In reaction to the widespread pursuit of Abstract Expressionism in the late 1940s and early 1950s, several avant-garde San Francisco Bay Area artists began to reengage with the visible world, applying the gestural style of action painting to depictions of people, landscapes, and still lifes. Two such artists were Paul Wonner (1920-2008) and William “Theophilus” Brown (1919-2012), who met at the University of California at Berkeley and were together for 56 years. Together, the pair aligned with this new direction and became leading practitioners of the style known today as Bay Area Figuration. Throughout their lives, Wonner and Brown broke the rules of the time, professionally in their choice of subject matter, technique, and style, and personally as they lived openly as a couple despite the private and professional consequences.
Over time, in both Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, the works of both artists became less gestural and more overtly representational and, in Wonner’s case, increasingly detailed and precise. Brown became best known for his psychologically evocative landscapes with classic bathers, as well as his solitary urban scenes. Wonner also painted figures, but received the greatest acclaim for his “baroque” still lifes laden with everyday objects, animals, and flowers. This exhibition, which includes 75 paintings, watercolors and drawings, showcases all of these genres in the most comprehensive display of the couple’s work to date.
Break the rules is presented at the Crocker in Sacramento from April 30 to August 27. The exhibit is accompanied by a 240-page catalog written by Scott A. Shields, PhD, with additional memorabilia by Matt Gonzalez. After the exhibition closes at Crocker Art Museumit visits the Laguna Art Museum in Laguna Beach, California (October 14, 2023 to January 7, 2024) and the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee (January 28 to March 30, 2024).
For more information, visit crockerart.org.
