George Kennedy Brandriff Original California Plein Air Impressionist Vintage Antique Oil Painting Sailboat Seascape
George Brandriff, (1890-1936), was born in Millville, New Jersey on February 13, 1890. He began painting at a young age and continued through high school although he never received any formal training. To make a living, he worked as a piano salesman and continued his line of work when he moved to Orange, California in 1913. After a year in business, he decided to enroll in the College of Dentistry at University of Southern California. 4 years later, he opened a practice in Hemet, California, a small desert community near Palm Springs. He met and married local school teacher Frances Condor who encouraged Brandriff to pursue his interest in painting. In 1923, he began taking art lessons from Laguna artist Anna Hills and Carl Oscar Borg. He painted often and took time to visit Laguna, where he made connections and friends with local artists Edgar and Elsie Payne, Hanson Puthuff, William, Wendt, Arthur Hill Gilbert, Clarence Hinkle, and William Griffith.
By 1927, Brandriff decided to abandon dentistry and devoted his time to painting. During the year, he received a commission for two mural paintings for a high school auditorium in Venice, California. He left to Europe in 1929 and returned to California and eventually became a teacher in Laguna Beach where Orrin White was one of his pupils. Becoming more involved in the arts community, he served as president of the art association in the local community. He painted many diverse subject matters including beach scenes, seascapes, mountains, landscapes, still lifes, figure studies, and harbor scenes with some paintings that held satire or social commentary. Many of his paintings were of the sea and fishermen around the Newport Beach area. Stricken with cancer, his short career ended with his suicide on August 14, 1936 in Laguna Beach.
Member: Painters of the West; California Art Club; American Artists Professional League; Foundation of Western Art.
Exhibited: Los Angeles County Fair, California, 1927; Southby Salon, California, 1927; Painters of the West, 1928, 1929; Kanst Gallery, California, 1929; Biltmore Salon, California 1929, 1933; California Sate Fair, 1930; Pasadena Art Institute, California, 1930, 1933, 1934; Laguna Museum, California (retrospective), 1989.
Works Held: Laguna Beach Museum of Art, California; Orange County Museum of Art, California; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; Phoenix Municipal Collection, Arizona; Springville Museum of Art, Utah; University of Southern California, California.
Murals: Inglewood High School; Polytechnic High School, Venice, California; Mt. Vernon Junior High School, Los Angeles, California; Jonathan Club, Los Angeles, California.
Sources:
Artists in California: 1786-1940 by Edan Milton Hughes
All Things Bright & Beautiful: California Impressionist Paintings from the Irvine Museum by the Irvine Museum
Plein Air Painters of California: The Southland by Ruth Westphal
George Kennedy Brandriff, Manner of
(1890-1936)
Sailing
Oil on Canvas
Approximately 1933
18"X24"
Good overall condition. There are a couple of places in the sky that have some minimal paint loss, mainly in one isolated area to the upper right. Painting is a little loose from stretch on upper right, as well, as shown. There has been some light restoration in parts of the lower portion to correct minor chips. There is also light paint loss in the bottom portion. Please review photos for condition.
Painting is signed lower left, as shown in digital image. It is difficult to view, except the G Bra- therefore painting is listed in the manner of George Brandriff.
Frame is original to the painting, and is in good stable condition. There were a couple of chips on the frame that have also been restored.
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