Irvine, CA… UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA) today announced its fall exhibition, End of the Range: Charlotte Skinner in the Eastern Sierra, featuring 31 paintings along with drawings, photographs, and ephemera spanning Charlotte Skinner’s lifelong career as an artist and educator. The presentation also includes 24 additional works by artists in Skinner’s circle and 13 related paintings drawn from Langson IMCA’s collection.

On view October 5, 2024 – January 18, 2025, End of the Range is organized by the Nevada Museum of Art, where it was on view October 14, 2023 – May 5, 2024. The exhibition is generously supported by John A. White, Jr., in memory of Charlotte Skinner’s grandson, James Skinner.

Exhibition curator Kolin L. Perry said, “Charlotte Skinner was a remarkable individual, and it has been a privilege to shed light on her creative practice and share her artistry with a broad audience. The Nevada Museum of Art and I are honored to partner with Langson IMCA to present this exhibition in Southern California.”

Charlotte Butler Skinner (1879𑁒1963) defined herself as a painter of the remote Sierra Nevada and desert country of Owens Valley, CA. Lone Pine Peak, Mount Whitney, the Alabama Hills, and other landmarks of that distinctive landscape were the central focus of her body of work. She also immersed herself in printmaking and teaching art classes to local children. Even after Skinner left the family homestead and relocated to Eugene, OR, and later to Morro Bay, CA, she continued to render these scenes for the rest of her life.

Growing up in the Bay Area, Skinner studied painting at the California School of Fine Arts and Mark Hopkins Institute of Art (now known as the San Francisco Art Institute) under Robert Aiken, Arthur Frank Matthews (a founding member of the American Arts and Crafts Movement), and Gottardo Piazzoni. As she became involved in the San Francisco art community, she met fellow student artist and mining engineer, William Lyle Skinner. The couple married in 1905 and moved to Lone Pine, where they resided for almost 30 years.
Skinner’s first painting—an untitled oil on canvas of Owens Lake near the couple’s home—was completed the following year, in 1906. The work already contains several signature elements that characterize her vast oeuvre: a vibrant and varied palette emphasizing greens, blues, and earth tones, and attention to the striking rugged contour of the Eastern Sierra.

Skinner’s artist-friends who visited her in Lone Pine sought new subject matter, inspiration outside of the bustle of San Francisco, and the like-minded creative company of their host and her companions. Guests included many prominent artists and photographers such as Maynard Dixon, Dorothea Lange, Sonya Noskowiak, Roi Partridge, Ralph Stackpole, and William Wendt.

Focusing on dynamic scenes near her homestead, Skinner’s paintings feature statuesque mountain silhouettes, colorful cottonwood groves in irrigated valleys, and forested landscapes of Owens River and Lake. When these resources were diverted to provide water to Los Angeles, drastically altering the landscape and impacting the environment and economy of the region, William Skinner ran for public office to oppose the practice. Ultimately, these efforts failed, and the artist and her husband relocated to Eugene, OR, in 1933.

Members of the extended Skinner family remained in Lone Pine on their 10-acre homestead. They owned and operated the Santa Rosa, Cerro Gordo, and Christmas Gift mines, which produced lead, silver, and zinc. When Skinner and her husband returned to visit, she captured mining scenes in watercolor en plein air, revealing a robust industry that brought many families like the Skinners to the American West.

During this period, Skinner’s colorful, expressive style diverged from the Tonalist painters who guided her early training, including her mentors Piazzoni and Mathews. Her explorations using a more representational approach were informed by contemporaries including Dixon and Wendt, whose richly hued canvases depict similar scenes of California and the region.

Once resettled on the central California Pacific coast in 1935, Skinner again became a part of the art scene, which included some of her longtime acquaintances, such as painters Aaron Kilpatrick, Cadwallader Washburn, and Wendt. She played an active role in the seaside community, organizing and judging local art exhibitions. She regularly opened her home for guests to view her fine art and collection of Native American baskets. This exhibition also features two Panamint Shoshone baskets from her collection.

Langson IMCA interim museum director Richard Aste said, “We are delighted to provide a homecoming for the art of Charlotte Skinner, who lived and worked in Owens Valley for three decades. Featuring Skinner’s depictions of the valley’s deserts and mountains in Irvine will help us tell a more expansive and truthful story of California Impressionism—through the eyes of a gifted woman not currently represented in the museum’s collection.”

Throughout her long life, Skinner continued to paint and exhibit across the West Coast, including the Stanford Art Gallery (1930), the Portland Art Museum (1933), and the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum (1956). Skinner also exhibited at the Nevada Art Gallery (now the Nevada Museum of Art) in 1952 alongside Dixon and Wendt.

A 57-page booklet is available in conjunction with the exhibition and contains a feature essay by exhibition curator, Kolin L. Perry. The booklet is available for purchase at the Nevada Museum of Art shop.

About Nevada Museum of Art
The Nevada Museum of Art is the only art museum in Nevada accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). A private, nonprofit organization founded in 1931, the statewide institution is supported by its membership as well as sponsorships, gifts and grants. Through its permanent collections, original exhibitions and programming, and E.L. Cord Museum School, the Nevada Museum of Art provides meaningful opportunities for people to engage with a range of art and education experiences. The Museum’s Center for Art + Environment is an internationally-recognized research center dedicated to supporting the practice, study, and awareness of creative interactions between people and their environments. The Center houses unique archive materials from more than 1,000 artists working on all seven continents, including Cape Farewell, Michael Heizer, Walter de Maria, Lita Albuquerque, Burning Man, the Center for Land Use Interpretation, Great Basin Native Artists Archive, Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains, and Trevor Paglen’s Orbital Reflector. Learn more at nevadaart.org.

About UCI Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art
UCI Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA) is home to two foundational gifts of California Art from The Irvine Museum and Gerald E. Buck estate. In addition, the permanent collection of more than 4,700 works from the late 19th century and early 20th century through present day continues to grow, augmented by acquisitions and gifts. The university is planning to construct a permanent museum and research institute to serve as a global magnet for the presentation and study of California Art within its social, historical, environmental, and cultural frameworks. Langson IMCA is currently located in an interim museum space at 18881 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 100, in Irvine, CA. It is open to all Tuesday through Saturday 10 am to 4 pm. Admission and parking are free. For more information, visit imca.uci.edu. Follow us on Instagram @langsonimca.

About the University of California, Irvine
Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation, and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 222 degree programs. It is located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.