**This class will be taught In-Person**
In postwar San Francisco both Abstract Expressionism and Figurative painting had powerful presences. Over time, the two points of view competed and co-mingled. The result was a hybrid style: BAY AREA FIGURATION.
Week by Week Outline:
Week 1
-First Generation artists David Park, Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, James Weeks, Wayne Thiebaud - California School of Fine Arts (founded 1907 in Berkeley, SFAI)
Over the years, SFAI has been a significant cultural hub, nurturing innovative artists and contributing to the artistic landscape of the Bay Area.
-Douglass MacAgy Director of the California School of Fine Art 1945-1950
Under his leadership hired David Park, Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, James, Weeks, Wayne Thiebaud, Clifford Still, Mark Rothko
In addition to classes on filmmaking, the CSFA offered the first fine-art photography department in the United states, established by Ansel Adams in 1946. Adams added Dorothea Lange, Imogene Cunningham, Edward Weston to the CSFA faculty.
Elmer Bischoff, “The connection between artists in San Francisco was intense compared to New York because we were all in one building.” San Francisco Museum of Art 1935-1958
First director: Grace McCann Morley 1900 –1985
Influential Exhibitions in San Francisco:
Arshile Gorky (1941)
Jackson Pollock (1945)
Clyfford Still (1943,1947)
Mark Rothko (1946)
Robert Motherwell (1946)
Edvard Munch (1951)
Max Beckmann (1950)
Oskar Kokoschka (1950)
Week 2
Bridge Generation artists:
Nathan Oliveira 1952-53 CSFA, 1953-56 CCAC, 1965 -95 Stanford
Frank Lobdell 1957-64 CSFA, 1965-91 Stanford
Second Generation artists:
Bruce McGaw, Joan Brown, Manuel Neri, Bernice Bing
