Arthur Frank Mathews
Encyclopedia
Arthur F. Mathews was an American Tonalist painter who was one of the founders of the American Arts and Crafts Movement
. Trained as an architect and artist, he and his wife Lucia Kleinhans Mathews had a significant effect on the evolution of California
n art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His students include Granville Redmond
, Xavier Martinez
, Armin Hansen
, Percy Gray
, Gottardo Piazzoni
, Ralph Stackpole
, Mary Colter
, Maynard Dixon
, Rinaldo Cuneo
and Francis McComas
.
and lived there until he was six years old. His father was an architect and moved the family to San Francisco in the year 1866. Mathews learned architecture from his father; he then studied painting at the California School of Design
, under the influence of Virgil Macey Williams. In San Francisco he also worked as a designer and illustrator at a lithography
shop. He studied art in Paris at the Académie Julian
from 1885 to 1889, where he was influenced by the academic classicism of his teachers Gustave Boulanger
and Jules Lefebvre, the tonalism
of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and the symbolism of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
.
. Following the earthquake, he and Lucia opened the Furniture Shop in San Francisco. There he could unleash his combined skills as a craftsman, designer and painter. They also opened Philopolis Press and published the monthly Philopolis magazine, which promoted Arts and Crafts
aesthetics in the rebuilding of the city. Among his many mural commissions was a twelve-panel series in the State Capitol Building, Sacramento.
Afternoon Among the Cypress in the permanent collection of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art is typical of Mathews' landscape paintings of the Monterey Peninsula; Spring Dance at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
is one of his many paintings of female figures in semi-classical attire. His work is extensively represented in the Oakland Museum of California
.
Mathews was a master of many media: oil painting
, watercolor, pastel
, gouache
and fresco
. He and Lucia designed detailed interior decoration schemes in what became known as the California Decorative Style. They created a variety of furniture, boxes, carved and painted picture frames and many other decorative objects, and even large stained glass windows.
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
. Trained as an architect and artist, he and his wife Lucia Kleinhans Mathews had a significant effect on the evolution of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
n art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His students include Granville Redmond
Granville Redmond
Granville Redmond was an American landscape painter and exponent of Tonalism and California Impressionism.- Early years :...
, Xavier Martinez
Xavier Martinez
Xavier Timoteo Martínez was a California artist active in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was born in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, and, after becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States, died in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California...
, Armin Hansen
Armin Hansen
Armin Hansen , native of San Francisco, is prominent American Painter of the En plein air school, best known for his marine canvases. His father Hermann Hansen was also a famous artist of the American West...
, Percy Gray
Percy Gray
Henry Percy Gray was an American painter. Gray was born into a San Francisco family endowed with a broad literary and artistic background. He studied under Arthur Frank Mathews at the San Francisco School of Design and later under William Merritt Chase...
, Gottardo Piazzoni
Gottardo Piazzoni
Gottardo Fidele Piazzoni was a Swiss-born American landscape painter, muralist and sculptor of Italian heritage, a key member of the school of Northern California artists in the early 1900s....
, Ralph Stackpole
Ralph Stackpole
Ralph Ward Stackpole was an American sculptor, painter, muralist, etcher and art educator, San Francisco's leading artist during the 1920s and 1930s. Stackpole was involved in the art and causes of social realism, especially during the Great Depression, when he was part of the Federal Art Project...
, Mary Colter
Mary Colter
Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter was an American architect and designer. As a child, Mary Colter traveled with her family through frontier Minnesota, Colorado and Texas in the years after the American Civil War. After her father died in 1886, Colter attended the California School of Design in San...
, Maynard Dixon
Maynard Dixon
Maynard Dixon was a 20th-century American artist whose body of work focused on the American West. He was married for a time to American photographer Dorothea Lange.-Biography:...
, Rinaldo Cuneo
Rinaldo Cuneo
Rinaldo Cuneo , dubbed the Painter of San Francisco, was an American artist known for his landscape paintings and murals.-Early life and education:...
and Francis McComas
Francis McComas
There are several people named Francis McComas:*Francis McComas , a Tasmanian-born landscape artist.*Jesse Francis McComas , an American science fiction editor....
.
Early years
Mathews was born in Markesan, WisconsinMarkesan, Wisconsin
Markesan is a city in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,396 at the 2000 census. The center of population of Wisconsin is located in Markesan.-Geography:Markesan is located at ....
and lived there until he was six years old. His father was an architect and moved the family to San Francisco in the year 1866. Mathews learned architecture from his father; he then studied painting at the California School of Design
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
, under the influence of Virgil Macey Williams. In San Francisco he also worked as a designer and illustrator at a lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
shop. He studied art in Paris at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
from 1885 to 1889, where he was influenced by the academic classicism of his teachers Gustave Boulanger
Gustave Boulanger
Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger was a French figure painter known for his Neo-Grec style. He was born at Paris, studied with Delaroche and Jollivet, and in 1849 took the Prix de Rome. His paintings are prime examples of academic art of the time, particularly history painting...
and Jules Lefebvre, the tonalism
Tonalism
Tonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when American artists began to paint landscape forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often dominated compositions by artists associated with the style...
of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and the symbolism of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was a French painter, who became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and whose work influenced many other artists.-Life:...
.
Life in San Francisco
Upon his return from Paris, Mathews taught life classes at the San Francisco Art Students League and the California School of Design. He became director of the latter in 1890, and in 1894, married Lucia Kleinhans, one of his art students. He continued to teach there until the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
. Following the earthquake, he and Lucia opened the Furniture Shop in San Francisco. There he could unleash his combined skills as a craftsman, designer and painter. They also opened Philopolis Press and published the monthly Philopolis magazine, which promoted Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
aesthetics in the rebuilding of the city. Among his many mural commissions was a twelve-panel series in the State Capitol Building, Sacramento.
Afternoon Among the Cypress in the permanent collection of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art is typical of Mathews' landscape paintings of the Monterey Peninsula; Spring Dance at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
is one of his many paintings of female figures in semi-classical attire. His work is extensively represented in the Oakland Museum of California
Oakland Museum of California
Oakland Museum of California or Oakland Museum is a museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California located in Oakland, California....
.
Mathews was a master of many media: oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, watercolor, pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....
, gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
and fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
. He and Lucia designed detailed interior decoration schemes in what became known as the California Decorative Style. They created a variety of furniture, boxes, carved and painted picture frames and many other decorative objects, and even large stained glass windows.
Significant permanent collections
Mathews' work is in the following major museums:- Crocker Art MuseumCrocker Art MuseumThe Crocker Art Museum is one of the leading arts institutions in California, and the longest continuously operating art museum in the West. Located in Sacramento, California, the Crocker has been an art innovator since 1885...
, Sacramento, California - Fine Arts Museums of San FranciscoFine Arts Museums of San FranciscoThe Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprising the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco and one of the largest art museums in California.-External...
, M. H. de Young Memorial MuseumM. H. de Young Memorial MuseumThe M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, commonly called simply the de Young Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H... - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenThe Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
- Los Angeles County Museum of ArtLos Angeles County Museum of ArtThe Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
- New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Oakland Museum of CaliforniaOakland Museum of CaliforniaOakland Museum of California or Oakland Museum is a museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California located in Oakland, California....
- San Diego Museum of ArtSan Diego Museum of ArtThe San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego on February 28, 1926, and changed its name to the San...
- Smithsonian American Art MuseumSmithsonian American Art MuseumThe Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...