by old masters, however, the paintings and sculptures on display are within reach for many fine-art lovers, notes Adams. With quality so high and prices starting in the low four-figure range, she says, “People are getting more savvy that works in the Gold Medal show are collection-worthy. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned collector, you’ll find art that is strong and something new.” —Norman Kolpas

contact information
626.583.4796
www.californiaartclub.org