Show Preview | Gold Medal Exhibition - Southwest Art Magazine

Orange, CA
Hilbert Museum, May 16-June 13

**Update: Due to public health concerns, the California Art Club will present the exhibition on its website with a full slate of online activities and educational programs. Click here for more information.

John Cosby, Last Light, oil, 32 x 48.

This story was featured in the May 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

THE TEAM OF artists and art-world figures who juried entries for the California Art Club’s upcoming Gold Medal Exhibition had an especially interesting and rewarding task this year: winnowing down the final selection to about 60 percent of the number of artworks in previous editions. With the annual show set to take place for the first time at the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University in Orange County, the popular but smaller venue meant an even more discerning eye was required. “The challenge of narrowing it down to about 170 from the more than 280 pieces in last year’s display meant we ended up with an incredibly beautiful and diverse group of artworks. There’s always a high level of work in this show, but this one is really at the top,” says painter Michael Obermeyer, the club’s vice president, who served as one of the judges.

: Warren Chang, Drawn Into the Light, oil, 16 x 24.

: Danny Griego, Ramp Signal, oil, 18 x 24.

: Scott W. Prior, Bakersfield, oil, 36 x 36.

Celebrating its 109th consecutive year, the venerable and highly anticipated exhibition takes place May 16 to June 13. It features traditional paintings and sculptures by established and emerging artists, along with artists’ talks and other educational events for collectors and fellow artists. The choice of the Hilbert echoes the museum’s mission as well as that of the club: highlighting and honoring the Golden State’s long tradition of representational art. The club was established in 1909 by a pioneering group of plein-air painters who became known as California Impressionists and who opened doors and provided inspiration for generations that came after them.

With the potential for continuing closures to deter the spread of coronavirus, the club has a contingency plan in place in case the Hilbert is not open: a fully virtual exhibition offering artists and collectors everything—other than the in-person experience—for which the event is known. The alternate arrangements being considered include the full exhibition for viewing and purchase on the club’s website and a variety of interactive educational programs including virtual artwork tours, “Ask the Artist” opportunities, and an online presentation by art historian Jean Stern. Stern is executive director of the Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine, and a preeminent authority on California plein-air painting.

: R.S. Riddick, The Prayerful Song, oil, 46 x 28.

: Dan Schultz, Autumn’s Carpet, oil, 12 x 16.

: Rick J. Delanty, An Unexpected Event, Yosemite, oil, 16 x 20.

The other thing that won’t change is the art itself. Carrying into the 21st century the club founders’ commitment to exceptional representational art, the show features landscape, seascape, figurative, portrait, urbanscape, and still-life painting as well as sculpture in bronze, steel, clay, and less-traditional mediums.

Among the participating painters, Dan Schultz masterfully crosses genre boundaries with atmospheric landscapes that often contain a solitary figure. “They’re gorgeous works,” Obermeyer says. Longtime Southern California painter John Cosby’s entry, LAST LIGHT, captures the evening glow on a shallow watercourse and receding layers of hills. Scott W. Prior finds beauty in the grittiness of urban and industrial settings. Even when artists must hold onto work for a while to submit it for jurying, Obermeyer says, “We know they always bring their A game.” —Gussie Fauntleroy

contact information
626.583.9009
www.californiaartclub.org