Millard Sheets Original Padua Hills Claremont California Regionalism Hilltop Landscape Vintage Mid Century Watercolor Painting
Original vintage watercolor painting of a hilltop view of a landscape in Padua Hills, near Claremont, California, by California Regionalist artist, Millard Owen Sheets, (1907-1989). The painting's medium is a watercolor on Crescent board, with an olive green crescent board mat, behind matte glass. The painting is signed in the lower right corner of the painting. The watercolor is estimated to have been created in approximately 1949-1953. Durong thr 1940s to 1960s, the artist built and lived in a hilltop house in Padua Hills, and worked at Scripps College. This landscape frequently inspired his artwork, during this time. This area provided the rolling hills and rural life he often celebrated in his Californua Regionalist style. The painting is in excellent original conditon, and measures approximately 9.8" x 12.5". In the original mid-century modern frame, the entire piece measures approximately 17.6" x 16.2". There is currently no backing to the frame. Please review all of the detailed images as supplementary to the written condition report, for quality assurance.
Millard Owen Sheets was a central figure in 20th- century American art, renowned as a painter, educator, anf architectural designer, who defined the "California Style" of watercolor painting. A true polymath, Sheets successfully bridged the worlds of fine art and commercial architecture; most notably through his decades- long partnership with Home Savings and Loan.
Millard Sheets was born on June 24, 1907, in Pomona, California. Sheets attended Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles from 1925 to 1929, studying under Frank Tolles Chamberlin and Clarence Hinkle. By age 19, Sheets was already a member of the California Watercolor Society, and began teaching watercolor at Chouinard Institute, even before his graduation.
Millard Sheets's work evolved through several distinct phases, ranging from regionalist landscapes, to darker wartime scenes, and eventually, vibrant, global subjects.
In the 1930s, Millard Sheets became the leader of the California Scene Painting movement, capturing the rural beauty and daily life of Southern California.
During World War II, Millard Sheets served as an artist correspondent for Life Magazine, in India and Burma.
Millard Sheets was a prolific "arts administrator" who shaped the education of hundreds of artists. For two decades, between 1932 and 1955, Sheets founded and led the art department at Scripps College. Later, he served as the director of Otis Art Institute, from 1953 to 1962, where he radically restructured the curriculum to offer BFA and MFA degrees. He also directed the art exhibitions at the LA County Fair for 25 years, bringing world- class masterworks to Southern California.
Millard Sheets passed away on March 31, 1989, in Gualala, California. His paintings are held in the permanent collections of major institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (LACMA).
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