Winter 2016

2016 Antiques & Fine Art 131 Raymond D. Yelland (1848–1900) Golden Gate from Angel Island, 1884 Oil on canvas, 28 x 48 inches Collection of Ray Redfern During the California Gold Rush, San Francisco became the first large-scale city to be developed along the California coastline. By the 1880s, when Raymond D. Yelland painted this picture, there were over 233,000 people in the city, making it by far the most populated city in California. This work depicts a view of Golden Gate, the name given to the body of water between Land’s End on the San Francisco side and the Marin Headlands on the other. Angel Island, a small island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, known as the “Ellis Island of the West,” was used as a station to process immigrants for many years. In the 1930s, the Golden Gate Bridge was built just beyond where the sailing ship appears in the distance in Yelland’s painting. Yelland moved to California in the 1870s. He settled in the San Francisco area, where he became a professional artists and art teacher. Golden Gate from Angel Island was painted in a style that reflects his interest in luminism, the term used to describe a representational style inspired by the earlier Hudson River School works. As Yelland’s painting reveals, the luminist style was well suited to interpretations of the California landscape. Art Riley (1911–1998) Playa del Rey, 1960s Watercolor on paper, 22 x 30 inches Collection of Ken and Jan Kaplan Between the 1930s and 1960s, Art Riley was a prominent member of the California Watercolor Society and an active member of the American Watercolor Society. Also known for his contributions to the California Style watercolor movement, he used transparent watercolors and developed a painting language that allowed him to paint quickly with spontaneous brushwork, yet with an amazing amount of control. This ability was largely due to the work he did at the Walt Disney Studios. There he produced animation art watercolor backgrounds for many of the most famous animated feature films of the mid- twentieth century. His film credits include Pinocchio , Fantasia , The Three Caballeros , Cinderella, and Peter Pan . His work on those animated feature films was carefully rendered and contained elements of fantasy. The subject of Playa del Rey was a housing development on the sand next to the Los Angeles Airport. In the 1960s, the beach was a popular gathering spot for surfers and teenagers. In more recent years, residents were forced to move out of their homes and the housing community was torn down. The reasons given for this forced evacuation were concerns for residents’ safety and general health. Riley lived in Burbank until the 1970s, but had a second home in Pacific Grove. After retirement he moved there and produced an extensive series of watercolors depicting the beaches, rocks, and the Pebble Beach golf course along the famous 17 Mile Drive, which ran right by his home.