Tim Solliday
Encyclopedia
Tim Solliday is a contemporary California Plein-Air Painter
and Western Artist who is known for his San Gabriel Valley landscapes and his paintings of American Indians and other western subjects. He studied with the California Impressionist portrait and landscape painter Theodore Lukits
(1897–1992) in the 1970s and began working professionally in the early 1980s. Solliday is described as a painter with a "muscular, masculine style" and has been compared to artists of the Taos Ten, especially E. Martin Hennings. He is a Signature Member of the California Art Club
(f. 1909). He exhibits with the Laguna Plein-Air Painters Association, the Oil Painters of America and at the Maynard Dixon
Invitational, which is held in Utah each year. Solliday's work has been featured in a number of American art magazines such as Southwest Art, American Artist and Art of the West and has been sold by well known galleries and auction houses. Through his plein-air work in the pastel medium and large canvasses, he has played an important role in the revival of landscape painting in Southern California.
, but grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in southern California. His father was an artist and an illustrator, so he developed an interest in art as a young boy. In Palos Verdes, which was then quite rural, he learned to ride horses, an important skill for someone who later became a western painter. After he completed his education, Solliday went to work in the billboard
industry as an apprentice. While he was interesting in becoming a fine artist, working in outdoor advertising proved to be good experience for an aspiring painter and it enabled him to pay for his art studies. It was while working in this commercial field that he learned about the Lukits Academy, where the Early California painter Theodore Lukits still gave students classical instruction. Solliday began his studies there in 1975. This course of study is now commonly known as the Atelier Method
. Lukits had been a child prodigy and he began his own studies before he was twelve at the Washington University School of Fine Arts, then the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and finally at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he captured all the major awards. Lukits' method of instruction was based on the Parisian ateliers of the late 19th century, when hundreds of Americans studied in Paris. Lukits had studied with a host of Parisian- and European-trained painters including Alphons Mucha (1860–1939), Edmund Henry Wuerpel (1866–1947), Edwin Blashfield (1848–1936), Karl Albert Buehr (1866–1952), Wellington J. Reynolds (1865–1949), Richard E. Miller (1875–1943), Charles Webster Hawthorne
(1872–1930) and Robert Henri
(1865–1929). This type of instruction is now known as the "Atelier Method." The Beaux-Arts method had evolved over hundreds of years from the Renaissance through the 19th century and was brought to perhaps its highest level of refinement by Parisian masters like William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905), Jean-Leon Gerome
(1824–1904) and Leon Bonnat
(1833–1922). Solliday studied with Lukits for five years. As all of Lukits students had before him, he began by "drawing from the antique" which meant doing charcoal or graphite portraits of marbles and plaster casts of ancient Roman and Greek statuary. These studies taught the students to understand "values" which are the tonal gradations of light and shadow, applicable to working under artificial lighting conditions in the studio or out of doors under the natural light of the sun or moon. Advancement in a traditional atelier is based on mastery rather than an artificial quarter or semester system, so Solliday moved from working from plaster casts to simple still life set-ups only after his instructor was satisfied with his work. Eventually he began to work in color, painting still life set-ups under the colored lights that Lukits used to simulate conditions an artist would find out of doors. He also attended Lukits' anatomy and life drawing classes.
(1940–2000), an older Lukits student who had been painting out of doors for a number of years. Using the pastel medium, he, Karl and Peter Seitz Adams
went on Plein-Air trips to the local foothills, the Southland beaches, including trips to the ocean and the San Gabriel Mountains
. Solliday, Adams and Karl began to revive the practice of painting en Plein-Air with pastels, as their teacher Lukits had done in the 1920s and 1930s. Solliday concluded his studies in 1980, but the thorough grounding in the old French atelier method that he received from Lukits is what he felt made his career as a figurative painter possible.
California Plein-Air Painting
The term California Plein-Air Painting describes the large movement of 20th century California artists who worked out of doors, directly from nature in California, United States. Their work became popular in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California in the first three decades after the...
and Western Artist who is known for his San Gabriel Valley landscapes and his paintings of American Indians and other western subjects. He studied with the California Impressionist portrait and landscape painter Theodore Lukits
Theodore Lukits
Theodore Nikolai Lukits was a California portrait and landscape painter. His initial fame came from his portraits of some of the most glamorous actresses of the Silent Film era, but since his death, his Asian-inspired works, figures drawn from Hispanic California and his pastel landscapes have all...
