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Lot 49
Alson Skinner Clark(1876-1949)Commodore Sloat taking Monterey 52 x 81 1/4in overall: 55 x 84in
28 April 2015, 18:00 PDT
Los AngelesSold for US$75,000 inc. premium
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Alson Skinner Clark (1876-1949)
Commodore Sloat taking Monterey
signed and dated 'Alson Clark '26' (lower right)
oil on canvas
52 x 81 1/4in
overall: 55 x 84in
Painted in 1926
signed and dated 'Alson Clark '26' (lower right)
oil on canvas
52 x 81 1/4in
overall: 55 x 84in
Painted in 1926
Footnotes
Provenance
Commissioned from the artist by J. Harvey McCarthy, 1925 - 26.
Carthay Circle Theater, Los Angeles, 1926 (closed and demolished in 1969).
Private collection, Southern California.
Exhibited
Los Angeles, California, Carthay Circle Theater, 1926 - 1969.
Literature
American Magazine of Art, January, 1927.
Artland Magazine, August, California History Embodied in Art of New Theater, Carolyn Pearson, 1929, illus. p. 9-11.
J. Stern, Alson S. Clark, Beverly Hills, Petersen Galleries, 1983, p. 45, pl. 97, illus.
J.I. Smith, J. Stern, California, This Golden Land of Promise, Irvine, 2001, p. 225, illus. in color.
In 1844, Commodore John D. Sloat (1781-1867) was appointed to command the Naval Pacific Squadron. In 1845, as tensions with Mexico grew, he was instructed to land in Alta, California and claim it for the United States if war broke out. Receiving a report of fighting on the Texas border while off Mazatlán, he raced north (the British were reportedly interested in California too), engaged in a skirmish called the Battle of Monterey, raised the flag over the Customs House at Monterey on July 7, 1846, and issued a proclamation announcing that California was now part of the United States. He was a Military Governor of California for only seven days, before handing over the office to Robert F. Stockton.
This painting is one of a series of works commissioned in 1926 by J. Harvey McCarthy for the lobby and mezzanine of the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles, one of the most famous Hollywood movie palaces of the Golden Age. They were to commemorate the early history of California in seven large oil paintings. Frank Tenney Johnson was commissioned to paint the main curtain of the theater. The theater was a hugely successful venue in the 1920s and '30s. Several articles were written, not only about the performances, but the theater and its interior as well. In 1926, Caroline Pearson wrote, "J. Harvey McCarthy...has turned a barley field into one of the most beautiful sections of the city and built a theater which is a model of artistry. The rich and romantic history of California is very dear to Mr. McCarthy, as his father was one of the early settlers, and he longed for many years to create something which would endure as an everlasting tribute to the brave pioneer men and women who faced untold hardships to found this golden state. The final inspiration came to him one afternoon while seated in a theater with his wife. Turning to her he said: I'm going to build a theater and decorate it with the history of California. It shall be representative of the finest things in art."
The illustration of the paintings in American Magazine of Art in 1927 brought them national attention and acclaim.
Demand for Alson Clark's work was strong in Southern California, attested by numerous other commissioned projects completed by the artist in the 1920s; large paintings for the Pasadena Community Playhouse and the Pasadena Junior College Theater and murals for the First National Bank of Pasadena and the California Club in downtown Los Angeles.
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