California Art Club

The California Art Club (CAC) is a historic arts organization based in California and one of the state’s oldest continuously active art organizations. It was established in December 1909 after the dissolution of the Painters’ Club of Los Angeles, a short-lived organization founded in 1906 for male painters in the Los Angeles area. The new club broadened the earlier group’s remit by welcoming women, sculptors, and artists living outside Southern California, including artists from other parts of the United States. The club emerged at a formative moment in the development of California Impressionism. Many of its early members painted directly from nature and helped popularize plein-air practice, bright palettes, visible brushwork, and regionally specific interpretations of the California landscape. Important early members included Franz Bischoff, Carl Oscar Borg, Benjamin Chambers Brown, Edgar Payne, William Wendt, Julia Bracken Wendt, and Hanson Puthuff. The organization also attracted artists and cultural figures with varied backgrounds and styles, including Millard Sheets, Mabel Alvarez, Emil Kosa Jr., Rex Brandt, Nicolai Fechin, Alfredo Ramos Martinez, Dean Cornwell, Richard Neutra, and Sir Winston Churchill. CAC exhibitions became an important platform for artists working in California. During its early decades, the club held annual exhibitions in Los Angeles cultural institutions, including the Museum of History, Science and Art in Exposition Park, now associated with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. These exhibitions helped establish the club as a major public advocate for representational art and California’s emerging artistic identity. Although the organization became closely associated with California Impressionism, it did not impose a single formal style. Members also explored modernist, abstract, progressive, and experimental approaches, including Synchromism and other developments in early twentieth-century California art. A major institutional turning point came in 1926, when philanthropist Aline Barnsdall arranged for the club to use Hollyhock House at Olive Hill in Los Angeles as its headquarters under a fifteen-year arrangement. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Hollyhock House gave the club a prominent architectural and cultural setting for meetings, lectures, receptions, and exhibitions. During its occupancy, the organization expanded its public visibility and hosted a 1929 exhibition of African American art described in historical accounts as the first of its kind in Los Angeles. The Depression and changing artistic fashions later challenged the dominance of California Impressionism, while younger artists and patrons increasingly engaged with modern art. The contemporary California Art Club remains centered on representational artists and sculptors, while maintaining an inclusive membership that includes women and artists who immigrated to the United States from Europe and Asia. It presents an annual Gold Medal Exhibition, organizes additional public and museum exhibitions, supports chapters across California, and provides opportunities for artists and the public to engage with painting, sculpture, landscape, and art education. Its headquarters are located in a historic bungalow associated with the former Vista del Arroyo Hotel in Pasadena. The club’s continuing role is both artistic and civic: it promotes the study and practice of representational art, preserves the legacy of California’s plein-air movement, and provides a national and regional network for working artists.

The California Art Club developed from the Painters’ Club of Los Angeles, which was organized in March 1906 by artists seeking to arrange exhibitions and advance fine arts in Southern California. The earlier club eventually grew to approximately forty members, but its male-only membership and focus on painters were considered too restrictive. It was dissolved in December 1909, and a broader organization, the California Art Club, was formed in its place. The new club’s early membership included artists such as Hector Alliot, Antony E. Anderson, Charles Percy Austin, Franz Bischoff, Carl Oscar Borg, Benjamin Chambers Brown, Mauritz DeHaaff, Allen Durand, Aaron E. Kilpatrick, Hanson Puthuff, William Wendt, and Julia Bracken Wendt. In contrast with its predecessor, the CAC accepted women, sculptors, and artists living beyond Los Angeles. By the second annual exhibition in 1911, women were already represented among its members, demonstrating the organization’s wider conception of an artists’ association. The club’s rise coincided with the growth of California Impressionism and plein-air painting. A number of members had studied in European ateliers, at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Students League of New York, or with influential American teachers. Their work combined academic training with direct observation of California’s landscape and light. Through exhibitions and publicity, the CAC helped present California as a distinctive center of American landscape painting. Its activities were reported by Los Angeles newspapers and supported by writers and critics associated with the regional art scene. During its first decades, the club did not maintain a permanent clubhouse. Meetings took place in artists’ studios, homes, schools, galleries, and other rented or borrowed spaces. In the early 1920s, members began planning a permanent headquarters and established a building fund. A major fundraising exhibition was held at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium in 1923, but the original clubhouse plans were delayed. The organization instead gained a prominent temporary home through Aline Barnsdall’s Olive Hill property in Los Angeles. In 1926, the City of Los Angeles accepted part of the estate, including an arrangement allowing the California Art Club to occupy Hollyhock House for fifteen years. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building became the club’s headquarters in 1927. It provided space for exhibitions, lectures, club meetings, and formal receptions, and increased the institution’s public profile. By the beginning of 1929, thousands of visitors had attended programs and exhibitions there. Later in 1929, the club hosted an exhibition of African American art that historical accounts identify as the first such exhibition in Los Angeles. The club’s artistic identity was never completely limited to Impressionism. Some members pursued modernist and abstract directions, while others continued to work in conventional representational modes. Helena Dunlap helped establish the Modern Art Society of Los Angeles with several other CAC members. Stanton Macdonald-Wright was associated with Synchromism, and artists such as Ruth Peabody and Phil Dike received recognition for work described at the time as unusually modern. Mabel Alvarez participated in the Group of Eight, another important progressive grouping in California art. The Depression, changes in patronage, and the growing popularity of modern art altered the cultural environment in which the club operated. Nevertheless, the organization continued to support professional and amateur artists and retained its emphasis on working from observation and life. Its membership evolved as younger artists replaced the first generation of California plein-air painters. Women, immigrant artists, commercial artists, and artists working in both painting and sculpture became increasingly visible within the organization. Today, the California Art Club continues as a statewide organization of representational painters and sculptors. It holds an annual Gold Medal Exhibition and additional public and museum exhibitions, operates chapters throughout California, and offers lectures and other educational activities. Its Pasadena headquarters occupies one of the historic bungalows associated with the Vista del Arroyo Hotel. The club’s ongoing mission links the preservation of California’s art history with opportunities for contemporary artists to exhibit, study, and build professional relationships.

