American Impressionist: the Art and Life of Alson Skinner Clark Hardcover – Import, 1 June 2005

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THE CORRECT NAME OF THE ARTIST [M] IS ALSON SKINNER CLARK. The academic and art historian William H. Gerdts, b. 1929, has pioneered the reassessment of 20th century American Impressionist painting and has brought the attention of the public to many of these almost forgotten artists. Here his ex-student, Deborah Epstein Solon, extends this examination to the Californian Impressionist painter, Alson Skinner Clark, 1876-1949. The question is whether this effort is justified by the artist's ability.The catalogue is of an exhibition organised by the Pasadena Museum of Californian Art and held there and at the Gibbes Museum, Charleston, South Carolina, in 2005-6. The book presents 77 works, reproduced in excellent colour as half and full page plates, including nudes, figures and urban and rural landscapes.Gerdts offers a scene-setting Introduction after which Solon provides an in-depth study of the artist's life and work. This includes his marriage, travels abroad including Europe, Panama and Mexico, experience as an aerial photographer in the Great War, return to Southern California and life in Pasadena, a region that was recommended for health reasons, and a final decade marked by ill-health that contributed to the general decline in his reputation outside of the local art community.Born in Chicago, Clark studied there and later in New York with William Merritt Chase and at Whistler's Académie Carmen in Montparnasse. The reproductions show Whistler' influence, as in "The Violinist", c. 1901 (exhibited at the Paris Salon) and "The Necklace (Les Collliers)", 1905, whilst in "Grey in Gold", 1906, he appropriates Whistler's nomenclature.This retrospective suggests that, at best, the artist was a good painter but lacked a vital spark to raise him above many other similar artists. Solon points out his debt to other artists and, as with Whistler, sometimes this comes close to uncritical repetition. The earliest work shown "Early Nude", c. 1898, may have been worked on by Chase himself whilst the portrait of his wife, "Medina", c. 1917, is typical of Chase. A snowy landscape, "The Black Race", 1902, does show evidence of a free spirit and the artist was attracted early on to winter landscapes, in addition to "Gray and Gold" there is "Pushing Through the Ice", 1906, "Winter, Canada", "Toboggan Slide and Dufferin Terrace", both c. 1906, and "Winter Industrial Landscape on the Chicago River", 1907. These led to numerous wintery Prague landscapes, "Charles Bridge", Prague", "Over the City, Prague" and "Snow over Prague", all 1912.In 1910, Clark and his wife, an ex-student and model, visited Giverny, and the influence of Monet is evident in the airy "Summer, Giverny" [a detail of which is illustrated on the front cover] and "In the Garden", both 1910 and the luminescent "Sunset, Normandy", c. 1910. Such rural works are contrast with the artist's lifetime interest in urban scenes, "From Our Window, Paris", 1903, "The Bridge Builders", 1904 "Carson Pirie Scott Department Store", 1905, and "The Coffee House", c. 1906, perhaps his best work. In Europe, he continued such works with "Plaza of the Puerta del Sol", 1909, and "Bazar, Spalato", c. 1912.In 1913, the Clarks went to Panama to record the momentous feat of constructing the Canal ["In the Lock and Panama Canal", "The Gaillard Cut (formerly The Culebra Cut)", both 1913, "Work at Mireflores" and "Pedro Miguel Locks", both c. 1913, "First Dredges through the Gatun Locks", 1914, and "In the Cut, Contractors Hill", c. 1914. This series of 26 works, and especially "In the Lock, Miraflores", c. 1914, are reminiscent of paintings of the excavation for the Pennsylvania Railroad's New York City terminal building and the Palisades, 1907-9, by George Bellows. However, they lack that artist's genius.Back in California, the artist painted coastal scenes, "La Jolla Cove", 1922, and "La Jolla", 1924, missions "Mission San Juan Capistrano", 1924, mountains "Mount Baxter, Owens Valley", c. 1925, and historical scenes "The Arrival of the Oregon at San Francesco", c. 1925-6. Amongst his better late works are the delicate "Desert Verbena, Palm Springs", 1926, and the blazing "Ranch in Sycamores", 1928. The catalogue is well-written, although it is not always easy to relate textural comments with the appropriate illustrations. However, there are a number of rather poor works that, ideally, should have been replaced by additional examples of his pre-California activity. Presentation 5/5, Artist, 3/5.

This is a very, very good reproduction of the artist's main work and story of his life. More than enough in this artists portfolio to deserve an exhibition and catalog.