Proudly displayed in the Florentine Lounge, it’s both historically and aesthetically significant that the Jonathan Club holds three awe-inspiring landscapes by Christian Siemer among their extensive collection. Demonstrating an acquisition effort spanning nearly two decades, Mount Wilson Observatory (c. 1934), Huntington Library (1933), and View of Pasadena (c. 1932) represent some of the largest works on display at the Club. These paintings – the latter a panorama 180-inches wide and 120-inches tall – hold a pivotal place in the Jonathan Art Foundation’s collection, adorning the walls in one of the Club’s grandest rooms and documenting the paradise of Southern California some 90 years ago.
Born to German parents in Adelaide, Australia in 1874, Christian Siemer is believed to have studied art in Paris and Munich, in the late 19th century thriving centers of artistic activity for those looking to advance their craft. Siemer later immigrated to America in 1913, arriving in New York from Cuxhaven (Hamburg), Germany, just before the outbreak of World War I.
Siemer was later naturalized in Los Angeles. His activities during the 10 years following his arrival are unknown, although he seems to have made his living via commissions. Until 1850, most artists worked this way: making artistic items for the government, the church, or wealthy individuals. In 1925 he accepted a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to paint 47 panoramas of Southern California, which would decorate the ground-floor display space of the Chamber’s new quarters on Twelfth Street. In addition to myriad locations around Los Angeles, he was also inspired to paint vistas slightly further afield, such as Pismo Beach and Morro Bay. It’s likely Siemer’s contract was repeatedly renewed, as he continued to paint canvases for the Chamber up until his death in 1940, leading him to become dubbed “The Chamber of Commerce Artist.”
From its inception in 1888, the Chamber of Commerce aggressively promoted Southern California to stimulate tourism and immigration, and Siemer’s paintings formed a regular part of its marketing campaigns. It produced displays for state and world fairs, staged a traveling exhibition located in a train car that visited major cities in the Midwest and the South, as well as establishing permanent displays in Chicago, Washington D.C., and Honolulu.
Art historian Rich Reitzell has said of Siemer that, “Unlike contemporary plein-air artists who celebrated nature’s beauty bereft of man, Siemer’s compositions celebrated man’s settlement of the terrain.” The master of color and composition deftly captures the state’s sweeping panoramas, mountainous terrain, lush vegetation and coastal scenes, yet he also harmoniously integrates humanity’s contribution to California’s landscape, its architectural features shown nestled unobtrusively within nature’s expansive embrace.
The acquisition of View of Pasadena – Siemer’s majestic panorama of the Arroyo Seco – took place in 1990, after being found rolled up in a garage, presumably never being displayed before. Having been framed already prior to its installation at the Jonathan Club, the artworks’ towering proportions rendered it too large to pass through the building’s front doors. This resulted in a crane being hired to haul the painting through the third-floor windows of the Florentine Lounge, an expense costing more than the art itself. It was well worth the investment, however, as View of Pasadena remains one of the most breathtaking works on display at the Club.
In 2003, the Jonathan Club obtained Huntington Library in a deal with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Securing the painting required the Jonathan Art Foundation to exchange three works from their own extensive collection: a Theodore Lukits portrait, a Lukits’ landscape, and one piece by Charles L.A. Smith. Siemer’s painting – originally on display in Chicago – pays homage to Henry E. Huntington, who guided the Club’s early art collection and developed it substantially. Rounding out the Club’s collection of Siemer’s work is Mount Wilson Observatory. It was purchased from a dealer in 1986 and displayed throughout America, possibly even Europe.
It’s been decades since Siemer’s mural-sized paintings were last officially exhibited together, the last time being at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in 1940. It’s an astonishing fact which lends their shared ownership and display at the Jonathan Club an additional reverence, particularly to devotees of Californian plein-air painting.
The acquisition of such works is made possible through generous donations by members and friends of the Art Foundation. Please consider making a donation and help us acquire, curate, and maintain one of the finest collections of California plein air painting in the country. The Jonathan Art Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization and any donations are tax deductible.
Comments