• 1929

  African American art exhibition hosted

  [1]California Art Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The club presented an exhibition of African American art that historical accounts describe as the first of its kind in Los Angeles.

• 1927

  Move to Hollyhock House

  [1]California Art Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The club moved its headquarters to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House at Olive Hill, gaining a prominent venue for exhibitions and cultural programs.

• 1926

  Hollyhock House arrangement secured

  [1]California Art Cluben.wikipedia.org

  An agreement involving Aline Barnsdall and the City of Los Angeles provided the club with a fifteen-year lease arrangement for Hollyhock House.

• 1923

  Fundraising for a permanent headquarters

  [1]California Art Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The club pursued a permanent building fund and staged a large one-night exhibition at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium to support the effort.

• 1911

  Women represented in early membership

  [1]California Art Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The club’s second annual exhibition period reflected its expanded membership, including a significant group of women artists.

• 1909

  California Art Club founded

  [1]California Art Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The Painters’ Club was dissolved and replaced by the broader California Art Club, which admitted women, sculptors, and artists from outside Los Angeles.

• 1906

  Painters’ Club of Los Angeles established

  [1]California Art Cluben.wikipedia.org

  A group of Los Angeles-area painters formed the Painters’ Club of Los Angeles to organize exhibitions and advance fine arts in Southern California.

A historic, inclusive artists’ organization that connects California’s plein-air and representational art traditions with contemporary painters, sculptors, exhibitions, and public education.

• Annual art exhibition

  Gold Medal Exhibition

  The California Art Club’s signature annual exhibition showcases representational painting and sculpture. It continues the organization’s long-standing role as a venue for artists working from observation, landscape, and the human figure, while giving contemporary members a public platform within the tradition of California art.

• Exhibition program · 1909

  Public and museum exhibitions

  Beyond its annual flagship exhibition, the club organizes smaller public exhibitions and special exhibitions in museum or cultural-institution settings. These programs connect the club’s historical collections and traditions with current artists, regional subjects, and broader public audiences.

• Arts education

  Art lectures and education

  Lectures, meetings, demonstrations, and related educational activities support the study and practice of painting and sculpture. The programs serve members and the public by discussing technique, art history, California’s artistic heritage, and representational approaches.

• Professional arts network · 1909

  Artist membership and chapters

  Membership provides artists with an institutional community, exhibition opportunities, and connections with painters and sculptors across California. The organization’s chapters extend its activities beyond its Pasadena headquarters and help sustain a statewide network.

• 1926

  Accept Hollyhock House as headquartersStrategy

  Background

  The club had pursued a permanent clubhouse but its fundraising and building plans had stalled.

  Action taken

  The organization accepted an arrangement associated with Aline Barnsdall and the City of Los Angeles to occupy Hollyhock House for fifteen years.

  Aftermath

  The move provided a prestigious architectural setting for exhibitions, lectures, receptions, and club administration from 1927 onward.

  Source

• 1909

  Broaden the organization beyond male Los Angeles paintersStrategy

  Background

  The predecessor Painters’ Club of Los Angeles had restricted membership to male painters based in the Los Angeles area.

  Action taken

  Members dissolved the earlier club and created the California Art Club with eligibility extended to women, sculptors, and artists living outside Los Angeles.

  Aftermath

  The broader structure supported rapid membership growth and made the new organization a more representative institution within California’s art community.

  Source

1. 1California Art Cluben.wikipedia.org
2. 2California Art Club official websitecaliforniaartclub.org