UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA), in Irvine, Calif., announced that its next exhibition, Variations of Place: Southern California Impressionism in the Early 20th Century, will be presented at its interim location at 18881 Von Karman Avenue from June 11 through September 3, 2022. When the current exhibition, The Resonant Surface: Movement, Image, and Sound in California Painting, closes on February 12, the museum will pause gallery operations through June 10, 2022, while its landlord, Airport Tower, undertakes a renovation of the building’s lobby.

Organized by guest curator and art historian Janet Blake, Variations of Place features works by over 20 artists who settled in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and San Diego in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawn from Langson IMCA’s holdings and other public and private collections, the exhibition showcases seascapes, landscapes, and figurative paintings. Artists include Franz Bischoff, Maurice Braun, Alson Skinner Clark, Anna Althea Hills, Joseph Kleitsch, Edgar Payne, Granville Redmond, Guy Rose, Gardner Symons, and William Wendt, among others.

“I’ve been steeped in the work of California Impressionists for decades and it has been an engaging exercise to home in on a sense of place with respect to their influences and artistry. Each artist represented in this exhibition reveals a passion for the Golden State and its distinctive natural characteristics and built environments,” said Janet Blake.

During this period, artist enclaves emerged along the coast, forming networks where painters exchanged ideas and perspectives on impressionist styles and techniques, such as using unblended colors and loose brushwork and painting outdoors. With highly individualized styles informed by their education and experiences, these artists created a multifaceted genre rich with variation. Yet together they developed and reproduced themes and motifs that would become
definitive characteristics of Southern California Impressionism.

Langson IMCA Museum Director Kim Kanatani said, “Janet Blake’s investigation of each artist and painting illuminates our understanding of and appreciation for early 20th century California art. While influenced by European pioneers of the genre, these artists honed their own techniques and styles inspired by the singular environs and light gracing the region.”

A roster of public programs will be announced in the spring, including curator and gallery talks. Museum of California Art UCI Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA) is home to two foundational collections of California art—The Irvine Museum Collection of more than 1,300 works includes California Impressionist and plein air paintings, and The Buck Collection, which includes 3,200-plus works with a concentration in California modern and post-war contemporary art. The university is planning to construct a permanent museum and research institute to serve as a global magnet for the exhibition and study of California art within its social, historical, environmental, and cultural frameworks. For more information, visit imca.uci.edu.