Oil painting of boats in a marina in blue and yellow-brown tones

Coastal Views: California and the Pacific Northwest

June 24, 2023 - October 29, 2023

Lightcatcher Building

Featuring coastal landscape paintings from Northern California to Washington, spanning the 1880s to present, this stunning exhibition highlights the work of many well-known artists from both regions, as well as several who were underrecognized in their day.

Visitors are invited to examine both the similarities and differences in style in the works from these two regions, which extends from the coastline of Big Sur to the Monterey Peninsula to the Coast Range mountains and northward to the Puget Sound and Cascade mountains. The artists traveled back and forth between the two states and often knew one another, sharing common values about the land and drawing inspiration from the wilderness. The misty, foggy weather patterns are often represented in these works.

The paintings in Coastal Views are drawn from the Whatcom Museum’s collection, the Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey artist Warren Chang, and the private collections of Phil and Mary Serka of Bellingham, Wash.; and Paula and Terry Trotter of Carmel, Calif. Coastal Views is co-curated by Patricia Leach, Executive Director of the Whatcom Museum, and Sarah Clark-Langager, retired Director of the Western Washington University Gallery.

Image credit: Armin C. Hansen; Monterey Harbor, c. 1927; Watercolor; 24 x 25.75 in. framed. From the collection of Terry and Paula Trotter.

 


The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.