Albert Robert Valentien
| Albert Robert Valentien | |
|---|---|
 (Photo: San Diego History Center) | |
| Born |
Albert Robert Valentine May 11, 1862 Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Died |
August 4, 1925 (aged 63) San Diego, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Painting (watercolor and oil), Ceramic art |
| Movement | Arts and Crafts |
| Signature | |
|---|---|
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Albert Robert Valentien (1862–1925) was an American painter and ceramic artist, best known for his work as the chief decorator at Rookwood Pottery and for his watercolor paintings of botanical subjects. In 1908, he accepted a commission from philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps to illustrate the botanical diversity of California. Over the next ten years, he produced approximately 1200 watercolor "plant portraits" of California wildflowers, grasses, ferns, and trees. Valentien's paintings and art pottery work are represented in collections at the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the California State Library, the Los Angeles County Museum, and in private collections.
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Biography
Valentien was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 11, 1862, to Anna Marie Wolter and Frederick Valentine. He studied art at the School of Design of the University of Cincinnati (later the Cincinnati Art Academy), working with Thomas S. Noble and Frank Duveneck. With fellow student John Rettig, Valentien studied decoration of china, learning underglazed pottery decoration from T(homas) J. Wheatley.[1] He married artist Anna Marie Bookprinter (née Buchdrucker) in 1887.[2] In that year, he joined Rookwood Pottery Company and led the art pottery's decoration department for the next twenty years.[2][3]
In 1903, the Valentiens visited California, staying several months with Anna's brother in Dulzura, a small community southeast of San Diego. During that visit, Valentien produced 135 paintings of California wildflowers, exhibiting the collection at the State Normal School in San Diego (now, San Diego State University).[4] Retiring from Rookwood in 1905, the Valentiens moved to San Diego in 1908. Ellen Browning Scripps commissioned Valentien to paint a series of illustrations of California wildflowers with the intention of publishing a compendium of California's flora. Valentien worked on the project for ten years, and the scope of botanical subjects grew to encompass native grasses, ferns, and trees. Scripps ultimately decided not to publish the collection; her estate donated the bulk of the paintings (1094 total), to the San Diego Natural History Museum in 1933.[1]
Valentien died on August 5, 1925 in San Diego, California.
References
- 1 2 Dykens, Margaret N.; et al. (2003). Plant portraits: the California legacy of A.R. Valentien. Irvine, Calif.: Irvine Museum. ISBN 0971409250.
- 1 2 Kamerling, Bruce (Summer 1978). "Anna and Albert Valentien: The Arts and Crafts Movement in San Diego". Journal of San Diego History 24: 343–65.
- ↑ Simpson, Richard V. (September 1999). "Rookwood pottery: a tradition of excellence". Antiques & Collecting Magazine 104 (7): 32.
- ↑ LaFee, Scott (February 9, 2000). "Valentien's flowers - An artistic tale of beauty, science, talent and heartbreak". San Diego Union-Tribune.
See also
- Landauer, Susan; Gerdts, William H.; Trenton, Patricia (2003). The Not-so-still Life: A Century of California Painting and Sculpture. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23938-8.
- Williford, Tammie (2000). Albert R. Valentien: The California Years, 1908–1925 (exhibition catalog). Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati Art Galleries.
External links
- The San Diego Natural History Museum houses 1094 of Valentien's watercolor paintings (the Valentien Collection).
- More information on the artist, and the conservation and exhibition of the paintings at theNat.
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