Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University

02/27/2020

A Heartfelt Painting by Famed California Artist Agnes Pelton Comes to the Hilbert Museum | Chapman Newsroom

Great article about an important Agnes Pelton painting on loan to the Hilbert Museum for a year, courtesy of a lender who wishes to remain anonymous. Come see it now!

Agnes Lawrence Pelton is one of the finest American painters you’ve probably never heard of – and one of her most idiosyncratic paintings has been installed at the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University, on loan to the museum for a year from a lender who wishes to remain anonymou...

02/21/2020

We just hit 1,000 people who like our Hilbert Museum page! Thank you, Hilbert Museum fans, for all your support -- and please keep recommending this page and telling people about the museum! We love you!!

02/19/2020

The Magic and Flair of Mary Blair — Hilbert Museum

Final days of "The Magic and Fialr of Mary Blair" at the Hilbert Museum! We've extended the run of the exhibition twice now by popular demand, but the show must close on March 7 -- so get your Disney on and come over to the Hilbert for another visit to see a treasury of original Disney concept pieces by this amazing and ground-breaking colorist and stylist. Paintings by Blair in this exhibition include concept art for "Dumbo"(1941), "Cinderella" (1950), "Alice in Wonderland" (1951) and "Peter Pan" (1953) -- along with four rare concept paintings for the ride "It's a Small World." Don't miss out - visit the Hilbert Museum to see Mary Blair ASAP! We're located at 167 N. Atchison Street in Orange CA, across from the train station. Admission is free, and hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11am to 5pm. Call 714-516-5880 for more information.

02/12/2020

From the current "Los Angeles Area Scene Paintings" exhibition at the Hilbert Museum -- come on over and see it now! The Hilbert Museum is located at 167 N. Atchison Street in Orange, CA, across from the Orange train station. Open Tues-Sat, 11am-5pm, free admission! Call 714-516-5880 for more info or visit www.hilbertmuseum.org.

Edwin Roscoe Shrader, "The Zinnia Path," 1924, oil on canvas. The Hilbert Collection.

The influence of 19th-century French and American Impressionist art was quite strong for a number of California artists from around the 1890s to the 1930s. Shrader adopted this approach in this portrayal of a charming visual moment between a mother and child that he witnessed in Highland Park, a suburb of Los Angeles.

The Illinois-born Shrader moved with his family to California when he was still a child; his father was chair of the physics and chemistry department at USC. Shrader studied under the great illustrator Howard Pyle and became an accomplished illustrator of books and magazines, with clients such as Harper’s, Century and Scribner’s. He was three times president of the California Art Club and taught for many years at the Otis Art Institute, serving as dean from 1923 until his retirement in 1949, when he was honored as dean emeritus of Otis.

02/05/2020

Paul Blaine Henrie (1932-1999), “Morning Sun on Avalon Bay,” 1976, oil on canvas. The Hilbert Collection. On view now at the Hilbert Museum in our current exhibition "Los Angeles Area Scene Paintings," through May 2, 2020.

Avalon Bay is on the east shore of Catalina Island in Los Angeles County. It was first developed as a tourist destination in the latter part of the 19th century, and continues today as a top visitor attraction in Southern California. This view looks east from the hillside. Paul Blaine Henrie used very colorful paint and applied it thickly with a palette knife.

Henrie was a member of the famed Laguna Beach art colony from the 1960s on, and became very well known for his California coastal scenes, as well as paintings based on his travels to exotic locales around the world. His works were collected by many celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, John Wayne and Princess Margaret of England.

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01/31/2020

The renowned photojournalist David Hume Kennerly spoke at the Hilbert Museum last night at a private event sponsored by our friends at Bank of America. The list of historic events and people Kennerly has photographed reads like a history of the past 50 years -- the Vietnam War (his photo portfolio of iconic images of that war won the Pulitzer Prize) and seven more wars, every U.S. president from Nixon on, celebrities from Jackie Kennedy Onassis to Diana Ross to Mick Jagger to Muhammad Ali and beyond, the aftermath of Jonestown, the aftermath of 9-11, the anti-war protests of the '60s and '70s, heads of foreign nations from Queen Elizabeth II to Castro and Putin, and on and on. One of the most important photojournalists of our time - and he loved the Hilbert Museum and talked about several of the paintings on display when he discussed composition. Proud to have Mr. Kennerly here!

