About the Art Library

To help make informed decisions on collecting art, American Legacy Fine Arts encourages ALFA visitors to peruse through our extensive archives of articles and biographies about artists and art movements, many written by ALFA’s Director, Elaine Adams. We believe that by studying art history and the lives of artists and what inspired them to create, one can more deeply appreciate a myriad of timeless attributes in a fine work of art as well as the significant contributions artists make to our culture.


Art Catalogues

Empathy for Beauty (2014), Suzanne Bellah, Carnegie Art Museum

Empathy for Beauty in the 21st Century: Signature Artists of the California Art Club shares thirty contemporary-traditional artists’ depictions of experiencing incredible moments of beauty amid our challenging century. The ...

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Artist Biographies

A – D

Franz A. Bischoff (1864-1929) : A Bohemian Bouquet by Jean Stern, California Art Club Newsletter, Fall 2010

Perhaps it was the free spirit of the gypsy lifestyle associated with Bohemia that expounded a litany of unique and vibrant artists in the mid-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Or perhaps ...

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Franz A. Bischoff (1864-1929) : The Unique Artistic Journey Of Franz A. Bischoff, by Jean Stern, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, Winter 2011

Although his name is not widely known today, Franz A. Bischoff (1864-1929) was once celebrated across the United States. Best known for the sumptuously faded pink roses he painted on ...

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American Legacy FIne Arts presents Jessie Hazel Arms Botke in an article by Elaine Adams in CAC Newsletter.

Jessie Hazel Arms Botke (1883-1971): Bold and Beautiful by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Winter/Spring 2022

Rarely does an artist become associated with more than one historical art movement. Yet, Jessie Hazel Arms Botke did just that. She was an integral part of the American Arts ...

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Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900) and the Splendour of Small-Scale Landscapes by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Spring 2008

Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900) was one of the most prominent American landscape painters of the nineteenth century. A prolific and successful artist, Church is chiefly remembered for his large-scale epic ...

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Alson Skinner Clark (1876-1949) – An American Impressionist, by Deborah Epstein Solon, California Art Club Newsletter, Winter/Spring 2006

Alson Skinner Clark (1876–1949) is hardly a familiar name, even to scholars of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century American art. The resuscitation of Clark’s career is part of the ongoing ...

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Francois Jean Baptiste Benjamin Constant (1845-1902) – A Multi-Faceted Artist By Peter Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Spring/Summer 2015

Francois Jean Baptiste Benjamin Constant (1845–1902), later known as Jean-Joseph Benjamin Constant, had an art career that was not only remarkable and legendary, but one that was multifaceted. He was ...

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Jacques-Louis David (1748-1818) – In Quest of a Hero by Elaine Adams

Orphaned at nine, esteemed artist by thirty-three, execution judge at forty-five and exiled at sixty-eight; Jacques-Louis David’s (1748–1825) life was led on a tumultuous path while he searched for a ...

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E – I

Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904): Recalling The Pinnacle Of Fine Art by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer 2010

What the average public knows about nineteenth century art is only a small fraction of its extensive reality. Ask someone what was the most popular art movement of the late ...

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Joseph Duncan Gleason (1881-1959) – A Buoyant Life by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer 2012

If you were to mention sailors and steamboats in the same breath in the hearing of some old shellback of a sea dog, he would probably mutter a few deep ...

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Armin Hansen (1886-1957) by Scott Shields, California Art Club Newsletter, Fall-Winter 2014-2015

Nearly six feet four and an imposing 250 pounds, Armin Carl Hansen (1886–1957) was as powerful as his paintings. When he entered a room, it was as though a blast ...

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Sam Hyde Harris (1889-1977): A World of Colour and Atmosphere by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Winter 2022/2023

Sam Hyde Harris was a man of dichotomies. He was raised in a working-class family, yet was comfortable in the social arena. He was a leading commercial designer for the ...

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Lovell Birge Harrison (1854-1929): Uniting Man and Nature in Paint by Andrea Husby, Ph.D., California Art Club Newsletter, Spring 2012

Artist, illustrator, writer, teacher and critic, Lovell Birge Harrison’s (1854-1929) multifaceted talents placed him among the first rank of American artists, in figure, landscape and marine painting, in a career ...

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J – M

William Lees Judson (1842-1928) – The Artist Who Created Legacies by Peter Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Spring 2013

William Lees Judson was a leader among early California plein air painters. Not only was he one of the first artists to live and work in Los Angeles, but he ...

