Alson Clark - Acclaimed Early California Impressionist Artist

Alson Clark is remembered as one of southern California’s finest early Impressionist artists.  He was a successful and influential plein-air painter and art teacher, and was deeply inspired by the French Impressionist movement.  He is known for his landscapes, figurative works, interior scenes, and cityscapes and is particularly remembered for his mastery of atmospheric and lighting effects.

Alson Clark
"La Jolla"
SOLD

Born in Chicago to a wealthy family, Alson Clark initially enrolled at the Art Institute and then took a two year long journey around the world with his parents and was exposed to a wide variety of artwork, especially European paintings.

Alson Clark
"Chicago"
SOLD

He moved to New York in 1896 to study at the Art Students League with William Merritt Chase.  He then studied at Chase’s summer school of plein-aire painting at Shinnecock.  In 1898 Clark moved to Paris to study at a school directed by James McNeill Whistler, the Academie Carmen. His work was strongly influenced by Whistler throughout his long successful career.

Returning to the U.S. in 1901, he married, then lived with his wife in Paris from 1902 to 1914. During his time in France, he painted in 1910 in Giverny with his fellow artist, Guy Rose.  His style became more strongly influenced by Impressionism and his palette became lighter than it has been during his years with Whistler.

Alson Clark
"Paris"
SOLD

In 1913 Clark was drawn to visit and paint the construction of the Panama Canal. He eventually was invited to hold a solo exhibition at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, an honor bestowed on very few American artists at that time, and was awarded a bronze medal.

Alson Clark
"Panama Canal"
SOLD

He enlisted in the Navy during World War I and afterwards, in 1919, Alson Clark settled in Southern California where he, along with Guy Rose, taught at the Stickney School in Pasadena. He later became Director of the school.  He continued painting, and was particularly interested in scenes of the California Missions including San Gabriel and San Juan Capistrano.

Alson Clark
"San Juan Capistrano"
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Alson Clark
"The Golden Hour"
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He also traveled and painted desert and mountain landscapes in Mexico and the Southwestern United States.

Alson Clark
"San Gorgonio"
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Alson Clark’s paintings have been exhibited at numerous prestigious venues including the National Academy of Design, the Paris Salon, the Los Angeles County Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.  In 1921 his works were shown in a solo exhibition organized by Earl Stendahl, an important art dealer based in Southern California.

In 1925 he was commissioned by the Pasadena Playhouse to paint a large stage curtain, and he began a series of other commissioned works, including many well received murals.  He and his wife continued traveling when possible, in both the United States and Europe.

Alson Clark
"Seville"
SOLD

Clark’s health eventually declined, and he died in March 1949.

Note: Do you own an original painting by this artist that you would like to sell or consign? William A. Karges Fine Art, located in Carmel, California buys and sells paintings by this notable early California Impressionist.  Contact Patrick Kraft at (831) 601-2071 today for a free evaluation.

California Impressionism

In the late 19th century, a groundbreaking new style of painting was evolving in France by artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, and Pierre Auguste Renoir. This new genre featured rich, bold colors, close attention to light and atmospheric effects, and loose brushstrokes. French artists began to reject traditional academic painting techniques that favored realism. This new style focused on the way the human eye views the world at a quick glance, highlighting the play of light on objects, rather than the portrayal of objects and their “real-world”, detailed, solid surfaces. Distinctly unpopular as an artistic style when first introduced, works in this genre have now become some of the most easily recognized and sought after. Original paintings by important Impressionist artists now regularly break records at auction, and countless prints of the most famous works are widely purchased by collectors worldwide.

Artists in America became aware of these new techniques in the late 19^th and early 20th century as many young painters traveled to Europe to study. Some artists in “The Golden State” began painting in this new style, and eventually became the important California Impressionists that are widely known and celebrated today. They studied changing atmospheric effects as they worked “en plein-air”, outdoors, to capture the beauty of the exceptional and unparalleled beauty of the hills, mountains, deserts, beaches and farmlands of the State.

The different styles seen in Southern and Northern California Impressionist paintings were developed in great part by the variances in climate and light in the two distinct regions.

Southern California Impressionism

In Southern California, artists such as Guy Rose, Edgar Payne, William Wendt, Maurice Braun, Orrin White, Granville Redmond, William Otte, Hanson Puthuff, Jack Wilkinson Smith, Joseph Kleitsch, and Alfred Mitchell were inspired by the sunlight and the warm climate of the area. 

Edgar Payne (1883 - 1947)
"Rocks and Surf"
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William Wendt (1865 - 1946)
"Announcement of Fall"
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The colors in their paintings tended to be brighter and more saturated than those of their counterparts in the Northern Areas of the state. Their brushstrokes were often bolder, stronger, and looser.

