Exhibition Of Southern California Impressionism Opens At Langson IMCA On June 11

UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA) will reopen its interim gallery at 18881 Von Karman Avenue on June 11, 2022, with the special exhibition Variations of Place: Southern California Impressionism in the Early 20th Century. The gallery has been closed since February 13, 2022, due to renovations in the Airport Tower building where Langson IMCA is currently located.

Organized by guest curator and art historian Janet Blake, Variations of Place features more than 30 works by 22 artists who settled in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and San Diego in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawn from Langson IMCA's holdings and other public and private collections, the exhibition showcases seascapes, landscapes, and figurative paintings. Artists include Franz Bischoff, Maurice Braun, Alson Skinner Clark, Colin Campbell Cooper, Anna Althea Hills, Joseph Kleitsch, Edgar Payne, Granville Redmond, Guy Rose, George Gardner Symons, and William Wendt, among others responding to Southern California's temperate climes and variety of natural features.

During this period, artist enclaves emerged along the coast, forming networks where painters exchanged ideas and perspectives on impressionist styles and techniques, such as using unblended colors and loose brushwork and painting outdoors. With highly individualized styles informed by their education and experiences, these artists created a multifaceted genre rich with variation. Yet together they developed and reproduced themes and motifs that would become definitive characteristics of Southern California Impressionism.

June 11 - September 3, 2022

Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm

UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art

Interim museum location: 18881 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 100

Irvine, CA 92612

UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA) is home to two foundational collections of California Art-The Irvine Museum Collection of more than 1,300 works includes California Impressionist and plein air paintings, and The Buck Collection, which includes 3,200-plus works with a concentration in California modern, Post-War, and contemporary art. The university is planning to construct a permanent museum and research institute to serve as a global magnet for the exhibition and study of California Art within its social, historical, environmental, and cultural frameworks. Open to the public Tuesday through Saturday 10 am - 4 pm, Langson IMCA is located in an interim museum space at 18881 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 100, and admission is free. For more information, visit imca.uci.edu.

Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation, and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 222 degree programs. It is located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.