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The Art of Paul Jacoulet (1897-1960) A Tribute to the Floating World by Peter Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, February 1998

Pasadena, California is perhaps best known in New Year’s Day Rose Bowl Game and Rose Parade. The world famous parade was initiated one-hundred nine years ago by members of the ...

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Theodore N. Lukits (1897-1992) – An American Orientalist (Catalogue)

I am particularly pleased that the Pacific Asia Museum is mounting an exhibition of the work of American Orientalist Theodore Lukits because Lukits was the teacher and major influence on ...

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California Art Club Newsletter - Theodore N Lukits Part I

Theodore N. Lukits (1897-1992) Traditon and Innovation (Part I of II) by Jeffrey Morseburg, California Art Club Newsltter, October 1998

For a number of years I have been involved in the process of r searching and writing about the late California painter Theodore N. Lukits I t897-199>.). In order to ...

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Theodore N Lukits Part-II , California Art Club Newsletter

Theodore N. Lukits (1897-1992) Traditon and Innovation (Part II of II) by Jeffrey Morseburg, California Art Club Newsletter, December 1998

Although the renowned artists Alphonse Mucha I Igbo—r939) and Edwin Blashfield ii848-193 6) inspired Lukits to dream of important mural commissions, Lukits realized that he needed to establish himself as ...

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California Art Club Newsletter

Jean Mannheim (1861-1945): Cultivating Colour and Versatility in California by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Fall 2011

The early twentieth century was an incredibly dynamic period for California and in particular, for southern California and Los Angeles. The allure of a mild climate, the beauty of the ...

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California Art Club Newsletter Partners in Illusion: William and Alberta Benford MCCloskey by Elaine Adams

William McCloskey (1859-1941) and Alberta Binford McCloskey (1863-1911): Partners in Illusion by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, May 1996

According to contemporary marriage/divorce statistics, one of the most frequent arguments experienced between a married couple is what program to watch on television. Imagine how incredible it must be for ...

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N – Q

California Art Club Newsletter Edgar Allen Payne by Elaine Adams

Edgar Alwin Payne (1883-1947) – In Pursuit of Poetic Grandeur, by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Winter 2012

Edgar Alwin Payne was born on March 1, 1883, possibly in the rural small town of Washburn, Missouri, somewhere near Cassville in Barry County located in the southwest part of ...

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Howard Pyle and the American Tradition - American Artist Magazine May 2012

Howard Pyle & The Academic Tradition, by James Gurney, American Artist Magazine May 2012

One afternoon in Wilmington, Delaware, six of Howard Pyle’s top students were working on their drawings when a new student entered. The newcomer had just been admitted into the select ...

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R – U

California Art Club Newsletter David Roberts by Elaine Adams

David Roberts (1796-1864) – The Lure of an Occidental by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, October 2001

David Roberts was not born to a privileged class, nor did he have the advantages of a cultured environment — what he did possess, however, were the greatest of all ...

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California Art Club Newsletter - Norman Rockwell 1894-1978 - Norman Rockwells Paintings of Character by Michael Zakian

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) – Norman Rockwell’s Paintings of Character by Michael Zakian, California Art Club Newsletter, Fall 2012

Although Norman Rockwell (1894–1978) died thirty-five years ago, his work continues to grow in popularity. In 1999 the High Museum of Art in Atlanta organized a travelling retrospective Norman Rockwell: ...

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Guy Rose California Art Club Newsletter, Elaine Adams December 1995

Guy Rose (1867-1925) – An American Impressionist by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, December 1995

It is interesting how life can unfold and unwittingly create one’s own destiny. Thus was the case in the life of Guy Rose. Born as the seventh of eleven children ...

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Carl Rungius American Art Review June 2003

Carl Rungius (1869-1959) – Artist, Sportsman by Elaine Adams, American Art Review, June 2003

Two of mankind’s most innate drives are hunting and creating art. By painting animals and hunting scenes on cave walls, primitive man engendered a powerful belief system. He believed that ...

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Jose Segrelles_, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer-Fall 2015

Jose Segrelles (1885-1969) – Painted Wonders of Space and Time by William Stout, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2015

José Segrelles (1885–1969) is among the finest artists to emerge from the Valencia region of Spain—and unequalled in his unfathomable imagination. His extensive oeuvre includes futuristic and outer space themes ...

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Millard Sheets by Gordon T McClelland, Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter

Millard Sheets (1907-1989) by Gordon T. McClelland and Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Winter 2010

Perhaps more than any other artist, Millard Owen Sheets (1907-1989) created a multi-faceted arts legacy that is uniquely Californian and evocative of his times. His prolific output included architecture, product ...

