The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Summer 1986, Volume 32, Number 3
Thomas L. Scharf, Editor

Painting Ladies ~ The Artists ~ The Images

The Images

Anni Baldaugh's painting: Murial  
Cover image: Anni Baldaugh’s painting Murial was one of her most popular works. It was frequently exhibited between 1926 and 1947 including being the artist’s entry for exhibition at the California Pacific International Exposition held in San Diego in 1935.

Alice Klauber  
Annie Pierce painted this watercolor of her friend Alice Klauber at an easel in 1901. San Diego History Center, gift of the Estate of Leda Klauber, 1981.

Kate Sessions  
Famous San Diego horticulturist Kate Sessions sat for Anni Baldaugh in the early 1930s. The portrait belongs to the San Diego Floral Association.

Scenic View of the Village  
Baranceanu’s mural Scenic View of the Village (1935-36)
can still be enjoyed in the La Jolla Post Office.

Hilda Preibisius  
W.P.A. illustrator and artist friend Hilda Preibisius (1901-1981) sat for Belle Baranceanu in the mid-1930s, when both were employed on the W.P.A. Curriculum Project for the San Diego City Schools. San Diego Historical Society, gift of the artist, 1980.

Esther Stevens Barney  
Esther Stevens Barney (far right) is seen at the Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park with ceramic artist Blasa Quevedo, painter Charles Reiffel, and Mrs. O.B. Wetzell, Jr., in 1940, one year before the cottages were taken over by the Navy.

Banana Flower and Leaf  
At the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park, Esther Stevens Barney exhibited a watercolor entitled Banana Flower and Leaf which may be this piece now in the collection of the San Diego History Center (gift of Ivan Messenger, 1979). Barney received a bronze medal for her various contributions to the fair.

Hope Mercereau Bryson  
Hope Mercereau Bryson.
Photograph by Jonas de Vore, 1927.

China painting  
Besides her oil and watercolor paintings, Lydia Knapp Horton also produced some fine expamples of china painting. San Diego Historical Society, gift of Mrs Philip Knapp, 1973

Flowers by Martha Miles Jones  
Although best know as a painter of miniatures, Martha Miles Jones was also accomplished at painting flowers such as these azaleas. San Diego History Center, gift of Isabelle Churchman, 1979.

Alice Klauber  
Alice Klauber (c. 1920)

Sketch by Alice Klauber  
This rapid oil sketch by Alice Klauber shows a debt to the bravura brushwork of her friend and teacher, Robert Henri.

Ruth Powers Ortlieb  
Ruth Powers Ortlieb.

Ruth Powers Ortlieb  
Ruth Powers Ortlieb’s progressive art tendencies are evident in her 1931 painting Leisure Time Mother.

Mina Pulsifer  
Mina Pulsifer began her art studies
at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Portrait of Donal Hord.  
In this 1950 portrait, Mina Pulsifer brilliantly captured both the shyness and intensity of prominent local sculptor Donal Hord (1902-1966). San Diego History Center, gift of the artist, 1979.

Charles Fries portrait by Jean Rittenhouse  
“Dean” of San Diego painters, Charles Fries (1854-1940) sat for this portrait sketch by Jean Rittenhouse; San Diego History Center, gift of Mrs. Page Rittenhouse, 1954.

Margot Rocle with her two sons  
Margot Rocle with her two sons James (left) and Antoine.
Photograph by Lou Goodale Bigelow (c.1930.

Market Day at Concarneau  
Rocle’s painting Market Day at Concarneau (c. 1930) brings to mind the Brittany paintings of Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard.

Elizabeth Sherman with Reginald Poland  
In this 1940 photograph, Elizabeth Sherman shows a water color to Reginald Poland, director of the San Diego Museum of Art from 1926 to 1950.

Edith White specialized in painting roses.  
Edith White specialized in painting roses. She was the principal art instructor at the Theosophical Society’s Raja Yoga Academy from 1902 to 1930, and during that time often added “Point Loma Art School” after her signature. San Diego Historical Society, gift of Mrs. Iverson Harris in memory of her husband, 1979.

Mary Belle Williams  
Mary Belle Williams as photographed by Jonas de Vore (1927), Kate Sessions sat for Williams in 1935. The portrait (below) was presented by the Pacific Beach Chamber of Commerce to the City of San Diego on Kate Sessions Day at the California Pacific Exposition, and now hangs in the California Room of the San Diego Public Library..

Kate Sessions  
Kate Sessions sat for Williams in 1935. The portrait was presented by the Pacific Beach Chamber of Commerce to the City of San Diego on Kate Sessions Day at the California Pacific Exposition, and now hangs in the California Room of the San Diego Public Library.

Seven Arts mural at La Jolla High School  
Back cover: Belle Baranceanu puts some finishing touches on her Seven Arts mural at La Jolla High School, painted for the W.P. A. in 1940. Sadly, the mural, which she considered to be her finest, was lost when the building was demolished in 1975.