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Member Exhibit HOME   >>  EXHIBITS  >> MEMBER EXHIBIT     Exhibit Name: Scene in Oakland     Overview: SCENE IN OAKLAND, 1852-2002 Artworks Celebrating the City's 150th Anniversary During Oakland's first 150 years, numerous California artists found inspiration in the wide variety of pictorial subject matter they could draw from in the city. The exhibition, Scene in Oakland, 1852-2002, part of this museum's celebration of Oakland's sesquicentennial, affords an opportunity to exhibit 66 views of the city by 49 artists, drawn largely from the Oakland Museum of California's own collections.      Exhibit Objects A67.131 Howard Hack (b. 1932) Oakland Mole, 1965 Oil on canvas Gift of the Women's Board of the Oakland Museum Association A "mole" for this definition is an enclosure built in the water to protect an anchorage or harbor. The Oakland Mole, built in 1882 by Southern Pacific, for many years was dedicated to the movement of passengers in service to the transbay ferries. Located on the pier at the west end of 7th Street, it was demolished in 1965 along with the rest of the outer harbor structures to make way for construction of the BART Transbay Tube. Howard Hack's painting Oakland Mole, painted just prior to demolition, depicts the subject in a somber mood created by the suggestion of fog on the Bay. A73.52.42 Selden Conner Gile (1877-1947) Joaquin Miller Home, 1915 Oil on canvas Gift of Louis B. Siegriest Joaquin Miller (1837-1913) the pseudonym of Cincinnatus Hiner Miller, a colorful writer, poet, playwright and self styled frontier bohemian, who was sometimes described as a combination of Walt Whitman and Buffalo Bill, moved to his 75 acres estate built in the Oakland hills in 1886. Miller's home known as "The Hights" (his spelling), where he lived for many years, located on the west edge of what is now Joaquin Miller Park, is the house depicted in Seldon Gile's painting. Seldon Gile was a leading member of the Oakland based group of plein air painters who called themselves the Society of Six. H26.372 William Hahn (1829-1887) Rural Scene by Lake Merritt, 1880 Oil on canvas Gift of Mr. A.K.P. Harmon, Jr. William Hahn's 1880 Rural Scene by Lake Merritt, a virtual portrait of the livestock, is likely to have been commissioned by Albion K.P. Harmon, Jr., the donor of the painting, who owned a large estate near Park Boulevard and 14th Street adjacent to a grazing meadow that extended to the southeast end of the lake near 18th Street. The father of the junior Harmon was a wealthy Oakland property owner, on the northwest end of the lake, who made his fortune in the mines during the Gold Rush. German born William Hahn was the leading painter of 19th century California scenes of everyday life. A96.31 Charles Chapel Judson (1864-1946) Dimond Canyon, Fruitvale, 1903 Oil on canvas Gift of Dr. and Mrs. James R. Allen This tranquil forest glade is Sausal Creek flowing down from the Oakland hills in Dimond Canyon where part of this area is now Dimond Park near Fruitvale Avenue. The word "sausal" refers to the willow trees that grew in the lowland areas where this stream spilled into San Antonio Creek, later dredged as part of Oakland Estuary. The artist Charles Chapel Judson was a landscape and marine painter who studied in Europe before settling in the San Francisco Bay Area. Instrumental in forming the Art Department at U.C. Berkeley, Judson was also head of that school from 1902 to 1923. A58.64.30 William Clapp (1879-1986) Estuary Dwellings, c. 1928 Oil on wood panel Gift of Donn Schroder For many years Oakland's waterfront along the estuary was cluttered with dockside shacks and sheds where, among the pilings and piers, artists often found appealing subjects for their paintings. Canadian born William Clapp, one of the members of a group of Oakland artists who during the 1920s painted out of doors together calling themselves the Society of Six, executed this colorful estuary scene in his Impressionist inspired style. Clapp was also curator of Oakland Art Gallery (now the Oakland Museum of California) from 1916 to 1949. A76.87 Paul Fisher (1891-1982) East Oakland and the Bay, 1974 Watercolor on paper Gift of Paul Fisher Paul Fisher's scene of an East Oakland hillside residential neighborhood looks out towards the Bay as viewed from the artist's home on Carlsen Street. Viennese born and educated, Fisher traveled extensively in Europe, China and the U.S. as a commercial artist and designer before settling in Oakland in 1961. A62.87.2 Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) View of Oakland, c. 1872 Oil on canvas Gift of the Art Guild of the Oakland Museum Association The celebrated painter of grandiose mountain landscapes in the American West, Albert Bierstadt, made several trips to California during the 1860s and 1870s sketching and painting the spectacular scenery of the Sierra Nevada. It was probably during Bierstadt's residency in San Francisco, from 1870 to 1873, that he produced this small oil sketch, a sunset View of Oakland seen beneath a blanket of fog, looking west towards Mount Tamalpais across the bay. A72.216 William A. Coulter (1849-1936) War Time, 1919 Oil on canvas Gift of Moore Drydock Company