Published in connection with the exhibition of the same name held at the Oakland Museum of California, Oct. 26, 2006-Feb. 17, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (pages 252-264) and indexes.
Summary:
San Francisco artists Arthur F. Mathews (1860-1945) and Lucia K. Mathews (1870-1955) produced murals, easel paintings, furniture, interior design, graphics, wooden frames, and other objects in what has come to be known as the California Decorative Style. Arthur's easel paintings and murals placed figures of myth and allegory in idyllic California settings that evoke a new Arcadia, where they danced, in fanciful Greek garb, through light-filled landscapes. Similarly prolific, Lucia painted portraits, landscapes, and botanicals in a soft color palette; her dreamy, windswept scenes of the Monterey Peninsula are accented with diffused light and a golden glow. Her expertise as a decorative artist established her as one of the leading artists of early-twentieth-century California. Committed to their mission of treasuring the California they knew and loved, while urging their community forward in the quest for high artistic values, Arthur and Lucia Mathews were key players in California history and in encouraging a West Coast aesthetic. As the leaders of the California Decorative Style, they hold an important and honored place in the history of all American art.
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