Changing views

Jennifer K Mahal

Many of the views depicted in “Continuity and Change: Southern

California’s Evolving Landscape” no longer exist. They’ve been paved

over, developed upon, torn down by time. Which is precisely why the

exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art has been put together. To

remind people of what the Southland looked like between 1890 and 1950. To

give us a sense of history.

“We had the idea that they had to be real locations rather than

[showing] generic poppy fields or idealized views,” said Sarah Vure,

curator of the exhibit.

The 31 paintings, on loan from a variety of private collections and

museums, show landscapes from Pasadena to San Diego. The majority of the

exhibit is made of plein air and scene painting from the 1920s through

1940s. Accompanying some of the works are present-day photographs by

Christopher Bliss.

“I think it gives people the chance to reflect and relate to the place

in which we live,” Vure said. “To reflect on and appreciate their

history.”

It was history that gave birth to the exhibit in the first place --

or, more accurately, the museum’s Historical Collections Council. The

council is made up of about 80 members who have an interest in the art of

early California, especially art that captures a moment in time.

Many are art collectors or involved in local museums. A number of the

pieces in “Continuity and Change” come from the private collections of

council members.

Bob Ehrlich, council president, has lent the museum “Evening Light,

Laguna” by Joseph Kleitsch for the exhibit.

“It’s actually a church that existed in Laguna Canyon,” Ehrlich said,

describing the 1922 painting. “Kleitsch bought it and moved it to Legion

and Through [in Laguna Beach]. . . . He used it as his studio.”

The original church building is no longer there.

“I think what they tried to do [with the exhibit] was bring together

the early art of California, of the region,” Ehrlich said. “The time is

lost -- a whole period that’s gone to development.”

Development has marred the skyline that can be seen in “Across the

Rooftops” by Emil Jean Kosa Jr., a painting of Los Angeles as it was in

the early ‘40s.

“Part of the interest is caused by the depiction of [Los Angeles] City

Hall as an icon,” Vure said. “It stands out as a building, the highest

building on the horizon.”

When Vure and Bliss went to take a photograph from the perspective of

the painting, it was almost impossible to get a shot. The photo on

display was actually taken from the other side of town.

“The building and development of downtown has far surpassed the old

City Hall,” Vure said. “But it’s quite spectacular for the time period.”

Mission San Juan Capistrano, Balboa Park, Olivera Street, Griffith

Park, even the Cannery in Newport Beach, are among the locations the

landscapes document. A few places look almostunchanged, such as the Santa

Ana River wash painted by John Frost in 1921.

“There are parts of the Santa Ana [River] area that look surprisingly

similar,” Vure said.

The photo that accompanies Ben Abril’s “The Cannery” shows a

modernized version of the old Newport Beach landmark -- but the lines of

the buildings in both are closely related.

Vure, a relative newcomer to the Southland, said it was fun to go to

many of the places depicted in the paintings.

“The one that I didn’t get to, that I’d like to see, is Catalina,” she

said. “Turns out, where the painter was standing is actually where the

casino is today.”

FYI

WHAT: “Continuity and Change: Southern California’s Evolving

Landscape”

WHERE: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport

Beach

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays until Sept. 30

COST: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, and free for members

and children 16 and younger

CALL: (949) 759-1122