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John James Cunningham | |
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Born | John James O'Farrell Cunningham April 5, 1904 |
Died | January 22, 2004 99) | (aged
Education | University of California, Berkeley |
Occupation(s) | Artist, teacher |
Known for | Carmel Art Institute |
Spouses | Patricia Stanley (m. 1930;div. 1959)Patricia Ann Duncan Peterson (m. 1961) |
Children | 3 |
John Cunningham (1904-2004) was an American painter, teacher, and director of the Carmel Art Institute in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States. In 1990, He became president emeritus and transferred the responsibility of the Carmel Art Institute to the Carmel Art Association. [1] [2]
Cunningham was born on April 5, 1904, in New Jersey. [2] He was brought up in Manhattan, one of the smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. In 1921, he enlisted as an ordinary seaman aboard the S.S. President Arthur, embarking on a journey to Bremerhaven, Germany. [3] In 1923, he attended the Manhattan College for two years. [4]
In 1926, Cunningham began his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, achieving both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in fine arts.[ citation needed ] While attending Berkeley, he met Patricia "Pat" Stanley (1907-1984). [5]
Following graduation, in 1929 Cunningham received a traveling fellowship, enabling he and Pat to study with the same teachers as Hans Hofmann at the Schule für Bildende Kunst (School of Fine Art) in Munich, André Lhote at the Académie Notre-Dame des Champs in Paris, and Beniamino Bufano in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. [2] [6] In 1930 he exhibited his paintings in Munich. Bufano had a studio in southern France and taught Cunningham stone carving. [7] [8]
On May 15, 1930, he and Patricia Stanley were married at the City Hall of the 16th arrondissement of Paris. They were divorced in 1959. On September 2, 1961 Cunningham married Patricia "Patti" Ann Duncan Peterson. [3] [ unreliable source? ]
In 1930, during the Great Depression, Cunningham and his wife Patricia returned from Paris to New York City. He worked as a decorator, created murals, for Gimbels and Macy's in New York City department stores. He also worked for Livingston Manor, New York, and the Firestone Winery in Los Olivos. This period of mural execution spanned from 1931 to 1933. [2] In 1931, Cunningham took up a role as a barker for Barnum & Bailey at Coney Island in Brooklyn. He presented his artwork from Coney Island in a solo exhibition at the Art Alliance in New York. The same year, Cunningham painted an Arabian Night panel for the Edgewood Inn at Livingston Manor, New York. Subsequently, he also joined the Central Executive Board of the American Artists' Congress in New York City. [3]
In 1931, Cunningham was hired as director at the Cranbrook Academy of Art located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. [9] [10] Between 1931 and 1933, Cunningham served as the resident artist and head of the Fine Arts Department at Cranbrook. He subsequently headed the Department of Fine and Industrial Art at Cranbrook where he established the inaugural summer session. [11] [12]
In November 1932 he had a solo exhibition at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. [11] [13]
In 1933, he finished the first-hand set tessera glass mosaic (imitation of a stained-glass window) at the great hall at the Cranbrook Educational Community. [12]
In 1935, Cunningham was hired as visiting professor and head of the summer session in Art at Mills College in Oakland, California. [9] [10] Subsequently, he was appointed as the Director of the Fine Arts Department. [3] His wife, Patricia served on the faculty of Mills College. [11]
Between 1935 to 1937, Cunningham exhibited at the Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C., the Greater Texas & Pan-American Exposition for the World's Fair held at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas, the Paris Exposition.[ citation needed ] From 1938 to 1939, he accepted a job of staff artist for the State of California Governor's Commission at the University of California for the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in San Francisco. [1]
After the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Cunningham enlisted in the Merchant Marine, during World War II, spanning from 1942 to 1945, serving as an able seaman [14] initially and later attaining the rank of Chief Mate by the conclusion of the war years. He did sketches of seamen during the war that were exhibited at the Architectural League in New York City and as part of a traveling show across the county. He was granted an Honorable Discharge from the United States Coast Guard on August 15, 1945. [3]
Cunningham began helping teach a painting class for Armin Hansen at the Carmel Art Institute when Hansen fell ill. In 1938 Cunningham he became Director for the First Summer School at the institute. In 1939, Hansen and the Whitmans sold the institute to the Cunninghams, as Hansen returned to his own painting pursuits. [15] [7] [10] By 1940, the institute was holding six week summer classes outdoors, teaching figure and landscape painting. [16] In 1941, Kit Whitman made a public announcement that Cunningham and his wife Patricia would take over all day-to-day affairs at the institute. [9]
Cunningham's international connections brought well known European artists to the institute to assist in instructing students. Notable figures like Fernand Léger, Alexander Archipenko, and Salvador Dalí served as guest instructors. [10] [15] Artist Jane Reece had one-person shows at the Carmel Art Institute in 1947. [17]
