From the California Tonalism of the late 19th century to the impressionist and plein air movements that took root and blossomed in the 1920s, and the artists who banded together to form painterly associations still active today, California is proud of its significance in American art history—and with good reason.
The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University was established in 2016 to honor this legacy and, after a three-year expansion project, the museum is celebrating the grand reopening of the new 22,000 square-feet facility with the launch of nine new exhibitions showcasing works by California artists. The spaciously reimagined new home of one of the world’s largest collections of California narrative art opens to the public on February 23.
Agnes Pelton (1881-1961), Light Center, 1969. Oil on canvas, 37¾ x 28 in. Collection of Euphrat Museum of Art, De Anza College, Cupertino California; Gift of Cornelia and Irving Sussman with Jan Rindfleisch.
The new two-building spread features 26 galleries for rotating displays of the more than 5,000 oils, watercolors, illustrations, drawings, movie production art and other material in the Hilbert Collection, plus a café; community room for lectures, classes and events; research library; and outdoor courtyard.
“We’re thrilled to be so close to welcoming visitors to the expanded Hilbert Museum,” says museum director Mary Platt. “This stunning new expansion is a dream come true—the building itself is an eye-catching piece of art that provides a visual welcome. And we have a dynamic array of extraordinary exhibitions to open with, showing off many of the varied facets of the Hilbert Collection.”
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Crestwood Commuter Station, 1946. Graphite and charcoal pencil on paper. The Hilbert Collection.
For the opening exhibitions, Platt has decided to highlight the museum’s collection of California scene paintings from the 1930s to the present, in addition to its extensive works of animation and movie art, Native American art and American illustration and design.
Curated by Gordon McClelland and hung across eight galleries in the north wing, California Art from The Hilbert Permanent Collection is dedicated to a rotating selection of oil and watercolor paintings, prints and drawings from the late 1800s to today. Featured artists in the opening round include David Hockney, Phil Dike, Sueo Serisawa, Vanessa Helder, Rex Brandt, Serena Potter, Francis de Erdely, Frank Romero, Jesse Arms Botke, Edgar Payne, Burr Singer, Wayne Thiebaud and others.
Millard Owen Sheets (1907-1989), Mendocino Coastline, 1978. Watercolor on paper, 21¾ x 30 in. The Hilbert Collection.
In the south wing galleries, another exhibition curated by Jean Stern is dedicated to painter, muralist, mosaicist, designer and teacher Millard Sheets (1907-1989), one of the most celebrated California artists of the 20th-century. Sheet’s restored glass-tile mosaic Pleasures Along the Beach, moved from a former Home Savings Bank building on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, adorns the museum’s west-facing façade.
Conrad Buff (1886-1975), Capitol Reef, Utah, ca. 1940s. Oil on board, 23 x 35 in. The Hilbert Collection.
A Matter of Style: Modernism in California Art features works by California artists Agnes Pelton, Roger Kuntz, Helen Lundeberg, Conrad Buff, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Susan Hertel, Keith Crown and others at the forefront of the modernist movement in the early 20th century.
Another exhibition of note, curated by Platt from the Hilbert’s permanent collection and with pieces on loan from the Bank of America Collection is Norman Rockwell: Capturing the American Spirit, which showcases original paintings, drawings and artist prints by the beloved visual storyteller.
Bernice Lee (Burr) Singer (1912-1992), Touch Up, 1943. Oil on board. The Hilbert Collection.
Additional historic art exhibitions include Mary Blair’s Wonderland: Imagining Disney’s ‘Alice’, a tribute to the pioneering Disney artist that showcases the museum’s rich animation holdings and Same Place, Another Time: Views of Orange County, a visual exploration of the shifting landscape of the area from the 1930s to today. Also on display is an exhibition of work by Chicano artist Emigdio Vasquez (1939-2014); Navajo weavings and an array of vintage radios from the 1930s to the 1950s.
“The Hilbert Collection is unique in that it is one of the few to specialize in narrative art—or art that tells a story, which in our case is focused on California,” says Platt. “Because of this, we wanted a museum building that embraces the visitor and entices them to explore the history and culture of the Golden State as seen through the painters, illustrators, animators and other artists who have long been drawn here.”
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