California Scene Painting is a term for paintings, both in oil and watercolor, that capture the spirit of the Golden State in the 20th century by visually depicting narratives of people’s everyday lives. Creative, beautiful, ever-changing San Francisco and its Bay Area became hotbeds of the Scene Painting movement.

Between 1930 and 1960 there occurred a “golden era” of Bay Area Scene Paintings. It was a time when the look and feel of old San Francisco and the surrounding area gradually changed as the urban area grew, redevelopment projects were implemented, and neighborhoods evolved and transformed. Countercultures – the Beat movement, and later the hippie movement -- grew and flourished in the Bay Area as alternative subcurrents to “established” society.

A number of dedicated artists produced works that visually captured the look and feel of the era before it was lost forever. The art they produced is the basis of this exhibition. The exhibition also includes some paintings created before that period and a few done since then, to further provide historical context.

Gordon T. McClelland, Curator

Image:
RALPH HULETT (1915-1974)
"Downtown San Francisco"
c. 1950
Watercolor
The Hilbert Collection