Happy New Year!
The Art Collections Department is Skiing into the New Year! We look forward to another art-filled year of exciting exhibitions, collaborations, and events! Happy New Year from… Lindsay… Kayla… Manon… Jessica B… & Jessica J!
Daring to Gaze An In Depth Analysis of Judie Bamber's Work
If You Come Any Closer I’ll Kill You—this is the title of the pair of paintings that reside in Beckman Hall as a part of the Escalette Collection of Art here at Chapman University. The pieces are by Los Angeles based artist Judie Bamber. The pair of paintings are square in shape, relatively small in
Regionalism Its role in defining "American Art"
Regionalism was an American art movement that emerged in the Midwest in the early 1930s and continued into the early 1940s. While Grant Wood, the leading artist of Regionalism and creator of the infamous American Gothic painting, considered the movement to be a new type of modern art, Regionalism also has deep historical roots in American art
Dong Kingman A Chinese-American Watercolorist
Dong Kingman , also known as Dong Moy Shu, was born in Oakland, California on March 31, 1911. At the age of 5, his family moved back to Hong Kong in order to open a dry goods business. In Hong Kong, he attended the Chan Sun Wen School where he excelled in both drawing and
Interview With Curator Gordon McClelland Preview
Recently, our Art Ambassadors teamed up with students from the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts to film an interview with Gordon McClelland, curator of the inaugural exhibition “Narrative Visions” at the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University. We will be posting the full interview soon, but in the meantime, enjoy this preview.
Watercolor and Gouache: What’s the Difference?
Upon first inspection, watercolor and gouache (pronounced “gwash”) may appear to be nearly identical mediums. However, when given more attention, one can see that both paints have individual characteristics that make them easy to distinguish. A primary difference between the two paints is that gouache is more opaque than watercolor. When a layer of watercolor
Mark Bradford: Abstraction and Identity
With Black History Month upon us, many talented artists of color come to mind, including L.A. based artist Mark Bradford. We are fortunate to have a few Mark Bradford lithographs in the Escalette Collection that give us a glimpse into Bradford’s large body of work. Despite the often political angle to his art, Bradford’s work
Minimalism How did minimalist art develop?
Minimalist art was developed in the early 1960’s as a direct descendant of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Just a decade earlier the abstract expressionists took hold of the art world, further progressing the way that artwork was conceptualized. The goal of abstract expressionism is simply to let the artist express their emotions through their artwork.
From Sanskrit to Art Investigating Victor Hugo Zayas
Victor Hugo Zayas’ paintings are, what I like to call, ‘samatva’. ‘Samatva’ in Sanskrit means in balance. This concept is ever more prominent in Zayas’ painting Illuvia. With dark tones and thick brushstrokes, Illuvia is a balance of observation and abstraction. Zayas paints the cityscape as it is, but also distorts the fixtures by changing the tone, color,
Esca-Let’s Get Scary!
We here at the Escalette Permanent Collection of Art are proud to house a wide variety of art pieces. These artistic works are diverse in time period, style, color, medium, and subjects. Below, we have decided to feature some of the pieces in our collection to celebrate the Halloween season! Be they intentionally or unintentionally eerie,