The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Summer 2001, Volume 47, Number 3
Gregg Hennessey, Editor

La Jolla Shores
Alson Skinner Clark
American, 1876-1949
Oil on Canvas, circa 1925
Signed LR: Alson Clark
26 x 32 inches
Courtesty of Laurence and Vera Miller

Balboa Park: California Tower from Alcazar Garden
Alson Skinner Clark
American, 1876-1949
Oil on Canvas on Board, 1923
Signed and dated LL: Alson Clark, 23
Stamped on reverse: “Alson Clark/[illegible]/Pasadena California/Title: Balboa Park/Price $350” Continuing inscription in pencil: “Courtesy Stendahl Art Gallery” ink: #225
18 1/4 x 22 inches
Courtesy of Kevin and Tamara Kinsella

 


 

 

Clark, Alson Skinner (1876-1949)

Painter, illustrator, muralist

Born in Chicago, Illinois on May 25, 1876. At age 14 Clark enrolled at the AIC, continued in NYC under William M. Chase and the ASL, then on to Paris. In 1899 he studied at Académie Julian, the Whistler School, and with Simon, Cottet, Merson, and Mucha. Returning to United States in 1901, Clark established a studio in Watertown, NY, and then returned to Chicago where in 1903 a successful exhibition allowed for several years of European and Canadian travels. He served as an aerial photographer in World War I, and in 1919 settled in Southern California where in 1922 he and Guy Rose formed the teaching faculty of Pasadena’s Stickney Art School. During this period he also maintained a studio in Palm Springs. Clark was an instructor of landscape classes at Occidental College in Eagle Rock in the late 1930s. He died of a heart attack in Pasadena on March 22, 1949. Architecture is included in many of his landscapes. Clark is one of the most renowned Impressionist of Southern California. Member: American AA of Paris; Chicago Society of Artists; Pasadena Society of Artists; Salmagundi Club; Society of Western Artists; California Art Club; California PM; LAAA. Exhibited: San Diego FA Gallery, 1923; LACMA, 1929 (with Benjamin C. Brown); GGIE, 1939. Awards: bronze medal, St. Louis Exposition, 1904; Cahn prize, AIC, 1906; bronze medal, PPIE, 1915; hon. mention, LACMA, 1922; grand prize, Southwest Museum, 1923; Huntington prize, LACMA , 1924; second prize, Pasadena Art Inst., 1931, first prize, 1933. Works held: Victoria & Albert Museum, London; AIC; LACMA; Muskegon (MI) Art Gallery; San Diego Museum of Art; Watertown (NY) Public Library; Gardena High School; Pasadena Community Theatre; First Nat’l Bank, Pasadena (mural); CSL; Univ. Club, Pasadena; Women’s Athletic Club, LA; Cathay Circle Theatre, LA (murals). Source: WWA 1918; WWC 1928; AAA 1933; WWAA 1936-47; PAP; Impressionism, The California View; Sam; Los Angeles Painters of 1920s; Fld; AAW; SCA; Ben.