California Impressionism

California Impressionism encompasses a multitude of approaches and influences, united by the inspirational qualities of the California landscape’s beauty and light, and by a devotion to an ideal of California as a land of untouched natural splendor and isolation, sparsely populated and suspended in timelessness. The reality behind these timeless images, however, was that the state was at a pivotal point in its history, undergoing explosive population growth and a building boom that was fundamentally altering the landscape. This comprehensive, impeccably written and researched chronicle looks at the very dynamic history, people and institutions that formed this distinctive, nostalgic school and adds important new perspective and historical context lacking in previous studies, along with new biographical details about the best-known artists, and a wealth of information about more obscure artists. It is illustrated with a wealth of reproductions of superlative works of art from private and public collections.