(1897–1992) in the 1970s and began working professionally in the early 1980s. Solliday is described as a painter with a "muscular, masculine style" and has been compared to artists of the Taos Ten, especially E. Martin Hennings. He is a Signature Member of the California Art Club
California Art Club
The California Art Club , founded in 1909, is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. It celebrated its centennial in the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved from the Painters Club of Los Angeles...
(f. 1909). He exhibits with the Laguna Plein-Air Painters Association, the Oil Painters of America and at the 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:...
Invitational, which is held in Utah each year. Solliday's work has been featured in a number of American art magazines such as Southwest Art, American Artist and Art of the West and has been sold by well known galleries and auction houses. Through his plein-air work in the pastel medium and large canvasses, he has played an important role in the revival of landscape painting in Southern California.
Youth and artistic training
Solliday was born in the small town of Ottumwa, IowaOttumwa, Iowa
Ottumwa is a city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,998 at the 2000 census. It is located in the southeastern part of Iowa, and the city is split into northern and southern halves by the Des Moines River....
, but grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in southern California. His father was an artist and an illustrator, so he developed an interest in art as a young boy. In Palos Verdes, which was then quite rural, he learned to ride horses, an important skill for someone who later became a western painter. After he completed his education, Solliday went to work in the billboard
Billboard
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
industry as an apprentice. While he was interesting in becoming a fine artist, working in outdoor advertising proved to be good experience for an aspiring painter and it enabled him to pay for his art studies. It was while working in this commercial field that he learned about the Lukits Academy, where the Early California painter Theodore Lukits still gave students classical instruction. Solliday began his studies there in 1975. This course of study is now commonly known as the Atelier Method
Atelier Method
Atelier is the French word for "workshop", and in English is used principally for the workshop of an artist in the fine or decorative arts, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students and apprentices worked together producing pieces that went out in the master's name...
. Lukits had been a child prodigy and he began his own studies before he was twelve at the Washington University School of Fine Arts, then the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and finally at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he captured all the major awards. Lukits' method of instruction was based on the Parisian ateliers of the late 19th century, when hundreds of Americans studied in Paris. Lukits had studied with a host of Parisian- and European-trained painters including Alphons Mucha (1860–1939), Edmund Henry Wuerpel (1866–1947), Edwin Blashfield (1848–1936), Karl Albert Buehr (1866–1952), Wellington J. Reynolds (1865–1949), Richard E. Miller (1875–1943), Charles Webster Hawthorne
Charles Webster Hawthorne
Charles Webster Hawthorne was an American portrait and genre painter and a noted teacher who founded the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899....
(1872–1930) and Robert Henri
Robert Henri
Robert Henri was an American painter and teacher. He was a leading figure of the Ashcan School in art.- Early life :...
(1865–1929). This type of instruction is now known as the "Atelier Method." The Beaux-Arts method had evolved over hundreds of years from the Renaissance through the 19th century and was brought to perhaps its highest level of refinement by Parisian masters like William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905), Jean-Leon Gerome
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.-Life:Jean-Léon Gérôme was born...
(1824–1904) and Leon Bonnat
Léon Bonnat
Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat was a French painter.He was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in Madrid, where his father owned a bookshop. While tending his father's shop, he copied engravings of works by the Old Masters, developing a passion for drawing...
(1833–1922). Solliday studied with Lukits for five years. As all of Lukits students had before him, he began by "drawing from the antique" which meant doing charcoal or graphite portraits of marbles and plaster casts of ancient Roman and Greek statuary. These studies taught the students to understand "values" which are the tonal gradations of light and shadow, applicable to working under artificial lighting conditions in the studio or out of doors under the natural light of the sun or moon. Advancement in a traditional atelier is based on mastery rather than an artificial quarter or semester system, so Solliday moved from working from plaster casts to simple still life set-ups only after his instructor was satisfied with his work. Eventually he began to work in color, painting still life set-ups under the colored lights that Lukits used to simulate conditions an artist would find out of doors. He also attended Lukits' anatomy and life drawing classes.