Orrin White (1883 - 1969)

"Southern California Landscape"

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Granville Redmond (1871 - 1935)
"Wildflowers"
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Joseph Kleitsch (1882 - 1931)
"Pont St. Michel, Paris"
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Northern California Impressionism

In contrast, Northern California Impressionism tended to be more restrained, softer, and more muted, as a result of the foggier, cooler weather and its effect on the atmosphere and light. The American art movement known as “Tonalism” that began in the 1880's and lasted well into the 1920's was still very popular in this part of the state and practiced by artists such as Percy Gray and Will Sparks. Tonalism focused on creating an interpretation of nature using muted colors, soft outlines, and subtle nuances and gradations of single hues in a narrow range. Some artists, such as Armin Hansen, William Ritschel, Alice Chittenden and Jules Pages, however, practiced a more traditional form of Impressionism that featured stronger colors, as well as bolder, looser brushstrokes.

Percy Gray (1869 - 1952)
"Forest Glade, Point Lobos"
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William Ritschel (1864 - 1949)
"Point Lobos"
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Armin Hansen (1886 - 1957)
"Aground"
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For additional information about available California Impressionist paintings, please contact our staff at William A. Karges Fine Art in Carmel, California by phone at (800) 833-9185 or by email to gallery@kargesfineart.com or visit our website at www.kargesfineart.com.

Southern California Impressionist Joseph Kleitsch

Joseph Kleitsch

(1882 - 1931)

Joseph Kleitsch is considered to be one of the most important and influential of the early Southern California Impressionists.  Born in Hungary in 1882, he began painting at age seven, and trained in Budapest, Munich and Paris.  By the age of 17, he was an accomplished portraitist, with sitters such as Franz Josef of Austria.  Furthering his studies, Kleitsch immigrated to the United States around 1901, first setting in Ohio, then in Denver in 1905.  He married his first wife, Emma Multner, in October of 1904 and they moved to Mexico City in 1909.  His outstanding portraits of Mexico's President Francisco Madero were highly regarded.  In 1913 his wife, Emma, passed away.

After 1914 Klietsch painted many prominent local citizens while studying at the Art Institute of Chicago.  He became a teacher at the well known school, where he taught until 1919, and was awarded the Gold Medal in 1914 when he exhibited his work there. In 1914 he married an art teacher named Edna Gregatis, and their son Eugene was born in 1915.

Settling in Laguna Beach in 1920, he established the Kleitsch Academy of Art. He had become acquainted in Chicago with the important southern California Impressionist painter, Edgar Payne, who had already settled in the Laguna Beach area.  Kleitsch's California works, exhibited at the Stendahl Galleries in Los Angeles, were focused on the landscape, gardens, and architecture around his home in Laguna Beach, as well as coastal scenes.  He traveled to various locations in California including Carmel, Mission San Juan Capistrano and San Francisco in search of interesting and inspiring subjects.

Joseph Kleitsch

"Laguna Coastline"

SOLD

He traveled to Europe between 1926 and 1929, including to Giverny, France, where he was inspired by the dramatic setting of Claude Monet's acclaimed works.

Joseph Kleitsch

"Canteloupe, Paris, 1927"

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Kleitsch, a master colorist, is celebrated for his bold, energetic brushwork, and his unique and elegant style.  He often painted outdoors, “en plein-air”, and was one of the founders of the Painters' and Sculptors' Club in 1923.  Throughout the course of his successful career, he also was a member of the Chicago Society of Artists, The Palette and Chisel Club of Chicago, and the Laguna Beach Art Association.  His work was awarded the Grand Prize and the Figure Prize by Laguna Beach Art Association.

Joseph Kleitsch

"Laguna, 1925"

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His paintings can be found in the collections of the Laguna Beach Museum of Art, the Irvine Museum, and the Fleischer Museum.

Kleitsch died on November 16th, 1931 at the age of forty-nine of a heart attack, while he was in front of the Courthouse in Santa Ana, California.

Joseph Kleitsch
"Pont St. Michel, 1927"
Oil on canvas
21 x 18 inches
AVAILABLE NOW

“Pont St. Michel”, shown above, depicts the famous bridge in Paris, originally constructed in 1378, that links the Place Saint-Michel on the left bank of the river Seine to the Ile de la Cite.

For additional information about this artist, call William A. Karges Fine Art at (800) 833-9185, email to gallery@kargesfineart.com, or visit our website at www.kargesfineart.com/joseph-kleitsch