Leah Rinne Hamilton is an underappreciated member of the Berkeley school.
I have been holding on to a quantity of her works
for many years and have sold just a couple during that time because I
have not tried to sell them. Now I am ready. I'll be listing a number
of them now and over the coming months. The painting being sold in this
auction is a nice still watercolor life in black and white. It is
signed lower right and is not dated but looks to be early 1940's to
me. There are two small tears that
I didn't notice until I looked at the back of the painting. One is at
the right center in the tablecloth and the other is in the upper right
in the background. They have been taped from behind but could probably
be done better. There is some light wrinkling in a couple of spots as
well. There are tape remnants around the edges from a prior framing
job. The watercolor measures approximately 17 3/4" x 11 3/4".
Leah Rinne Hamilton is one of the best listed, most important, underrated early California regionalist and modernist painters. She is included in over a dozen major reference books. She has color reproductions of her work in McClellan's California Watercolors 1850-1970 and in his book The California Style as well as in Westphal's book American Scene Painting. She also has a reproduction of her work (I think it is color but my copy was lost and I'm not certain) in Trenton's book Independent Spirits. Years ago, Jan Holloway was kind enough to send me a list of Leah Hamiltons exhibitions and award. She had compiled the list when Her gallery held a one woman show of her work in 1991. The exhibitions she participated in during her active career are as follows:
1932 Oakland Art Gallery (as Leah I Rinne) Young Girl
1935 San Francisco Museum of Art Opening Exhibition (as Leah I Rinne) - Little Brown Table (oil), Pears (oil)
1937 San Francisco Museum of Art, Second Annual WAtercolor Exhibition, Of the City
1939 Foundation of Western Art, Los Angeles, Calif. (prize winner)
1939 San Francisco Museum of Art, Watercolors by San Francisco and Bay Region Artists, A Bit of Old San Francisco, Sutro Gardens, Studio Interior, House on Chestnut, Sunday Afternoon, On Lombard Street
1939 San Francisco Museum of Art, Third Annual Watercolor Exhibition, On Figueroa, Winter Flood (Artists' Fund Prize)
1939 Art Institute of Chicago, International Watercolor Exhibition, Winter Flood
1940 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 60th Annual (oils), An Old Orchard (Anne Bremer Memorial Award)
1940 San Francisco Museum of Art, Fourth Annual Watercolor Exhibition, San Francisco Street
1940 Pacific Coast States WAtercolor Exhibition, Riverside Museum, New York City, House on Russian Hill (watercolor)
1940Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, Houses of San Francisco (oil), Model with a Red Drape (oil), Abstraction (plaster)
1941 Faulkner Memorial Art Gallery, Santa Barbara, Columbus Square (watercolor)
1941 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 61st Annual Exhibition (oils) Landscape, Portrait
1941 San Francisco Museum of Art, 5th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, Columbus Square, Marin County
1942 Foundation of Western Art, Los Angeles, Calif. Old Part of Town (watercolor)
1942 San Francisco Society of Women Artists (elected chairman)
1942 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 62nd Annual Exhibition (oils) View from the Hill (First Award, catalog cover illustration)
1942 San Francisco Museum of Art, 6th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, Loading, Shipping, Steel
1943 Art Institute of Chicago, 54th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition View from the Hill (oil)
1943 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. View from the Hill (oil)
1943 San Francisco Museum of Art, 7th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, San Francisco Bay
1943 San Francisco Society of Women Artists, Broken Landscape (oil), Parachutes (watercolor)
1943 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 63rd Annual Exhibition (oils) Painter in War Zone (oil and tempera)
1943 Foundation of Western Art, Los Angeles, Calif. California Contemporary Painters, Fog on Marin Rock
1944 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 64th Annual Exhibition (oils) Mice and Men, Broken Mirrors - elected vice-president of the San Francisco Art Association
1944 San Francisco Society of Women Artists, Corsica (oil), Wild Lake (watercolor)
1944 San Francisco Museum of Art, 8th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, Green River, Wyoming, The Sea
1945 San Francisco Society of Women Artists, Interiors, Figure, Anorak (watercolor)
1945 San Francisco Museum of Art, 9th Annual Drawing and Print Exhibition, Lone (Pen and Ink)
1945 San Francisco Museum of Art, "Art of Our Time" (Artists Invitation)
1945 California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, Solo Exhibition
1946 San Francisco Museum of Art, 10th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, Figure Study, Trees
1946 City of Paris Rotunda Gallery, San Francisco
1946 City of Paris Rotunda Gallery, Three-Artist Show
1946 City of Paris Rotunda Gallery, "Artists of the Rotunda Circle"
1946 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 66th Annual (oils), San Francisco, Solitude
1946 San Francisco Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, Journey into the Forest (oil)
1947 Riverside Museum, New York City, Figures After the Storm, Tony on the Fourth
1947 The Art Institute of Chicago-American Art, Coronation (oil)
1947 San Francisco Museum of Art, 11th Annual Drawing and Print Exhibition, Merriment (ink)
1947 California State Fair, Subversion (oil) 1rst Prize, catalog illustration on p. 19
1948 San Francisco Museum of Art, 12th Annual Drawing and Print Exhibition, Ardour, Rendez-Vous (wash drawing)
1948 San Francisco Museum of Art, 12th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, Light on Light
1948 Whitney Museum of Art, New York City, Euripus
1948 San Francisco Museum of Art, 67th Annual, Fireball, Release (oils)
1948 San Francisco Women Artists, 23rd Annual, Remembrance (gouache)
