Tag Archives: Lockwood de Forest

Sullivan Goss Celebrates 30 Years of Art

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Painting by Meredith Brooks Abbott

Painting by Meredith Brooks Abbott

Congratulations to Sullivan Goss. The iconic gallery is about to turn 30 and is celebrating with a special exhibition Sept. 4-Nov. 30.

To celebrate, the gallery will present an exhibition of each of the gallery’s currently represented artists. Signature examples by each of these artists will be on view with stories of the gallery’s history. In addition, the gallery will exhibit photographs of many of its greatest patrons by local photographer Stacey Byers.

"Foothill Images," Nicole Strasburg, 2013. Oil on birch panel.

“Foothill Images,” Nicole Strasburg, 2013. Oil on birch panel.

Artists included in this exhibition are Meredith Brooks Abbott, Anders Aldrin, Ken Bortolazzo, Colin Campbell Cooper, Leon Dabo, Lockwood de Forest, Edgar Ewing, Anya Fisher, Jon Francis, Don Freeman, Sidney Gordin, Robin Gowen, Richard Haines, Lyla Harcoff, Betty Lane, Dan Lutz, Nell Brooker Mayhew, Ben Messick, John Nava, Hank Pitcher, Frederick Remahl, Nicole Strasburg, Jean Swiggett, Sarah Vedder, Grace Vollmer and Howard Warshaw.

Sullivan Goss is located at 7 E. Anapamu St. in downtown Santa Barbara.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons on September 3, 2014.

LOCKWOOD DE FOREST’s SANTA BARBARA

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Rincon Peak From Mission Ridge by Lockwood de Forest

Rincon Peak From Mission Ridge by Lockwood de Forest

Don’t miss “Lockwood de Forest’s Santa Barbara,” a new exhibition of  24 paintings of Santa Barbara, Montecito and Santa Ynez by Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery beginning April 3, 1st Thursday, from 5 – 8 p.m. The work will be on view at the gallery, located at 7 E. Anapumu St., until June 29.

Painted between 1903 and 1922, these works relate a vision of the vast and undeveloped landscape that was once Santa Barbara.

Born to an old and prosperous family in Manhattan, de Forest began to draw from nature when he was just a boy. As a young man he trained under his cousin, Frederic Church, who was likely the most admired American landscape painter of his day. Returning home, de Forest decided to pursue a career in art and design and spent vast amounts of time reading, designing, and painting at Olana, Church’s home in the Hudson River Valley of New York. He also took up studio space in New York’s storied Tenth Street Studio Building, where he worked near luminaries like Albert Bierstadt, Winslow Homer and William Merritt Chase.

Subsequently, he married and embarked on a celebrated career in Orientalist design, though he never stopped exhibiting his paintings. At the dawn of the twentieth century, de Forest began spending months of the year in Santa Barbara. It was then that he refocused on his painting career.

De Forest retired in Santa Barbara and his son, Lockwood de Forest III, became a famous landscape architect in the area.

In 1994, Sullivan Goss began to buy and sell the paintings of an artist who was, by then, somewhat obscure. In the twenty years since de Forest has again become of the most recognized and sought after names in early California art. It has taken seven books and numerous museum shows on both coasts of the U.S. to reacquaint the world with the art of Lockwood de Forest, but at last, his star has reached its former brilliance.

Coming on the heels of the recent exhibition, Luminescent Santa Barbara: Lockwood de Forest, at Santa Barbara Historical Museum, Sullivan Goss will present 11 published works and 13 never-before exhibited paintings.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara SEASONS on April 1, 2014.