MCASD’s Monte Carlo Night

Written by Emily Shaw

On September 7 join the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla for an unforgettable night at the annual event, entitled Monte Carlo: A Night at Les Caves. Guests will take an imaginative tour of the South of France, a night of living the high life in St. Tropez.

This glitzy fundraiser will be organized by chairs Sonia and Gavin Mandelbaum. As an exciting first in the event’s history, the museum has snagged a contemporary artist, local Kelsey Brookes, to be its art ambassador. His psychedelic original works have garnered fame in the local art world, and Brookes will contribute his unique vision to ensure that the museum’s Monte Carlo event is one special night.

Starting at 6:30 pm, the night will consist of a cocktail reception, followed by a dinner, and then an after party stretching into the wee hours of September 8.

The fundraiser goes to a great cause, aiding in funding the museum’s exhibitions and educational programs. Tickets are available for purchase beginning July 26. You may also contact April Farrell at 858 454 3541 x162, or aefarrell@mcasd.org for tickets.

After or before the big night at the museum, be sure to stop by another one of La Jolla’s art havens, Thumbprint Gallery. The La Jolla art gallery is located at 920 Kline Street and features contemporary, urban, lowbrow and graffiti art from local artists. It is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Sources

https://www.mcasd.org/events/monte-carlo-night-les-caves-0

Foreign Artists Find Home in La Jolla

Monterey Coat, Franz Anton Bischoff

It does not take more than a few minutes to take in the view of the California coast to comprehend why so many artists paint there. The rocky shoreline of La Jolla combined with the special light quality that only Southern California has creates a kind of aesthetic magic that is almost irresistible. With this in mind, it is perfectly understandable why artists like Alfred Mitchell and Franz Anton Bischoff traveled so far from home to settle in sunny California!

Franz Anton Bischoff was born in Austria in 1864. He was trained as a fine porcelain painter before coming to the United States in 1885. Over the next twenty years, Bischoff established himself as the foremost china painter in America. In the 1920’s Bischoff moved to Southern California where he took up landscape painting. He traveled the coast, painting La Jolla, San Diego, Laguna, Monterey, and parts of Palm Springs.

Alfred Mitchell began his artistic career in 1913 at the San Diego Academy of Art under Maurice Braun. Two years later, Mitchell won the silver medal at the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego. After studying more in his hometown of Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Alfred traveled across Europe in 1921. Mitchell returned to San Diego and took an active role in the local art community. In 1929, Mitchell became a founding member of the Associated Artists of San Diego. He also was an important figure in the early years of the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego and the La Jolla Art Association. 

This pattern of artists finding a new home in San Diego and La Jolla continues to this day. The beauty of the area is one draw, certainly, but the thriving local art community contributes as well. To learn more about local art in La Jolla and the Southern California area, visit Thumbprint Gallery on Kline Street in La Jolla. The gallery exhibits works by lowbrow and urban artists and is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12pm to 4pm.

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

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/2001-3/mitchell.htm

http://www.franzbischoff.com/