[MONTEREY, CA] Picture it. There she was in her hometown studio, painting her perspective on 1906 San Francisco when the earthquake of the century toppled her easel and erased her subject matter, sending her, along with a tide of displaced artists to the relative security of the Monterey Peninsula. She reestablished herself in a studio on the second floor of the Custom House and began painting a city commission of 12 of Monterey’s historic buildings and adobes. Perhaps it was her training at the San Francisco School of Design, influenced by her time in France, where she studied at Académie Julian and painted at Monet’s home in Giverny. Clearly along the way, Evelyn McCormick learned to paint not merely the subject but also its story, as told in an accessible style that brings the viewer into the setting.

Presented in the Coburn Gallery, this season’s CloseUP exhibition, which focuses on a single, notable work from the Museum’s permanent collection, features McCormick’s Sherman Headquarters, Monterey, an oil on canvas, circa 1930. The painting was donated to the Museum in 1974, a gift of Mrs. J. R. Barker. The exhibition puts McCormick in historical and cultural context, and includes a variety of materials that encourage a close, enriched exchange between the viewer and the work of art. The impact and influence of McCormick’s life (1862-1948) and work among her contemporaries and up to the present day also will be explored. 

About The Monterey Museum of Art
The Monterey Museum of Art collects, preserves, and interprets the art of California from the nineteenth century to the present day, within a national and international context. In this way, we expand the appreciation of our evolving artistic legacy and inspire a passion for the visual arts. The Monterey Museum of Art was established in 1959 as a chapter of the American Federation of the Arts. The permanent collection of 14,000 objects includes paintings, photographs, works on paper and Asian ceramics, and significant holdings of California paintings by artists such as Armin Hansen and William F. Ritschel, in addition to world-renowned photographers including Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. The Monterey Museum of Art has two locations: 559 Pacific Street and 720 Via Mirada, Monterey, CA, 93940. The Museum is open: Wednesday through Saturday, 11 am to 5 pm and Sunday 1 to 4 pm. Admission: $5 general, $2.50 student and military. Museum members and children under 12 are free. For more information, please visit www.montereyart.org or call 831.372.5477.