2476

California Impressionist Francois Girardin Oil Painting Pair [196737]

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California Impressionist Francois Girardin Oil Painting Pair [196737]
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Two original oil paintings by Francios Giardini, signed "F.J. Giardini" at the bottom. with "Bernay's", Los Angeles label on the reverse.
A. California Mountain scene in pastels, oil on board, 7.5 x 5" in original gold frame, 8 x 10.5". circa 1915-25, officially untitled.
B. Pastoral scene in fall with stream at foreground. 5.25 x 4.5" image, gold frame 7.5 x 8.25", officially untitled.

Francois Joseph Giardini, "American Impressionist", "Master of the Canvas", "Richmond School of Landscape", "California Landscape Artist", are among the many accolades given this well known and prolific artist. Giardini (1856-1945) spent his early years in Cincinnati, Ohio and Richmond, Indiana. Interestingly, Wikipedia states he played for the Cincinnati Reds, but his name does not appear on the Reds list of players all time (maybe a farm team, c 1875-1880).
Giardini studied under Thomas noble, later at the Cincinnati Art Academy under Frank Duvenck. Early on, Giardini was known for his Indiana landscapes. He was a prominent member of the Richmond Group of Artists. His art works were very popular, certainly a high spot was an exhibit of works at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Giardini and his wife Anna mover to Southern California in 1910. He was hired by the Santa Fe railroad to paint the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, no list of the paintings for the Santa Fe company of the Grand Canyon could be found on line, nor a list of paintings at the fabulous Kolb Museum in the Park.
Giardini immediately set about displaying his art. In February, 1910, his exhibit of "Indiana Woodlands" at the Fine Arts Gallery in the Hotel Virginia in Long Beach was a successful one week exhibition. It was immediately followed by a 30 painting exhibit at the Karst Gallery in Los Angeles in March.
Giardini fell in love with the scenery in Southern California. He painted the mountains, Pacific Palisades, valleys and colorful outdoor landscapes.
In the late teens he was taking care of his wife Anna, who died in 1920.
By the 1920s he was on fire, with paintings displayed all over Southern California. In the early 1920s, he began having some of his paintings expertly framed y Phil S. Bernay. Bernay's gallery and shop was so popular that he opened two locations, one at 315 W. Third Street and the other at 415 W. Fifth Street in Los Angeles. Bernay was a regular advertiser in newspapers through 1925, and other artists he exhibited included Fred Sayre. The two Giardini paintings presented here both retain Bernay's sticker on the back. In 1923, Giardini had an exhibit in the Redondo Savings Bank, at the Steere Jewelry Store in Redondo; in 1924he had 14 oils at the Metropolitan Theatre in Los Angeles; and in 1925 at the Ashton Gallery in Los Angeles, among others.
In a local review of his work in 1923, it was stated: "The greatness of these pictures lies not alone in the fact that the painter has flung paint with artistic effect, but that he has something to say. To interest the beholder in the picture rather than in its trappings, that is the greatness of the artist." (Torrance Daily Breeze 12/19/1923)
Giardini himself noted: "California climate is bound to produce a new school of landscape painters. This is due to the fact that climatic conditions permit the painter to see much farther than in the middle west or east..." (Los Angeles Evening Express, 7/13/1924). Indeed, this statement was true, as a whole new breed of southern California artists were born of this period.
Giardini's paintings are in dozens or more museums throughout America. The list is too large for this "description."
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