FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  CONTACT: DON MERRILL

January 22, 2007                                                              (760) 346-7900

Early Desert Painters Brighten Campus

Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts exhibition educates art students

and the community at large — and benefits College of the Desert

PALM DESERT, CALIF. -- A museum-caliber exhibition of early California painters, with an emphasis on the Coachella Valley and the Southern California desert, opens on Feb. 8 at the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts on the campus of College of the Desert. Some of the paintings will be offered for sale, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the college.

Early Desert Painters features 50 paintings -- some nearly 100 years old -- by at least 30 early California artists, offering students and the community a rare opportunity to view historically important works that showcase plein air (or outdoor painting) and demonstrate California’s bright spot in the history of American Impressionism.

“This is a beautiful way to appreciate where we live,” says Lisa Soccio, director of the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts. “Impressionism has long been the most popular style of painting. The examples we will exhibit date from 1910 to about 1960, when the art world began to turn to modernism. We’re fortunate to have a museum-quality show on campus.”

Thom Gianetto, co-owner and chief curator of Edenhurst Gallery, cherry-picked works by Edgar Payne, Fernand Lungren, Charles Fries, Alson Clark, Maynard Dixon, John Gamble, Charles Reiffel, Gordon Coutts, Alson Clark, Joseph Greenbaum, Marion Wachtel, Paul Grimm, John Hilton and many others.  In a boon for students, staff and collectors, the guest speaker will be Nancy Moure, diva scholar of Early California painting, and former assistant curator of American Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is the author of numerous books on California painting, including her most recent accomplishment “California Art, 450 Years of Painting and Other Media”.

Edenhurst principals began exploring the art world in 1970 and became exclusive dealers in California and American paintings in 1985. The gallery enjoys a national reputation for its expertise in American Impressionism, with an emphasis on early California painters. Recently relocated to exclusive El Paseo in Palm Desert from Los Angeles, Edenhurst also has expanded its scope to include important contemporary artists, including photographer John Divola and ceramic pioneer Paul Soldner, who make their Edenhurst debut on March 25, 2007.