Early California Impressionism.
Spring Flowers--John M. Gamble
From the Crocker Art Museum:
Gamble returned to San Francisco in 1893, but when his studio was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, he moved to Santa Barbara. In both locales, he rendered the state’s poppies, lupine, buckwheat, and ceanothus — often in combinations of complementary hues. Of these, the golden poppy, adopted as the state flower in 1903, was his favorite, as it seemed to evoke California’s color, youthful energy, and promise.
This coastal view depicts poppies and lupine at Goleta Point near Santa Barbara. Many of Gamble’s paintings depict the Santa Barbara region where, by the 1920s, he had achieved success and earned the appellation Dean of Santa Barbara Artists. In 1929, he joined the faculty of the Santa Barbara School of the Arts, teaching drawing and landscape painting. Failing eyesight slowed his painting in later years. He died at the age of 93.
John Marshall Gamble (American, 1863–1957), Spring Flowers (Poppies and Lupine, Goleta Point), n.d. Oil on canvas, 12 in. x 16 in. (30.48 cm x 40.64 cm), Crocker Art Museum, Melza and Ted Barr Collection, 2008.102