Common Ground: Early 20th-Century Artist Communities in Southern California

Common Ground explores how artists’ communities in Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and La Jolla contributed to the development of California plein air painting in the early 20th century. Southern California experienced rapid growth during this period, as marked by population increases, suburban expansion, and the rise of automobile culture.

Amid such transformations, a new wave of artists, many recent arrivals to the region, gravitated toward the region’s scenic locales. There they formed friendships and alliances that enabled artistic exchange and members gathered for painting trips, group exhibitions, and social events. These collaborative efforts honed their individual practices, gave plein air painting national visibility, and enriched the cultural fabric of their communities. The exhibition presents artworks by Franz A. Bischoff, Alfred R. Mitchell, Edgar Payne, Elsie Palmer Payne, Guy Rose, William Wendt, and others.

Curated by graduate students from UC Irvine’s Visual Studies Ph.D. program, the exhibition features thirty-six works that map out these creative ecosystems and evoke the spirit of fellowship that thrived in these seemingly uninhabited landscapes.