The Moore Dry Dock was the largest of the shipyards on the estuary. The company moved to the foot of Adeline Street in Oakland in 1909 where it remained active until 1961. Building and repairing ships of all types, it was the need for warships upon America's entrance into World War I, that increased the workforce to 12,000 men. William A. Coulter painted this shipyard panorama in 1919, as viewed from the estuary, with Oakland City Hall in the far right background. Coulter was the Bay Area's most prominent painter of marine subjects during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A66.59 Carl Dahlgren (1841-1920) College of Holy Names, Oakland, c. 1900 Watercolor on paper Museum Donors' Acquisition Fund Founded in 1868 by Sisters of the Holy Names as The Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, originally a school for young women, it later expanded to become Holy Names College. With extensive park-like grounds on the northwest shore of Lake Merritt, the school's main building with cupola, built in 1874, was a distinctive feature on Oakland's skyline until 1957 when it was razed to make way for the Kaiser Center. Holy Names College relocated to its present woodland setting in the Oakland Hills. Danish born Carl Dahlgren received his art schooling in Copenhagen before becoming a longtime resident of Oakland where he was known for his sunny California landscapes. A66.54 Marius Dahlgren (1844-1920) Alameda County Courthouse, East Oakland, 1882 Oil on canvas The Oakland Museum Kahn Collection Painted from an earlier sketch. It is shown on a site near the estuary, the corner of East 14th Street and 20th Avenue, where the courthouse was briefly located between 1873 and 1875. The red brick building in the picture was then the County Jail, which after more than a hundred years was still in use as a kitchen for a multiple dwelling later erected on the site. Artist Marius Dahlgren, the bachelor brother of Carl, was a well-respected painter of many California landscapes and genre scenes. A80.46 Willard Dixon (b. 1942) East Bay, 1979 Oil on canvas Gift of Marguerite Laird In Willard Dixon's 1979 East Bay, we see a panoramic view across the foothills and flatlands of Oakland looking towards San Francisco, as seen from the Hiller Highlands residential neighborhood later ravaged by the great fire of October 1991. Dixon's romantic realist style of painting recalls the grand panoramic vistas of the nineteenth century landscape artists. Involving imagery derived from his photographic "notes," Dixon emphasizes appealing natural features of the landscape in the foreground while involving atmospheric and light effects to minimize the man-made structures of the city's commerce and industry seen in the distance. H74.194.15A Henry Hussey (1887-1959) Beach, Lake Merritt, c. 1916 Modern print from original glass plate negative Gift of Henry Hussey A95.45 Mary DeNeale Morgan (1868?1948) Lake Merritt, Oakland, c. 1935 Oil on paperboard Gift of the Reichel Fund H4463.1 Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) Mills Seminary, Seminary Park, Alameda Co., CAL., 1873 Mammoth plate albumen print Gift of Mills College Mills Hall was built in 1871 following the move of Mills Seminary, a fashionable school for young ladies, from it original site in Benicia to East Oakland. The school that later became Mills College was then far out of town, two miles from the nearest railroad station. The students lived in Mills Hall and ate vegetables from the school?s garden and drank milk from the school?s cow. The Eadweard Muybridge 1873 photograph shows the young ladies of Mills Seminary on the lawn in front of Mills Hall, still a landmark building on the campus today, before the now familiar eucalyptus trees became a distinctive feature of its landscape. A96.18 John Herbert Evelyn Partington (1843?1899) Lake Temescal, 1890 Oil on canvas Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Logan In 1868 a dam was constructed on Temescal Creek creating Lake Temescal, a reservoir for Oakland?s first municipal water supply. The earth dam was dug manually and was packed down by horses driven over it repeatedly. Pipes carried water to people?s homes that had previously depended upon their own wells. It was on the banks of Lake Temescal that the immigrant English artist J.H.E. Partington lived in a tent with his family, upon their arrival in Oakland in 1889. In 1891 he established the Partington School of Art in San Francisco along with his son Richard L. Partington. A71.36 George Post (1906-1997) 3rd and Alice, 1949 Watercolor on paper Gift of George Post H72.416.1 Ferdinand Richardt (1819?1895) Mrs. Poston?s Female Academy, c. 1879 Oil on canvas Gift of Miss Elaine Sweet From 1873 to 1880, Mrs. E.C. Poston?s Seminary for Young Ladies, as it was officially known, occupied an historic house at 1020 Oak Street, between 10th and 11th Streets, the present site of Oakland Museum of California. As many as seventy-five pupils were enrolled ?under the direct influence of the principal,? with management said to be that of a large well-regulated family. The pupils pursued a course of study similar to that of the best appointed institutions for the education of young women. The pleasantly