Hilbert Museum of California Art, Orange, CA August 20-October 20
Nearly 180 works of art take center stage during the California Art Club’s 113th edition of its famed Gold Medal Exhibition. The pieces, from 165 exhibiting artists, showcase among the best in style, technique and subject matter that is being created today. Whether two- or three-dimensional, the art over the years has continued to encapsulate the beauty and traditions found in the works of the Club’s earliest members like William Wendt, Carl Oscar Borg and Franz Bischoff.
Art historian Jean Stern, who is director emeritus of the Irvine Museum and one of this year’s jurors, says, “In my mind the California Art Club annual Gold Medal Exhibition is the standard for excellence in contemporary representational painting and sculpture. It has been so for over a century and it continues to this day. I always look forward to seeing the artwork and talking to all those great artists who were selected.”
The 2024 event happens at the newly expanded Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University from August 20 to October 26. This marks the third time the organization has collaborated with the museum, which focuses on California art making it a prime venue for the show.
Mary Platt, who guided the expansion process of the Hilbert as director, shares the sentiment in a press release. She explains, “Our beautifully reimagined galleries provide the perfect setting to show off the work of these extraordinary artists. When combined with the oils, watercolors, illustrations, drawings and other world-class works on view from the 5,000-piece permanent Hilbert Collection, the result is a rare visual treat for the California art connoisseur.”
On view in the Gold Medal Exhibition are works like Béla Bácsi’s Italian statuary marble sculpture SPIKE and Warren Chang’s FIVE FARMWORKERS featuring his signature subject matter. The great outdoors—both city and rural—is explored in Charles Muench’s EASTERN SIERRA MAJESTY, Rita Pachecho’s HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER and Bryan Mark Taylor’s THE STREETS OF LA. The West comes to life in pieces such as Frank Ordaz’s ranch painting RODEO ROSE, while the intricacy of still lifes breathe through examples including Patricia McGeeney’s PERUVIAN RUG WITH GREEN POTTERY.
The first view of the show at the Hilbert takes place at 3 p.m. on August 18 with the popular Collectors Preview and Artists Reception. Stern hosts a lecture on California Impressionism on August 24, and a Paint/Sculpt-Out happens on closing day. —Rochelle Belsito
contact informationcaliforniaartclub.org/goldmedal
This story appeared in the August/September 2024 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.
The post Show Preview | California Art Club’s Gold Medal Exhibition appeared first on Southwest Art Magazine.