1949 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 68th Annual Exhibition, Of Time and Space (oil)
1949 San Francisco Museum of Art, 13th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, Warp
1950 San Francisco Women Artists, 25th Annual, Chase (oil)
1950 San Francisco Museum of Art, 14th Watercolor Exposition, Composition (gouache)
1950 San Francisco Museum of Art, Three Man Show
1950 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 69th Annual Exhibition, Structure (oil)
1951 San Francisco Women Artists, 26th Annual, Willow Road (oil) award
1951 San Francisco Museum of Art, 15th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, Atmosphere of Freedom, Summer Frolic
1951 California State Fair, Shafts of Light (oil)
1951 San Francisco Museum of Art, 15th Annual Drawing and Print Exhibition, Air Currents (wash drawing)
1952 California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 5th Annual American Painting Exhibition, The Green Stream (oil)
1952 San Francisco Women Artists, 27th Annual, Embers (oil), Fire and Light (gouache)-award
1952 San Francisco Museum of Art - catalog illustrations
1952 Richmond Art Center, Richmond, Calif., 2nd Annual, Shadows on the Ground (oil)
1953 San Francisco Museum of Art, 17th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, There it Was (gouache)
1953 San Francisco Women Artists, 28th Annual, Borealis (oil)
1953 San Francisco Museum of Art, 17th Annual Drawing and Print Exhibition, Growth (ink and gouache)
1953 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 72nd Annual, Joyous Spirit (oil) award
1953 Richmond Art Center, Richmond, Calif., 3rd Annual, Summer Holiday (oil)
1954 San Francisco Museum of Art, 18th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, Sprite (gouache)
1954 San Francisco Women Artists, 29th Annual, Dancing Sky (oil) award
1954 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 73rd Annual, Morning Star (oil)
1955 Pacific Coast Art, A traveling show to Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Soa Paulo, The Bridge (oil)
1955 San Francisco Museum of Art- Bulletin, The Bridge illustrated
1955 San Francisco Museum of Art, Art in the Twentieth Century, Chase (oil)
1955 San Francisco Museum of Art, 19th Annual Watercolor Exhibition, Return (gouache)
1955 San Francisco Women Artists, 13th Annual, Indian Summer (oil)
1956 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 75th Annual, Ritual (oil)
1957 San Francisco Museum of Art, SFAA 76th Annual, Trojan Horse (oil)
1958 San Francisco Museum of Art, Catalog of the Art Bank, Impact (oil)
1959 San Francisco Women Artists, 34th Annual, Parched Earth (oil)
1991 Jan Holloway Gallery, San Francisco, One Woman Show
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Biography from Spencer Jon Helfen Fine Arts:
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Leah Hamilton was born Leah I. Rinne in Finland in 1906, and immigrated to California in 1921. She earned an M.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
After traveling and studying in Europe, she was a teacher at Dominican College in San Rafael, California, during which time she married and became Leah Rinne Hamilton.
Hamilton subsequently spent most of her career in San Francisco, where she made her home on the northern slope of Russian Hill. She was president of San Francisco Women Artists, and also was active in the California Watercolor Society and the San Francisco Art Association.
In 1939, Hamilton was included in the “Fourteen Bay Area Watercolorists” show at the San Francisco Museum of Art. Between 1935 and 1958, Leah Hamilton’s work won prizes in numerous other exhibitions at both the San Francisco Museum of Art and the San Francisco Art Association.
Leah Rinne Hamilton passed away in Oakland in 1960.
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| Year |
Author |
Title |
Subtitle |
# Pages |
Color |
| 2005 |
Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson (Ed) |
The Artists Bluebook: 34,000 North |
American Artists to March 2005 |
479 |
No |
| 2005 |
Davenport, Ray |
Davenport's Art Reference: |
The Gold Edition |
|
No |
| 2002 |
McClelland, Gordon; Jay Last |
California Watercolors 1850-1970, |
An Illustrated History & Biographical Dictionary |
231 |
Yes |
| 2002 |
Hughes, Edan Milton |
Artists in California: 1786-1940
Available For Sale at Crocker Art Museum Store. |
(Two Volumes) |
1249 |
No |
| 1999 |
Falk, Peter Hastings (ed.) |
Who Was Who in American Art |
1564-1975 3 Vols |
3724 |
No |
| 1995 |
Trenton, Patricia |
* Independent Spirits |
Women Painters of the American West 1890-1945 |
304 |
Yes |
| 1991 |
Westphal, Ruth/Janet B Dominik |
American Scene Painting |
California, 1930s and 1940s |
240 |
Yes |
| 1990 |
Falk, Peter Hastings |
* The Annual Exhibition Record of |
the Art Institute of Chicago |
1117 |
No |
| 1989 |
Hughes, Edan Milton |
Artists in California, 1786-1940 |
|
637 |
No |
| 1985 |
McClelland, Gordon/Jay Last |
The California Style |
Watercolor Artists 1925-1955 |
259 |
Yes |
| 1958 |
Art Bank of the SFAA |
San Francisco Art Association |
Painting and Sculpture (in) |
87 |
No |
| 1956 |
Long Beach Muni Art Center |
California Painting |
40 Painters |
90 |
No |
| 1948 |
Mallett, Daniel Trowbridge |
Index of Artists |
International Biographical (2 Vols) |
811 |
No | |
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All of my paintings are offered subject to prior sale. Most of what I list on Ebay is in my home and waiting for your purchase. Some items however are hanging in an antique mall where they are available for immediate purchase. I also do shows occasionally where I may be gone for a few days and be unable to check online to remove an item that is listed before I sell it in person. I have never had a case where a painting purchased on ebay has been unavailable for actual purchase but it could happen so I am making this disclaimer now.
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Please email me with any questions at clarkfinearts@sbcglobal.net . The winning bidder is to pay by paypal, check or money order with 5 days of the close of the sale. California buyer will add 7 1/2% sales tax.
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