01/24/2020

Do you love art? Do you love talking about and sharing interesting facts and information about art and culture? The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University is looking for dedicated, enthusiastic Hilbert Docents!

Our volunteer Hilbert Docents help the museum in many ways: answering visitor questions, giving tours, helping to man the front desk, assisting at museum events, etc. In return, you receive continuing art education related to our exhibitions here at the museum, special curator-led tours of our exhibitions before they open to the public, reserved seating at Hilbert Museum programs, and more! Plus the satisfaction of working with our visitors and helping share the museum's beautiful art with the public.

If you would be available to volunteer on a regular basis between the hours of 11am and 5pm Tuesdays-Saturdays, and at occasional evening events, with a time commitment of at least 8 hours per month, you're invited to attend our Docent Information Session on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 9:30 am to noon. The session will run from 9:30 to 10:45, followed by a public tour of the museum led by Mark Hilbert and museum director Mary Platt at 11am.

To reserve a spot at the Information Session, please email [email protected] so we can order enough chairs. Hope to see you there! More information, call 714-516-5880.

01/18/2020

Join us Saturday, Jan. 18 from 3 to 5 pm for a reception to open the new exhibition "Slices of Life: A Collection of Paintings from Orange County" by plein-air painter Monica Edwards. Free and open to the public - come on over and enjoy Monica's beautiful paintings and some refreshments -- rest of the museum is open, too! 167 N. Atchison Street, across from the train station in Orange CA.

01/14/2020

On view now in the Permanent Collection galleries of the Hilbert Museum:

Jessie Arms Botke (1883-1971), “Hidden Kingdom,” c. 1930, oil and gold leaf on panel. The Hilbert Collection.

California artist Jessie Hazel Arms Botke achieved great popularity beginning in the 1930s for her elegant paintings of birds, particularly the classic Art Deco avian subjects: herons, peacocks, egrets, flamingos and cockatoos. Due to her early training in decorative arts and as a tapestry designer with Herter Looms in New York City, her bird paintings often resemble Asian screens or scroll designs, gleaming with real gold and silver leaf meticulously applied by hand. They are fantasies of nature, the birds portrayed realistically but also with decorative intent, posed with studied grace against lush foliage and flowers.

Botke and her husband, fellow artist Cornelius Botke, were prominent members of the artists’ colony in Carmel, California before moving to Los Angeles for a brief period and finally settling on a ranch they acquired in Santa Paula. There, Jessie maintained her own aviary stocked with exotic birds, so she could study and paint them. In addition to her famous bird paintings, which today continue in popularity and command tens of thousands of dollars at auction.

Jessie Botke also painted many other subjects, including landscapes, views of the California missions, and images of Native American life.

The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University is located at 167 N. Atchison Street in Orange, CA. Hours are Tues-Sat, 11am-5pm. Admission is always free. Visit www.hilbertmuseum.com or call 714-516-5880 for more information.

01/10/2020

Hilbert Museum at Chapman Celebrates Orange County Artist Monica Edwards | Chapman Newsroom

Join us on Saturday, January 18, from 3 to 5 pm, for the opening reception for our new exhibition "Monica Edwards: Slices of Life," showcasing works by the Orange County plein-air painter. The exhibition can be viewed starting on Tuesday, January 11, and will be up through May 2.

The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University will showcase the work of a contemporary Orange County plein-air painter in the new exhibition “Monica Edwards: Slices of Life,” opening Tuesday, Jan. 14 and running through May 2.  There will be an opening reception, free and open to t...

