Painted en Plein Air on Hwy 1 (PCH) during rush hour. This piece was a 3-day piece on location at the golden hour. Sold at the Laguna Plein Air Painters Invitational at Tripoli Terrace. Laguna Beach, CA.
Hi Brenda,
Sorry I haven’t written sooner. I hope you had a nice trip home. Are you already out on the road at the next show? What a hectic life it is to be a plein air painter!
Yes, Yvonne’s collection is one of the finest in the state of California. She owns both northern and southern California paintings. She and Ed have been collecting for 40 years. They bought paintings from Jean in the 80’s. Ed, who was a orthopedic surgeon, died of a heart attack about 5 or 6 years ago. But Yvonne has kept on collecting and hosting visiting groups from museums and art groups. Her house is probably 6,000 sq ft and it’s covered in art. She has names like Bierstadt, Hill, Arthur Mathews, Jean Mannheim, Tavernier, Jules Pages, Colin Cooper, Gamble, Wendt, Redmond, Guy Rose, Kleitsch, Bischoff, and women like, Anna Hills, Donna Schuster, Julia Wendt, among many other great artists. She and Ed especially loved paintings with historical significance. The collection is priceless. Of course they bought a lot of it when prices were a fraction of what they are today. I think it’s museum quality which is why all the museums in the state wine and dine her constantly, hoping that she will leave them paintings in her will.
She and Ed also enjoyed meeting and buying from contemporary plein air artists. They always supported the LPAPA show when it was at the Laguna Museum and when the Museum dropped the show, she continued to stand by LPAPA and the invitational, continuing her prize in her husband’s memory. She’s a lovely, generous person. She does all the work herself. Once Jean and I went to her home to find her weeding in her garden which is huge. She decorates her home of 3 floors top to bottom for holidays all by herself. She always puts out drinks and food for all the groups who come to her home to see her collection. She has 4 daughters, one adopted from a very bad situation, and all are married to successful men and have great professional careers. They gave an big, rural piece of land they owned in Temecula to the Boy Scouts for a camp. Yvonne has about 12 grandchildren and they all love to spend time with her. She also has a big home on a lake in Indiana where she and Ed are from and a lovely beach cottage in Laguna. She hangs her contemporary art in her beach house and the historic art at home in Tustin. I think she has midwestern art in Indiana.
She was a delivery room nurse for years and taught that at the Mayo Clinic when Ed was doing his fellowship there. The money comes from all the medical suite buildings that she and Ed bought and rent out. One, I think, is a big high rise near St. Joseph hospital in Orange. She still manages the business herself with a little help from her brother and a secretary. She is an amazingly accomplished person. She can tell you everything about all the artists they own. She researches them intently. She types out tags for each painting with info on the artist and dates so visitors can do self-guided tours of her home.
But the most important thing is that, with all that success and wealth, she is still the most down-to-earth, mid-western woman you will ever meet. I know that she will treasure your paintings and look at them often and show them to friends. She told me they had amazing colors and light and detail. She was extremely impressed by your work.
You should be very proud of your Boseker award! I know she consulted Jean when she was choosing. Jean told her that your painting was on his short list for the Best-in-Show too. She kept going back to it because she couldn’t decide between the two paintings of yours. So she bought them both! She told me she really wanted to mention that you were a first timer when she announced the award. She likes seeing new talent do well.
Congratulations on a great first LPAPA show! See you next year, I’m sure. I just wish Jean and I had more time to visit with you. If you ever find yourself back down this way, be sure to call ahead. You are always welcome to stay in our guest room. And I will make sure that you get to visit Yvonne’s fabulous collection.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with your family!
Hugs,
Linda
- Subject Matter: Urban plein air