Squid Row

Artists at Continent's End

It’s probably no surprise that I have art books on my shelf. I have a good lot of them, in fact. Here’s a somewhat recent acquisition. This book, Artists at  Continent’s End, The Monterey Peninsula Art Colony, 1875-1907… accompanied a show I saw at The Monterey Museum of Art. It is a thick book with the history and art of this area. It includes the histories of those who lived and worked in San Francisco and who, because of the great quake, moved south to the Monterey Peninsula. It’s so wonderfully full of paintings and photographs of the artists themselves (something I appreciate… I hate getting a book on an artist only to find no photo of the actual person!

painting photos

Artists are pieces of art themselves). Everytime I pick up this book, I discover something new. It’s not one of those read cover to cover books. It’s almost more reference material. That doesn’t diminish it at all!

I love the style of paintings in this book. The way the use of light gives the paintings a particular mood. Late in the day, long shadows and cool yellows and greens just make me want to paint! But one artist, Armin Hansen, is a painter whose bright colors almost exhibit a fauvism-quality. At the same time his paintings have a quiet cartoonish-ness about them, which is why I fell in love with them…. excuse me, I think I’ll go pick up the book again.