01/04/2020

On view now at the Hilbert Museum, in our Permanent Collection galleries: Phil Paradise, “Afternoon Ride,” c. 1950s, oil on canvas. The Hilbert Collection. A frieze of riders on horseback gallops past in this engaging oil painting by Paradise, one of the most noted painters working in the California Scene style of the mid-20th century. Paradise was employed as an art director at Paramount Studios during the 1940s — one of the many California artists who found work in the movie industry. He lectured on art at many universities, including Scripps College and the University of Texas at El Paso, and later headed the Cambria Summer Art School. Come and enjoy this painting and many others at the Hilbert Museum, open Tuesday-Saturday 11am-5pm, free admission and free parking. Located at 167 N. Atchison Street in Orange, CA.

12/27/2019

On view in the current exhibition "Los Angeles Area Scene Paintings" at the Hilbert Museum:

Luvena Vysekal, "Esther," c. 1930-35, oil on canvas. The Hilbert Collection. Luvena Vysekal lived in the Hollywood Hills, and that setting is likely the background for this portrait. Vysekal was considered a modernist at the time, but this particular painting was created in the post-impressionist style she sometimes used when painting portraits or figurative works.

Luvena Buchanon (1873-1954) was born in Le Mars, Iowa, later moving to Pittsburgh, Kansas. Aspiring to be an artist, she studied at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1897-189 8 and again from 1910-1914. She married fellow artist Edouard Vysekal (1890-1939) on January 1, 1917. They eventually settled in Los Angeles. In the West they found the opportunity to achieve the artistic independence they longed for and also to embrace an imaginative and open outlook on the emerging art movements. They exhibited jointly and separately, seeking creative uses of color and light while developing their individual styles that were rooted in postimpressionism, cubism, semi-abstraction, and Synchromism. Both artists were very influential in the early development of modernism in Los Angeles.

12/22/2019

Happy Holidays from your friends at the Hilbert Museum of California Art! We're closed Dec. 24 and 25 so our staff can celebrate with their families and friends, but we'll open again regular hours on Dec. 26, 27 and 28. (And we're again closed on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.) If you're searching for a great free outing while your family is here visiting OC for the holidays, the Hilbert Museum is a fine choice!

Come in Dec. 26-28 and enjoy our holiday exhibition, "Good Tidings We Bring: Christmas Cards from the Arthur Millier Collection," showcasing beautiful hand-created cards (prints, photos and drawings) by artists who sent them to Millier, who served as art critic for the Los Angeles Times from 1926-1956. It's the first show ever curated at our museum by a Chapman student, art history major Caroline Spogli '20.

Also enjoy our other fascinating exhibitions: "Los Angeles Area Scene Paintings" (now through May 2), "A Fine Romance: Images of Love in Classic American Illustration" (now through March 7) and "The Magic and Flair of Mary Blair (extended by popular request through March 7).

12/19/2019

Old Towne Orange Day Trip (Things to do in Orange & Irvine Regional Park) OC Travel Guide 4K

Great trip video includes the Hilbert Museum - thanks, Tony Wang and family!

Taking a day trip to Old Town Orange. First we visit the Irvine Regional Park where we viewed animals at the Orange County Zoo, rode a paddle boat and a surr...

12/07/2019

Great opening reception last night at the Hilbert Museum for the very first exhibition we’ve ever had curated by a Chapman University student! Congratulations to art history senior Caroline Spogli, pictured here with her exhibition “Good Tidings We Bring: Christmas Cards from the Arthur Millier Collection.” Left to right, Caroline; mom Georgia and dad Ron Spogli; and Chapman University President Emeritus Jim Doti. A festive time was had by all! Come see this beautiful and fascinating exhibition during the holiday season — it’s on view through January 11.

12/06/2019

Disney Legacy Author Jeff Kurtti speaking to a sold-out crowd at the Hilbert Museum tonight on the history of Disney corporate Christmas cards — very fascinating lecture! Thanks, Jeff! If you’d like advance notice of ticketing for our great free lectures at the Hilbert, sign up on our website!

12/04/2019

Please join us for a little Christmas season get-together at the Hilbert Museum this Friday, Dec. 6 at 6 pm, as we celebrate the opening of the new exhibition "Good Tidings We Bring: Christmas Cards from the Arthur Millier Collection."

The Christmas tree is lit, the cookies will be ready to enjoy -- all we need is YOU! No ticket required - just stop on by!

