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Indepth Arts News:
"Paintings of George Post"
1999-10-09 until 1999-11-30
Mendocino Art Center
Mendocino, CA,
USA United States of America
During the month of October, Mendocino Art Center will present a memorial
exhibition for George Post (1906-1997), extraordinary artist and
watercolor teacher. This show is part of the MAC 40th Anniversary
Celebration. George Post taught workshops in Mendocino for many years.
George Post was born and raised in Oakland, California. He earned a 2 1/2
year scholarship and his bachelor's degree from the California School of
Fine Art (now the San Francisco Art Institute), and made his home in San
Francisco. His work reflects his love of the San Francisco - Bay Area;
the subjects for many of his watercolors are Bay Area city streets,
ocean, estuary and construction sites, or the homes of friends and
neighbors.
INSTRUCTOR/TEACHER:
Post taught at California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland,
California, for twenty-five years, from 1947 to 1972. According to his
friend and partner, Elvin Fowler, Post loved CCAC and his students.
George liked encouraging his students. He liked the students' reactions
to what he was saying; it was good playback and helped him refine what he
was teaching. A permanent scholarship fund has been established in
Post's name at CCAC.
In addition to California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, and the
Mendocino Art Center in Mendocino, Post also taught watercolor elsewhere
including the Art Students League of San Francisco; Stanford University,
Fine Arts Gallery in San Diego, the Rex Brandt- Phil Dike Summer School
of Painting in Corona del Mar, San Jose State College, Holly Name
College, as well as classes up and down the West Coast. He also
instructed classes in Boise, Idaho and Houston, Texas. He taught classes
for T.H. Hewitt in Mexico City, Taxco, Oxaca, Italy, San Miguel Allende,
Venice and Lake Como and also taught in Spain, Morocco, Nova Scotia, New
Orleans, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Nevada, California and Texas. He retired
from teaching in 1988.
Among his many accomplishments, George Post had his first one man show in
1931 at the Beax Arts Gallery in San Francisco. Post traveled frequently
and often taught workshops as part of the journey. He would set up and
begin painting on location with a number of workshop participants
clustered around to watch him handle delicate watercolors with ease,
masterful simplicity and aplomb. In 1937-1938 he traveled across Europe
painting and sketching. Early in his career he visited Germany, Austria,
Yugoslavia, Italy, France and Belgium. Later on, he toured Japan, Taiwan,
Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Egypt,
Turkey, Greece, Majorca, Italy, France, England and Holland. In 1941
Fortune magazine reproduced a series of watercolor paintings by Post in
the July issue. Ford Times magazine published a series of George Post
watercolors in their July 1956 issue.
EXHIBITIONS:
Over the years he has had numerous one-man exhibitions, some of which
were at the San Francisco Art Center, California College of Arts and
Crafts, San Francisco Museum of Art, the Oakland Art Gallery, California
Palace of the Legion of Honor, University of Washington (Seattle),
Laguna Beach Art Center, Carmel Art Gallery, Sacramento Art Center,
Rotunda Gallery (San Francisco), Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Witte
Museum (San Antonio), M.H . DeYoung Museum (San Francisco), Seattle Art
Museum, Miami Beach Art Center, Florida; and Form Gallery, Wichita.
Other one-man exhibitions include Eastern Washington Historical Society,
Spokane; San Jose State College, Humboldt State College Art Gallery,
University of Redlands, among others.
MILESTONES:
In 1940 New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased one of Post's
watercolors titled, Mojave Desert for their permanent collection. In
1941 the San Francisco Museum of Art purchased a watercolor titled
Winter Day, Tacoma. Post was elected a full member of the American
Watercolor Society in New York City, 1954 and elected a member of the
West Coast Watercolor Society, in 1963. In 1960 the California Palace of
the Legion of Honor in San Francisco featured a major retrospective
exhibition of his watercolors.
PUBLICATIONS:
George Post - a California Watercolorist. A transcribed manuscript from
an oral interview conducted by Ruth Teiser. Published by the Oral History
Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA. It is available
through the Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, University of
California, Berkeley, California.
George Post by Gordon T. McClelland. Published by Hillcrest Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 10636, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. ISBN 0-914589-08--3
NOTE: Although this book is out of print, a limited number of copies may
still be available through Amazon.com or by contacting Woody Hansen at
916 383-3427.
This information compiled by Woody Hansen from the following resources:
1. Mendocino Art Center publicity material.
2. California College of Arts and Crafts Campaign News Bulletin
3. The book George Post by Gordon T. McClelland.
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