The Artists Of Crystal Cove 2016

By Rick Boufford and Carrie Koenig

For over 100 years Plein Air painters have enjoyed the natural beauty of Crystal Cove. California Impressionists painted outdoors ( en plein air in French) to capture the light, atmosphere and movement of nature. They were influenced by the broken brushstrokes and the theories of light and color of the French Impressionists, such as Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir, but the California Impressionists tended to paint in a more traditional and realistic landscape style. Painters from the Laguna art colony began to explore and paint the coastline on horseback as early 1905, and when the dirt road that later became Pacific Coast Highway went through to Laguna in 1916, the Cove became accessible by automobile. The first image of Crystal Cove with a confirmed date was painted in 1912 by William Wendt, one of the most prominent of the Laguna painters. Other Plein Air painters who worked in Crystal Cove in the early 20th century included Edgar Payne, Anna Hill, Frank Cuprien and Arthur G. Rider. Impressionist painting went out of fashion by the 1930's, but some Plein Air artists, notably Frank Cuprien, continued to have studios in Laguna and to paint in Crystal Cove into the 1940's. The work of many of these early 20th century Crystal Cove artists can be seen in the Laguna Art Museum and the Irvine Museum. As Crystal Cove developed from a pristine and deserted shoreline to a tropical movie location, to a seasonal tent city and eventually into a collection of funky and eclectic cottages, a number of artists lived and worked at the Cove. The most famous of these was Roger Kunst, who spent several weeks at the Cove every summer in the 1950's through the 1970's. Other artists included Vivian Falzetti, Alice Powell and Roger Armstrong. In the 1970's there was a renewed interest in the Impressionist style of painting, and a new generation of Plein Air painters were inspired by the charm and beauty of the Cove. Each year the Crystal Cove Alliance Art Counsel selects 30 gifted artists.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1530071135
• ISBN13: 9781530071135
• Release Date: March 2016
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 0.2" x 8.0"