E. Charlton Fortune, “Wine Cargoes,” 1925, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches

The diverse career of California Impressionist E. Charlton Fortune (1885-1969) is being highlighted this summer at the Pasadena Museum of California Art.

On view August 20 through January 7, 2018, “The Colorful Spirit” calls attention to an important stage in the life and career of famed California Impressionist E. Charlton Fortune, circa 1928, when she began a pioneering new vocation in liturgical art. The exhibition brilliantly pairs the artist’s impressionist and modernist landscapes with her ecclesiastical paintings, sculptures, furnishings, and other designs that she produced for the Catholic Church.

According to the museum, in 1928 Fortune became increasingly disenchanted with mass-produced ecclesiastical art, which “led her to create designs of her own.” Through approximately 80 works, “The Colorful Spirit” highlights Fortune’s contributions to early California painting and American liturgical design. 

To learn more, visit the Pasadena Museum of California Art.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.


Previous articlePisgah Pleasure
Next articleTurner’s Stain
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster is the former Editor of Fine Art Today and worked as an editorial and creative marketing assistant for Streamline Publishing. Andrew graduated from The University of North Carolina at Asheville with a B.A. in Art History and Ceramics. He then moved on to the University of Oregon, where he completed an M.A. in Art History. Studying under scholar Kathleen Nicholson, he completed a thesis project that investigated the peculiar practice of embedded self-portraiture within Christian imagery during the 15th and early 16th centuries in Italy.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here