In 1947, the institute hosted its art activities initially at Cunningham‘s studio on Rio Avenue on Carmel Point, subsequently it moved several times before relocating in 1976 to the Flanders Mansion, where the Institute continued to operate until Cunningham's retirement in 1990. [7] Upon his retirement he transferred the responsibility of the Carmel Art Institute to the Carmel Art Association. [3] [1]
In July 1964, Cunningham and his family moved to Carmel Valley, where he settled near the Carmel River and constructed an art studio. [3] Between 1972 and 1973, Cunningham embarked on a year-long painting journey across Europe, exploring various destinations in a van accompanied by his wife and their son, Blair. [3]
In September 1992, Cunningham organized an auction and benefit for the Blind Children's Center of Los Angeles, featuring his paintings, at Graystone Mission in Beverly Hills, California. [18]
On January 22, 2004, Cunningham died at the age of 99 at Hospice House. His dedication to art, education, and community engagement earned him the title of President Emeritus of the Carmel Art Institute. [2] [1]
Joseph Jacinto Mora was a Uruguayan-born American cowboy, photographer, artist, cartoonist, illustrator, painter, muralist, sculptor, and historian who lived with the Hopi and wrote about his experiences in California. He has been called the "Renaissance Man of the West".
Beniamino "Bene" Bufano was an Italian American sculptor, best known for his large-scale monuments representing peace and his modernist work often featured smoothly rounded animals and relatively simple shapes. He worked in ceramics, stone, stainless steel, and mosaic, and sometimes combined two or more of these media, and some of his works are cast stone replicas. He had a variety of names used and sometimes went by the name Benvenuto Bufano because he admired Benvenuto Cellini. His youthful nickname was "Bene", which was often anglicized into "Benny". He lived in northern California for much of his career.
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Armin Carl Hansen (1886–1957), was an American prominent painter of the en plein air school, and a native of San Francisco, best known for his marine canvases. His father Herman Wendelborg Hansen was also a famous artist of the American West. Armin Hansen studied at the California School of Design, and in Europe. He achieved international recognition for his scenes depicting men and the sea off the northern coast of California. He was elected an Associate to the National Academy of Design in 1926 and an Academician in 1948.
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The Carmel Art Association (CAA) is a Not-for-profit arts organization and gallery located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The CAA is Carmel's oldest gallery. It features the work of many local artists living on the Monterey Peninsula. Many of its members were early California artists. The CAA is a 501(c)(3) organization.
Theodore Criley was an American hotel manager and landscape artist. He joined the art colony in Carmel-by-the-Sea, where he was a watercolorist, portrait painter, and wood engraver. His artwork was well received by fellow artists Jennie V. Cannon and Percy Gray, as well as art critics for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Tribune. His work can be seen at the Mills College Art Museum in Oakland, California.
Paul Lingenbrink Whitman was an American artist who played an active role in the art community of the Monterey Peninsula for 24 years. His works are in the art collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Monterey Museum of Art and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Whitman was one of the original members of the Carmel Art Association. He worked in a variety of media that included etching, charcoal drawing, watercolor, oil, lithography, and sculpture.
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John O'Shea was a California impressionist painter known for his landscape, marine, figure, and portrait paintings. He was one of the major artists in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California between 1917-1945, and resident of Carmel for 36 years. His works are held in the permanent collections of several locations, including the Harrison Memorial Library, Monterey Museum of Art, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, and the Bohemian Club.
The Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was an art gallery, theatre and clubhouse founded in 1905, by Elsie Allen, a former art instructor for Wellesley College. After using the facilities of various town parks and hotels, in 1907, a clubhouse was built at Monte Verde Street in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, where the Circle Theatre of the Golden Bough Playhouse is today. The clubhouse served as Carmel's first community cultural center. It held dramatic performances, poetry readings, lectures, and was a summer school for the arts. Between 1919 and 1948 Carmel was the largest art colony on the Pacific coast.
The following is a timeline of the history of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States.
Ira Mallory Remsen , known locally as Rem Remsen, was an American painter, playwright and Bohemian Club member. He was the son of Dr. Ira Remsen chemist and former president of Johns Hopkins University. Remsen was the author of children's plays notably Inchling and Mr. Blunt, he produced at the Forest Theater in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in the 1920s. His studio on Dolores Street became the permanent home for the Carmel Art Association in 1933.