shaded spacious grounds offered opportunities for healthful exercise and quiet seclusion. H26.2300J Ferdinand Richardt (1819?1895) Old Oakland House, c. 1880 Pencil on paper Gift of Mr. Gustav. H. Schneider A86.24 Ferdinand Richardt (1819-1895) Oakland Estuary, c. 1880 Oil on canvas Gift of Acquisition Fund and Florence M. Heafey Foundation Fund A89.11.8 Lundy Siegriest (1925-1985) Freeway, 5th Avenue Marina, 1978 Oil on canvas Gift of the Estate of Lundy Siergriest A65.184.53 Roger Sturtevant (1903-1982) Trestle Glen, 1920 Gelatin silver print Gift of the artist A98.37.8 Lewis Watts (b. 1946) Mrs. Watters Just Arrived For Her Daughter's Wedding, New Oakland Train Station, 1997 Gelatin silver print Gift of Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation A98.37.2 Lewis Watts (b. 1946) Martin Luther King Way, 1993 Gelatin silver print Gift of Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Lewis Watts has said his photographs "explore evidence of culture, history and life as reflected on the surface of environments inhabited and used primarily by people of African American descent in neighborhoods of West Oakland." Much of that statement is revealed in this scene that carries contemporary cultural clues and messages, both literal and symbolic, that Watts has called the "neighborhood's footprints." A66.102.5 Raymond D. Yelland (1868-1929) Fruitvale Meadows, 1894 Oil on canvas Gift of Mr. William Raymond Yelland H26.188 William Keith (1838-1887) Southern Pacific Depot, 7th & Adeline Streets, 1867 Watercolor on paper Gift of Mrs. Nancy Crane Hussey Scottish born William Keith's reputation as California's most prominent painter of grand Sierra Nevada landscapes began small with his illustrative work as a commercial wood engraver in San Francisco. Keith was living in Oakland in 1867 when he produced a number of watercolors depicting East Bay scenes that included this rural looking view of passengers waiting at a small station house on the 7th Street rail line leading to Oakland's waterfront on San Francisco Bay. 2002.5.1 June Felter (b. 1919) Oakland Hills Fire #1, 1992 Acrylic on canvas Gift of George Krevsky June Felter's painted impression, remembering the disastrous 1991 fire in the Oakland Hills, is one of a series the artist created on the subject. Drawing upon artistic elements of color and form, while using the expressive quality of gestural brushwork, she conveys the dramatic effects of wind, fire and smoke in a vivid depiction of the catastrophic event. A62.80.297 Joseph Lee (1827-1880) Residence of Capt. Thomas W. Badger, Brooklyn, From the South, c. 1871 Oil on canvas Gift of Lester M. Hale In 1849 Captain Thomas W. Badger, a ship-owner with a fleet of vessels serving trade routes to the Far East, came to California via Cape Horn. He purchased ten acres of land for his country estate in Brooklyn, between 9th and 10th Streets from 7th to 8th Avenues near the estuary. It was later developed into Badger Park, a popular public amusement grounds that included an amphitheater, a dancing and skating pavilion, and a foot-racing track. Local trains from Oakland to Brooklyn, Clinton, San Leandro and Hayward, as seen in both views of Badger's property, had a stop near his residence. A62.80.296 Joseph Lee (1827-1880) Residence of Capt. Thomas W. Badger, Brooklyn, From the Northwest, c. 1871 Oil on canvas Gift of Lester M. Hale A93.11.40 Fred Martin (b. 1927) 10th Street Looking East, #1, 1955 Oil on masonite Gift of Fred Martin A93.11.42 Fred Martin (b. 1927) 10th Street Looking East, #2, 1955 Oil on masonite Gift of Fred Martin H74.505.1 Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916) 13th St. Oakland, c. 1880 Modern print from original albumen print Gift of Mrs. Charlotte Boggs 2000.2.21 Peter Stackpole (1913-1997) Oakland, Concrete Overpass, 1970 Gelatin silver print City of Oakland 2001.25.1 Jade Fon (1911-1983) Lake Merritt and Court House, c. 1964 Watercolor on paper Gift of the Reichel Fund Lakeside Park at Lake Merritt became the jewel of the city's many new parks and playground sites established in 1908. With landscaping and boat landings added along with a municipal boathouse, the pergola on the north end of the lake, Children's Fairyland and the recent renovation of the "necklace of lights," these features make Lake Merritt an attractive recreational center in the city. The Alameda County Court House, built in the 1930s in its distinctive Art Deco architectural style, remains a prominent structure on the south end of the lake. 2002.0.1 Unknown Artist Oakland, May 1854, 1854 Drawing and watercolor Collection of the Oakland Museum This is the earliest view of Oakland in the exhibition. A scene by an unknown, and perhaps untrained artist shows lower Broadway near the wharf, looking north. Resembling a movie set for a frontier town, this broad dusty road between two rows of hastily constructed wooden storefront buildings shows Oakland just two years after the city was incorporated on May 4, 1852. A77.1.2 Roger Sturtevant (1903-1982) Forest Path, c. 1920 Gelatin silver print Gift of the artist A77.50.3 Robert C. Rishell (1917-1976) Oakland Railroad Scene, c. 1965 Watercolor on paper Gift of the Women's Board of the Oakland Museum Association