Early 20th Century Impressionist Oil on Board Painting Landscape Plein Air Vintage Dana Bartlett Eucalyptus School

Description

Dana Bartlett (1882-1957): River Landscape

oil on board;
signed lower left; 9 x 12 in. Frame: 13 1/4 x 16 … more Dana Bartlett (1882-1957): River Landscape

oil on board;
signed lower left; 9 x 12 in. Frame: 13 1/4 x 16 1/4 in.
Framed. Ready to hang.


Dana Bartlett, (1878-1957), is a California Plein Air impressionist, best known for his Southern California landscapes, and for his association with a group of California painters, known as the Eucalyptus school. Dana Bartlett studied at New York’s Art Students League with Charles Warren Eaton, and William Merritt Chase. The first decade of his career was spent as a designer and commercial artist: first in Portland, Oregon for Foster and Kleiser, and then in San Francisco. Bartlett ultimately settled in Los Angeles, in 1915; and focused his attention on landscapes. His first exhibit in 1916 included oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, and black and white monotypes; which he heightened with a slight tint of watercolor.

Until 1930, Dana Bartlett was a frequent exhibitor with the California Art Club, and the Painters and Sculptors exhibitions. His decorative Southern California landscapes, complete with eucalyptus trees and purple mountains painted in pale pastels are almost the epitome of "Eucalyptus School" paintings.
In 1920 and 1927, Bartlett organized circulating exhibitions of his own works; and in 1928, he opened an art gallery for sketches and small paintings, andtaught at the Chouinard School of Art. Although he is listed in the 1940-41 volume of Who's Who in American Art, little record is left of his art activities after 1930, other than he was a member of the Laguna Beach Art Association, until 1936.
Bartlett was a President of the California Watercolor society, and further contributed to the Southern California art scene as a teacher at the Chouinard Art Institute. He is remembered for his landscapes which typify what’s come to be known as the “Eucalyptus School” of California painting.

Biography

Dana Bartlett was born in Ionia, Michigan in 1882, he moved to New York City to study at the Art Students League. There he studied under William Merritt Chase and Charles Warren Eaton.

For a short time Bartlett had a studio in Boston before moving to Portland, Oregon, where he worked as a commercial artist for the Foster-Kleiser Company. He then relocated to California,and briefly had a studio in San Francisco before finally settling in Los Angeles in 1915. In 1921 he had the opportunity to show his work with a select group of fourteen artists at the first California Watercolor Society. He held a solo exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1927, and soon after opened his own gallery featuring work of local artists as well as his own.

He was an accomplished waterolorist whose decorative style embodies the California Eucalyptus School, however he painted many nocturnes, landscapes, an scenes from his travels in Europe. He contributed greatly to his local art community and taught at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles during his career. His works are held in many museums, including the Laguna Beach Museum of Art, and the Huntington Library, San Marino.

Dana Bartlett died on July 3, 1957 in Los Angeles, California. less