It's a show featuring beautiful original prints and drawings sent by artists to Arthur Millier, the highly influential art critic for the Los Angeles Times from 1926 to 1956.

Also, this is the first-ever exhibition at the Hilbert Museum to be curated by a Chapman student: art history major Caroline Spogli '20. She did a fantastic job and we know you'll enjoy meeting her and learning more about Millier -- and seeing these wonderful work-of-art cards!

There'll be refreshments (including the aforementioned Christmas cookies -- as always, arrive early for the food!) and the museum will be open from 6 to 7:30 so you can stroll through our other exhibitions as well, including "Los Angeles Area Scene Paintings," "A Fine Romance: Images of Love in Classic American Illustration" and "The Magic and Flair of Mary Blair."

11/26/2019

Getting ready for the holidays, the Hilbert Museum has JUST opened this new exhibition in our hallway space: "Good Tidings We Bring: Christmas Cards from the Arthur Millier Collection" -- our first exhibition curated by a Chapman student!

Art history senior Caroline Spogli '20 did a wonderful job curating this grouping of beautiful original prints and drawings that were sent as Christmas cards by artists to Arthur Millier, who served as the highly influential art critic for the Los Angeles Times from 1926 to 1956.

The cards are by such highly regarded artists as Millard Sheets, Walt Kuhn, Eyvind Earle, Gladys Brown Edwards, Maynard Dixon, Mildred Bryant Brooks, Paul Darrow (a storied Laguna Beach artist who just passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 98), Marc Chagall, Reuven Rubin, Georges Rouault and others.

Come see this new exhibition and get into the festive spirit! The Hilbert Museum is grateful to Michael and Susan Rivard for their generous donation of the Arthur Millier Collection to us -- and now we all get to share in a small portion of this outstanding collection.

HOLIDAY CLOSURE: The Hilbert Museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day and the following Friday. We re-open for regular hours (11am-5pm) on Saturday, Nov. 30. See you soon!

11/26/2019

Currently on view in the Hilbert Museum's "Los Angeles Area Scene Paintings" exhibition, curated by Gordon McClelland and Austin McClelland:

Roger Kuntz, "Blimp Mooring," 1970, oil on canvas. The Hilbert Collection.

Texas-born Roger Kuntz came to California with his widowed mother at the age of three. He began drawing and painting in his youth, served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII, and received a master's in fine art from the Claremont Graduate School, where he studied with Henry Lee McFee, Millard Sheets and Sueo Serisawa, among others. He held his first solo exhibition in 1951, and soon was exhibiting his works nationally and internationally.

As he matured as an artist, his painting style shifted to a dramatic and reductive viewpoint, often focusing on close-cropped views freeways and underpasses, highway signs and airships, emphasizing the architecture of their structures and straddling the line between representation and abstraction.

In 1968, the Goodyear Company built a blimp airfield in Carson, California, just south of Los Angeles. It's located on 27 acres of land clearly visible from the 405 Freeway, and is used to anchor the famous Goodyear Blimp, a regular sight at sports events, parades and at other events around Southern California. In 1970, Kuntz received permission to access the airfield and completed a series of paintings focusing on the blimp. This is one of the most dramatic works in that series, zeroing in on a segment of the lower curve of the blimp's helium-filled envelope and the passenger gondola beneath it. Note how the curve of the blimp's underbelly is echoed by the curves of the runway. By narrowing his viewpoint, Kuntz has created an unusual and unique close-up view of a familiar L.A. sight, playing up its abstract qualities as well as its monumental size.

Visit the Hilbert Museum to see this and many more paintings in the "Los Angeles Area Scene Paintings" exhibition, as well as our other exhibitions: "A Fine Romance: Images of Love in Classic American Illustration" and "The Magic and Flair of Mary Blair," along with paintings in our Permanent Collection. Free admission! This week we are open Tuesday and Wednesday, closed on Thanksgiving Day and Friday, but open again on Saturday. Our opening hours are 11am to 5pm. The Hilbert Museum is located at 167 N. Atchison Street in Orange, right across from the Metrolink station and Ruby's Diner.