The Dean of San Diego Painters Leaves Impact on La Jolla

Rocky Arroyo, Charles Fries

All artists need some kind of mentor or instructor. Some San Diego artists were lucky enough to have the tutelage of painter Charles Arthur Fries in the 1890s. Charles Fries's involvement in the San Diego and La Jolla art community was enormous. So much so that he was given the nickname the “Dean of San Diego Painters.”

Charles Arthur Fries was born in Hillsboro, Ohio in 1854. He studied art under Charles T. Webber at the McMicken School of Design. Fries worked at the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette as a staff photographer and illustrator before heading off to Paris and London to witness the impressionist movement. After his return to the United States, Fries began making lithographs for various publishing magazines in Cincinnati.

In 1896 Fries moved his family to San Diego. They lived for several months at the San Juan Capistrano Mission. During that time, Fries’s daughter fell ill, inspiring his moving painting: Too Late. The painting portrays a mourning mother holding her deceased daughter as the doctor stands in the doorway. The painting became a poster ad in countless pharmacies nationwide. Fries's daughter recovered.

Fries became increasingly involved in the artistic community in San Diego and La Jolla. He became a member of the San Diego Art Guild, the Art Association in Laguna Beach, the California Art Club, and the San Diego Contemporary Artists. Charles helped found the La Jolla Art Association and the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego. He taught and painted in Yosemite, Death Valley, Baja California, and San Diego.

Thanks to the hard work of artists like Charles Arthur Fries, the La Jolla artistic community was given a strong foundation. Today the community of La Jolla continues to encourage the creativity and innovation of local artists. To see what is fresh in the LaJolla art world stop by Thumbprint Gallery on Kline Street. The gallery exhibits works from local artists in the genre of urban and lowbrow art.

Source: http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v54-4/pdf/v54-4Stern.pdf

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/online_resources/fries.html