Artful Players: Artistic Life in Early San Francisco [Hardcover]

Birgitta Hjalmarson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1999

With a handful of wealthy Gold Rush barons as indulgent patrons, an active community of artists appeared in nineteenth-century San Francisco almost overnight. A subculture of artistic brilliance and social experimentation was the result--in essence, a decades-long revelry that finally ended with the 1906 earthquake. Witness Jules Tavernier, hungry and in debt, accepting a stuffed peacock and two old dueling pistols in payment for a Yosemite landscape; Mark Twain as reluctant art critic; Oscar Wilde outdrinking his hosts at the Bohemian Club, declaring he had never before seen "so many well-dressed, well-fed, business-like looking Bohemians." Prolific production of some of America's greatest paintings developed into a distinctly California style. Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Hill, and William Keith were among the many artists who documented Yosemite Valley and the state's other natural wonders. Grace Hudson's paintings are still considered some of the finest records of Native American culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a light-hearted, humorous account of the "Barbary Coast's" art world from the Gold Rush years up to the great earthquake and fire that almost completely leveled the young city in 1906. Although San Francisco was then a provincial backwater, it was a backwater of a truly exceptional sort. The Golden Gate was the principal portal for arriving goods and people from East Asia, and the city's wild, mercenary infancy established a well-deserved reputation as a tenuous enclave of civilization beyond the Western wilderness. Hjalmarson writes of how San Francisco's setting attracted creative people from all over the world, and because she has such good material to work with it's an entertaining story of a small, pretentious, but irrepressibly lively arts community. Many famous artists worked in Northern California during the 1800s, most notably Alfred Bierstadt, George Inness and William Keith. More useful certainly is the attention Hjalmarson pays to lesser-known names and the 25-page appendix she includes, with capsule biographies of these painters and sculptors. Highly recommended for West Coast libraries.ADouglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Artful Players is an engaging account of the rise of culture and the arts in America's great frontier city by the Bay. It accomplishes what so few standard histories bring to their subjects; that is to breathe life into what was, after all, a great adventure. I recommend it." Paul J. Karlstrom, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890449016
• ISBN-13: 978-1890449018
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,882,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An brief history of the art movement in early San Francisco, January 27, 2004

By 

gac1003 "gac1003" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Artful Players: Artistic Life in Early San Francisco (Hardcover)

Birgitta Hjalmarson's book describes the early art movement in San Francisco, beginning with artist Albert Bierstadt's coming to the young town in 1863. His landscapes of the Yosemite Valley helped to usher in a new American view of art. Covering the years between the American Civil War and the big earthquake of 1906, Hjalmarson introduces the reader to many artists, both male and female, native born and transplants, who helped to shape San Francisco into a major art center in California.

It's full of great information on these artist, including Jules Tavernier, William Kieth, Samuel Marsden Brookes and Grace Carpenter Hudson, and contains some color plates of their works. Hjalmarson also discusses the artists' lifestyles, their patrons and the creation of the San Francisco Art Association. "Artful Players" is an great educational book written in a style that everyone can read and enjoy and is a must for any art history or California history student.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A starting point for Bay Area historical and museum enthusia, March 2, 2000

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Artful Players: Artistic Life in Early San Francisco (Hardcover)

The author has given us an amusing and insightful look at the Art scene and history of the Bay Area and for frosting on the cake given us the location particularly in the Bay area, Monterey and Sacramento the location of Museums which have some of the art described in the book. As history and museum devotees the book will go with us when we visit these places to enhance our pleasure and increase our knowledge of the pictures we are looking at. We have in all probability looked at some of these pictures without comprehension at Sacramento, Oakland, and several museums in SF. The picture the author presents includes meaningful presentations of other related art centers to which the artists went. Excellent small book, a pleasurable read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The San Francisco Art Scene, March 1, 2009

By 

Frank Shortt - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Artful Players: Artistic Life in Early San Francisco (Hardcover)

This book touches upon the art scene in the San Francisco Bay Area around the turn of the century including the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915. It gives information about the artists that normally is not given in art encyclopedias. This book should be in any California Art Library.