About California Scene Painting
California Scene Painting captures the regional spirit of the Golden State by illustrating epic landscapes and expressive genre scenes, which depict narratives of everyday life. It went through a golden age in the 1930s, when it documented the catalysts of cultural change of the time: industrial development stemming from the aftermath of the Great Depression. Born out of a larger national movement called the American Scene style, California Scene painters sought to create representational art based on what they saw and felt. Their movement developed with changes in the American way of life, and documented the expansion of the agricultural, railway, and automotive industries.

Indeed, the California Scene movement is a visual journey through California history; the transformation of California from the wild untamed Western landscape of rolling hills and vast empty coastlines into an urban industrial panorama, dotted with skyscrapers and New Deal mural Projects. In its time, California Scene painting was about embracing new developments in culture and lifestyle - Today, it affirms an emotional connection between the landscape and its inhabitants, it tells the stories of everyday people in a changing world.

Events
California Scene Paintings 1920s - 1970s
January 18 - May 8, 2014
Irvine Museum
18881 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 100
Irvine, CA 92612

The Good Life, California Watercolors, 1930-1950:
Selections from The Mark and Jan Hilbert Collection
May 1 - July 20, 2014
Haggin Museum
Victory Park
1201 N. Pershing Ave.
Stockton, CA 95203

The Lure of Chinatown: Painting California's
Chinese Communities
April 12, 2014 - August 31, 2014
Bowers Museum
2002 N Main St
Santa Ana, CA 92706

Contact
Mark and Jan Hilbert Collection
mark@hilbertproperties.net