Beginning plein-air painting
Like the Parisian-trained painters of the last century, during the summers Solliday also began to paint “En plein-air” as the practice of painting out of doors, directly from the landscape as it is known. He began going out painting with Arny KarlArny Karl
Arny Karl was one of the key artists in the early stages of the California Plein-Air Revival, which started in the 1980s and continues to this day...
(1940–2000), an older Lukits student who had been painting out of doors for a number of years. Using the pastel medium, he, Karl and Peter Seitz Adams
Peter Seitz Adams
Peter Seitz Adams is one of California’s most recognized landscape and figurative painters and an important figure in contemporary Southern California art. He is the longest serving President of the California Art Club and a member of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena...
went on Plein-Air trips to the local foothills, the Southland beaches, including trips to the ocean and the San Gabriel Mountains
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains Range is located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east...
. Solliday, Adams and Karl began to revive the practice of painting en Plein-Air with pastels, as their teacher Lukits had done in the 1920s and 1930s. Solliday concluded his studies in 1980, but the thorough grounding in the old French atelier method that he received from Lukits is what he felt made his career as a figurative painter possible.
Professional career
In the early 1980s Solliday left the outdoor advertising industry to paint full time. He began exhibiting his works with Morseburg Galleries in Los Angeles and also worked with Simic Galleries in Beverly Hills and Carmel, California. The early works that he sold were western paintings of cowboys and American Indians which were heavily influenced by American illustrators of the early 20th century. In the early 1980s Solliday was commissioned to paint a series of six large western scenes for the headquarters of an petroleum industry firm in Los Angeles, a project that helped to launch his professional career. By the mid-1980s he branched out into scenes of horses and horse racing that were done from sketches he did at the Santa Anita racetrack. By the 1980s and early 1990s Solliday began concentrating on Plein-Air landscapes instead of western subjects and became part of what has been described as the California Plein-Air Revival with painters like Richard Rackus (b. 1922) and Peter Adams. In 1994, when the California Art Club was revitalized by Peter and Elaine Adams, Solliday and the illustrator Bill Stout became two of the first artists to join the organization. During this phase of his career, he exhibited his work at Poulsen Galleries in Pasadena and Morseburg Galleries in Los Angeles, both of whom helped to sponsor the emerging market for contemporary artists who worked in the tradition of the California Impressionists. By 2003, Art and Antiques Magazine described Solliday as "one of the top contemporary plein-air artists." Solliday's work was later handled by Gallery Gabrie in Pasadena and then Susan Hollis and Michael Hollis in South Pasadena, other galleries that were part of the emerging movement concentrated on plein-air painting. In recent years he has been represented by American Legacy Fine Arts for his California works and by Alterman Galleries in Texas for his western paintings. According to a recent article by the western art writer Bonnie Ganglehoff, Solliday's work has taken a new direction in recent years because he has been working with his friend Steve Huston, the well known figurative painter. In the pages of Southwest Art, she wrote that working with Huston gave his work a new dynamism.See also
- Atelier MethodAtelier MethodAtelier is the French word for "workshop", and in English is used principally for the workshop of an artist in the fine or decorative arts, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students and apprentices worked together producing pieces that went out in the master's name...
- California Art ClubCalifornia Art ClubThe California Art Club , founded in 1909, is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. It celebrated its centennial in the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved from the Painters Club of Los Angeles...
- California Plein-Air PaintingCalifornia Plein-Air PaintingThe term California Plein-Air Painting describes the large movement of 20th century California artists who worked out of doors, directly from nature in California, United States. Their work became popular in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California in the first three decades after the...
- En plein airEn plein airEn plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
- CowboyCowboyA cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
in art and culture - Landscape artLandscape artLandscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
- Peter Seitz AdamsPeter Seitz AdamsPeter Seitz Adams is one of California’s most recognized landscape and figurative painters and an important figure in contemporary Southern California art. He is the longest serving President of the California Art Club and a member of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena...