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Jules Tavernier - Scott Shields, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer-Fall 2014

Jules Tavernier (1844-1889) by Scott Shields and Claudine Chalmers, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer-Fall 2014

An illustrator, painter, adventurer, and visionary, nineteenth-century French artist Jules Tavernier (1844–1889) was one of the American West’s foremost talents, with a natural ability that many believed was second to ...

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V – Z

William Wendt Nature Undefiled by Will South, California Art Club Newsletter

William Wendt (1865-1947) – Nature Undefiled by Will South, Ph.D., California Art Club Newsletter, Winter 2008

In 1911, William Wendt was elected as president of the California Art Club, and, in many ways, he represented the essential nature of California Impressionism both stylistically and ideologically. No other California ...

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Anders Leonard Zorn Stealing Secrets and Beauty by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter

Anders Leonard Zorn (1860-1920) – Stealing Secrets and Beauty by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Fall 2013

Born as the illegitimate son of a Bavarian beer maker and a Swedish farm girl, never having met his father, and raised as a peasant boy on his grandparents’ farm, ...

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Art Travel Log

Art Travel Log 4 Part Series by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, December 1997

Art Travel Log: France and Italy by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, December 1997

On September 3 Peter and I left our borne in Pasadena for a six-week excursion through France and Italy. In an attempt to share our art adventures with our fellow ...

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American Art History

California Art Club Newsletter, Cover story, Winter 2013

The Rise of an American Art by Michael Zakian,California Art Club Newsletter, Winter 2013

The Golden Age of American Illustration remains one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of American art and culture. It was a period that saw the practice of ...

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California Art History

How the San Gabriel Valley Inspired California, California Art Club Newsletter

How the San Gabriel Valley Inspired California Impressionism and Lured Artists from Across the Nation (Parts I, II, and III) by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2016

The development of an outstanding artist requires a process that can be compared to that of nurturing a delicate seedling to full maturity and potential. Cultivation, environment, and faithful caring ...

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California Art Club Looks to Past for Future

California Art Club Looks to the Past for a Future Home – The Desiderio Army Base by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer 2007

Creative minds and social mavericks find inspiration in their environment and often migrate to warmer climates and picturesque locations to stimulate the mind and soothe the soul. During southern California’s ...

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Memoirs of the CAC, Peter Adams 2006

Memoirs of the California Art Club, 1993-2006, by Peter Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, 2006

When I was asked to become the president of the California Art Club in 1992 I had no way of knowing that I would serve in that position for at ...

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Plein Air Painting-in Laguna Beach, America Artist Magazine

Plein Air Painting in Laguna Beach – An Enduring Landscape Legacy by Jean Stern and Molly Siple, American Artist Magazine, 2010

As early as 1886, artists began to flock to Laguna Beach. a small coastal community about 5o miles south of Los Angeles. The attraction, from the artists point of view, ...

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Pioneers of Artists Alley, by Elaine Adams

Pioneers of Artists’ Alley (Victor Clyde Forsythe, Frank Tenney Johnson, Jack Wilkinson Smith, Eli Harvey, Norman Rockwell) by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer 2007

At the start of the twentieth century, California attracted an eclectic array of creative and philosophical thinkers who were lured out west in search of the spirit of adventure that ...

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Sunshine Trains Hollywood, by Elaine Adams

Sunshine, Trains and Hollywood Bring Artists to Southern California by Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, Summer 2011

El Pueblo de la Reina de los Ángeles, The Town of the Queen of the Angels, was founded by the Spanish colonists in 1781 and was the second pueblo created ...

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Plein Air Painting Where Did We Go Wrong, by Jean Stern

Plein Air Painting – Where Did We Go Wrong? by Jean Stern, California Art Club Newsletter, Spring 2008

The early 1980s saw the institutionalization of California art painted from the 1890s to about the early 1930s. This period has come to be called the “California Impressionist” or sometimes ...

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California Art Club Newsletter - February/March 2004

Still Life Painting in California – A Continuous Transformation By Elaine Adams, California Art Club Newsletter, February/March 2004

Still life, contrary to its name, is a form of artistic expression that constantly evolves. Objects change through time, as they vary in style and purpose or even become obsolete. ...

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Sculpture Information

Slatoff bronze cast process

Bronze-Casting Process, Published by The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in Collaboration with Sculptor Christopher Slatoff

Creating a bronze sculpture is a complex process that can be achieved by a number of different methods. The “lost wax” method is most popular, and many of the sculptures ...

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