Michael Obermeyer

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Biography

Michael Obermeyer, a native Southern Californian, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration from California State University, Long Beach. A twenty-year career in illustration included work for Walt Disney Studios, the Anaheim Angels, McDonnell Douglas, Coldwell Banker, and the United States Air Force.

Because of his illustration background, Obermeyer is equally comfortable with painting landscapes and figures. Many of his paintings are in the U.S. Air Force Historical Art Collection at the Smithsonian Institute, and the Pentagon.

Obermeyer received the 2006 Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational Collector’s Choice Award, the 2006 Crystal Cove Alliance First Place and Best of Cove Awards, and the Gold Medal at the Carmel Art Festival. Most recently, he won the Collector’s Circle Award at the 2014 Laguna Beach Invitational Plein Air Competition as well as the Best of Show at the 2014 Grand Canyon Celebration of Art. Collectors include Marriott Hotels and Resorts, The Irvine Company, Taylor Woodrow Homes, and many corporate as well as private commissions. Obermeyer maintains his studio in Laguna Beach, California, where he is a regular exhibitor at the Festival of Arts.

Selected Collections

U.S. Air Force Historical Art Collection at the Smithsonian Institute, as well as the Pentagon; Marriott Hotels and Resorts; The Irvine Company; Taylor Woodrow Homes

Professional Memberships

Vice President and Signature Artist Member, California Art Club; Artist Member, Oil Painters of America, Signature Member, American Impressionist Society; Signature Member, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association; Signature Member, Society of Illustrators

2016
Best of Show Award in Kern County Plein Air Painting Festival at Bakersfield Museum of Art

2015
Lifetime Achievement Award from Laguna Plein Air Painters Association

2013
Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational Southwest Art Quick-draw Award

2012
Crystal Cove Foundation Award

2006
Crystal Cove Alliance First Place and Best of Cove Awards

2003
Fifth Annual Laguna Plein Air Invitational Collector's Choice Award; Gold Medal at the Carmel Art Festival

Press and Publications

American Legacy Fine Arts presents Michael Obermeyer in Southwest art Magazine, March/ April 2019.

Michael Obermeyer in Southwest Art Magazine March/April 2019

“YOU CAN’T HELP but get excited if you want to know what’s going on today in traditional fine-art painting and sculpture,” says Elaine Adams, the California Art Club’s executive director, …

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American Legacy Fine Arts presents Michael Obermeyer in Southwest Art Magazine, April 2018 issue.

Michael Obermeyer Featured in Southwest Art Magazine April 2018

EARLY IN THE 20th century, distinguished landscape painters began pouring into Laguna Beach, CA, to capture its seven-mile coastline, turquoise-blue water, and pounding surf.

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Jim McVicker in Southwest Art Magazine October 2017 Issue

Michael Obermeyer in Southwest Art Magazine October 2017 Issue

A LITTLE OVER a century ago, a burgeoning colony of plein-air painters began populating Laguna Beach, so en­raptured were they by its unparalleled beauty and light.

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American Legacy Fine Arts presents Michael Obermeyer in Coast Magazine, August 2016 Issue.

Michael Obermeyer in Coast Magazine, August 2016

THE ARTIST: As far back as he can remember, Michael Obermeyer wanted to draw and paint: dinosaurs, planes, people – it didn’t matter. He worked as an illustrator in the …

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American Legacy Fine Arts presents Michael Obermeyer in Plein Air Magazine, Fall 2015.

Michael Obermeyer Featured in Plein Air Magazine, Fall 2015 Issue

Few plein air painters are as perceptive as Michael Obermeyer when it comes to understanding and recording the most captivating moments in a day.

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