- Arny KarlArny KarlArny Karl was one of the key artists in the early stages of the California Plein-Air Revival, which started in the 1980s and continues to this day...
- BillboardBillboardBillboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Group and solo exhibitions
- Group Exhibition - 99th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, The Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - 11th Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 2009, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 98th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, April 26-May 17, 2009, The Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - 10th Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 2008, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 97th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, April 27-May 18, 2008, The Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - 9th Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 2007, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 96th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, April 29-May 20, 2007, The Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - 8th Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 25–27, 2006, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 95th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, April 1-April 23, 2006, The Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - 7th Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 24–28, 2005, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 94th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, October 17, 2004 -January 9, 2005, The Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - 6th Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 2004, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 93rd Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, October 11-November 2, 2003, The Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - 5th Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 2003, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 4th Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 2002, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 92nd Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, June 30-August 25, 2002, Pasadena Museum of History, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - 3rd Annual Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 2002, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 2nd Annual Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 2001, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 91st Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, May 6-July 29, 2001, Pasadena Museum of History, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - 1st Annual Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, August 2000, Mt. Carmel, Utah
- Group Exhibition - 90th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, June 4-July 30, 2000, Pasadena Museum of History, Pasadena, California
- Group Exhibition - California Art Past and Present: Sponsored and Curated by the California Art Club and the Jonathan Club, October 7–8, 2000, Women's City Club. Pasadena
- Group Exhibition - 89th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, June 4-July 30, 1998, Luckman Fine Arts Center, California State University, Los Angeles
- Group Exhibition - Treasures of the Sierra Nevada, California Art Club, May 28-August 30, 1998, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California
- Group Exhibition - California Wetlands: Paintings of California's Endangered and Protected Wetlands, April 13 - September 1, 1996, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California
- Solo Exhibition - Tim Solliday, Morseburg Galleries, 1992
Awards and honors
- 1st Prize, 86th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, July 8–16, 1995
- 1st Prize, 1993 Landscape, Oil Painters of America Annual Exhibition
- Arts for the Parks Finalist, 1993
- Arts for the Parks Finalist, 1991
Magazine references
- Morseburg, Jeffrey, Tim Solliday, A Biographical Sketch, Art of California
- Ganglehoff, Bonnie, Catching Up With Tim Solliday, Southwest Art Magazine, July 2008
- Western Art Collector, July 2008
- Editors, 'Artist Worth Watching,' Art-Talk, November 2004
- Otserman, Julie, Coast to Coast,' Southwest Art, August 2004
- Gangelhoff, Bonnie, 'Wild at Heart,' Southwest Art, February 2004
- Herrin, Alice, 'Art Events- Texas,' Southwest Art, September 2003
- Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall, 'Coming of Age,' Art & Antiques, June 2003
- Editiors,'On the Scene,' Southwest Art, May 2003
- Editors, 'On the Scene,' Southwest Art, March 2003
- Stavig, Vikki, 'The Moods of God's Spirit,' Art of the West, January 2003
- Stavig, Vikki'For the Love of the Land,' Art of the West, July 2002
- Stavig, Vikki, 'Revitalization of the California Art Club,' Art of the West, May 2002
- 'Art Events,' Southwest Art, February 2001
- Brown, Joan, 'Light Motif: California Impressionism,' Wildlife Art, December 2000
- Stavig, Vikki, 'Tradition Lives On/California Art Club,' Art of the West, June 2000
- Burlingham, Michael J., 'Man with a Muse,' American Artist, July 1999
- Bucher, Kristen, 'Best of the West: Texas,' Southwest Art, April 1997
- McGarry, Susan Hallsten, 'Variety and Harmony,' Southwest Art, February 1997
- Runbeck, Katheryn, 'Tim Solliday,' Southwest Art, February 1997
Book references
- California Art Club: 99th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2010 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
- California Art Club: 98th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2009 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
- California Art Club: 97th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2008 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
- California Art Club: 96th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2007 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
- California Art Club: 95th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2006 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
- California Art Club: 94th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2005 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
- California Art Club: 93rd Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2004 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
- California Art Club: 92nd Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2003 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
- California Art Club: 92nd Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2002 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
- California Art Club: 91st Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2001 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration
External links
- http://www.californiaartclub.org/ California Art Club Web Site