FRANK TOLLES CHAMBERLIN (1873 1961) Approaching Los Angeles

Sale 2678 - Lot 87

Unsold

Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500

FRANK TOLLES CHAMBERLIN (1873-1961)
Approaching Los Angeles.

Watercolor on wove paper, circa 1930. 325x442 mm; 12¾x17⅜ inches. Titled and inscribed with the artist's name by his wife, Katharine Beecher Stetson.

Provenance
The artist.
Thence by descent, private collection, California and New Mexico.
Private collection, New Mexico, 2022.

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Additional Details

A California native, Frank Tolles Chamberlin was born in San Francisco and worked primarily as a plein air painter and muralist in Pasadena. Chamberlin's style was different from his contemporaries, as he sought balance and harmony with muted tones, instead of using broad brushstrokes in the Impressionist tradition.

While a child, Chamberlin and his family moved east, to Vermont and then to Hartford. He studied at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford and at the Art Students League in New York. In 1908, Chamberlin received the prestigious Prix de Rome from the American Academy in recognition of his talent as a muralist, funding a three year study abroad trip to Italy, where he was taught by Frank Millet. Upon his return to New York in 1912, Chamberlin taught at Columbia University. In 1918, Chamberlin married Katharine Beecher Stetson, an artist and sculptor. Beecher was the daughter of writer Charlotte Perkins and artist Charles W. Stetson. In 1920, Chamberlin and Stetson moved to Pasadena, and Chamberlin continued to teach at the Otis Art Institute and the University of Southern California. He became one of the founding faculty members of the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1921 (now part of the California Institute of the Arts). Aside from teaching the next generation of artists, Chamberlin was also influential in artist groups which aimed to promote local artists, including the California Art Club, California Water Color Society, the California Printmakers, the Pasadena Fine Arts Club, the New York Architectural League, and the American Federation of Arts.