• This Exciting Land, Watercolors of the USA

    California Watercolor

  • $22.00

 

Watercolors by Millard Sheets

Catalog from a one man show at the Stary-Sheets Art Gallery. May 6 through May 31, 1989.

46 pages, limited availability.

61 color illustrations, softcover - $22.00 

The Stary-Sheets Art Gallery is extremely privileged and honored to present a collection of watercolors by Millard Sheets, painted over a nineteen-year period for United Airlines. This is an astonishing collection of work by one of America’s most important artists, offering all of us the opportunity to visit (back in time) one of the most vibrant periods in our Nation’s history.

These richly designed and vividly colored paintings were created for the purpose of linking the commercial interests of one of America’s giant corporations to the sensitivities of the American public’s growing enthusiasm for air travel. In the late forties and early fifties air travel was just beginning to accommodate the needs of the average American, and, as a result, the public had access to previously difficult areas to visit. The era of Regionalism was changed forever. Places once far away and only an image out of National Geographic or books of lore were a lure to the public to begin exploring this incredible country in which we live.

Millard Sheets was picked by United Airlines to document the wonderful landscapes and urban scenes of those areas the airline serviced. He did this with his own vision and the paintings were reproduced in the form of calendars that were given to the customers. Each painting is individual in its character and represents an impression of a particular location, be it Mt. Hood or Washington Monument, and the excitement that location created for the artist. The calendars were extremely popular as the offered uncontrived and evocative views of the enchanting places our country offers. The original paintings have a freshness and vitality as though they were painted yesterday and are as individual as any Millard Sheets ever produced.   David Stary-Sheets

California Watercolor – California Art Books