NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART CELEBRATES 90 YEARS AS THE STATE’S PREMIER ART INSTITUTION, HOSTS PROGRAMS FOR THE LATIMER SCHOOL
On this milestone anniversary, Museum to highlight paintings by Lorenzo Latimer, the plein air water colorist renowned for his depictions of the Sierra and Northern Nevada.
One of the Silver State’s oldest cultural institutions, the Nevada Museum of Art, opened its doors in Reno 90 years ago. To punctuate an ongoing celebration, the Museum will showcase over 100 paintings from the San Francisco-based artist and teacher Lorenzo Latimer, along with works by Nevada artists he mentored including Mattie S. Conner, Marguerite Erwin, Dora Groesbeck, Hildegard Herz, Nettie McDonald, Minerva Pierce, Echo Mapes Robinson, Nevada Wilson, and Dolores Samuel Young. In 1921, these artists joined together to formally establish the “Latimer Art Club,” the founding volunteer organization of the Nevada Art Gallery, known today as the Nevada Museum of Art.
The Latimer School: Lorenzo Latimer and the Latimer Art Club opens July 31 and will run through March 27, 2022.
“Without the Latimer Art Club’s commitment to the visual arts in our region, the Museum wouldn’t be the institution it is today. It is fitting to acknowledge the foresight of the Latimer Art Club,” said Ann M. Wolfe, the Museum’s Andrea and John C. Deane Family Senior Curator and Deputy Director. “Our institution’s unique emphasis on art, nature, landscape, science, and the humanities sets this Museum apart from other interdisciplinary art museums and has its roots in the history of the Latimer Art Club,” she said. Wolfe co-curated the exhibition, with Jack L. Bacon, a Reno-based art consultant and former gallery owner specializing in historical Nevada art.
Lorenzo Latimer first visited Fallen Leaf Lake on the south side of Lake Tahoe in the summer of 1914 to teach en plein air (outdoor) painting classes. In 1916, he was invited by two students to teach a painting class in Reno. He ultimately became a cherished member of the Northern Nevada arts community, returning annually to teach his signature watercolor style to burgeoning artists of Reno. In 1931, the Latimer Art Club was invited by Dr. James Church, art collector Charles Cutts, and other community leaders to join to incorporate the nonprofit organization known as the Nevada Art Gallery, now the Nevada Museum of Art.
Historic Latimer Art Club paintings–featuring the Truckee Meadows, Washoe Valley, Lake Tahoe, and Pyramid Lake – are foundational to the history of Northern Nevada’s outdoor painting tradition. The Latimer Art Club remains active today, with over 90members who come together for meetings, workshops, and to paint regularly throughout the area.
“To truly understand the art history of our region, we must acknowledge the contributions that the Latimer Art Club has made over the years to enrich the cultural fabric our community,” said Wolfe.
BOOK
The anniversary exhibition will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated 350-page book with an essay on the history of the Nevada Museum of Art by Wolfe and a biographical essay on Latimer by Alfred C. Harrison, a nineteenth-century painting scholar and art historian with a special emphasis on California art. The book is co-published by Jack Bacon & Company in association with the Museum and is available in the Museum store or online here.
SPONSORS
Lead Sponsor is the Wayne L. Prim Foundation. Major sponsor is the Bretzlaff Foundation. Sponsors: The Thelma B. and Thomas P. Hart Foundation, Sandy Raffealli | Bill Pearce Motors, The Phil and Jennifer Satre Family Fund at the Community Foundation of Western Nevada, Jenny and Garrett Sutton | Corporate Direct. Supporting Sponsors: The Chica Charitable Gift Fund, Michael and Tammy Dermody, Dickson Realty, Irene Drews in memory of J. George Drews, watercolor painter and longtime instructor in the Nevada Museum of Art E. L. Cord Museum School, Edgar F. Kleiner, Sierra Integrated Systems, Betsy and Henry Thumann. Additional support: Enid Oliver, Financial Consultant & Wealth Manager.
JURIED EXHIBITION
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum has organized The Latimer Art Club: Celebrating 100 Years –A Juried Exhibition from July 10 to September 1, 2021. This year, the Latimer Art Club celebrates its 100th anniversary. To honor this important milestone, the Museum presents a juried exhibition of present-day Latimer Art Club members.
Several opportunities commemorating the Museum’s anniversary are planned in the coming months.
PROGRAMS
Art Bite: Latimer Art Club Yesterday and Today
Friday, July 30 | noon
Discover the origins of the Latimer Art Club with Eileen Fuller, the Club’s current Art Show Chair
$10 | FREE FOR MEMBERS
Ann M. Wolfe on Art, Nature and the Founding of the Nevada Museum of Art
Friday, September 10 | 6pm
Ann M. Wolfe, Andrea and John C. Deane Family Senior Curator and Deputy Director, looks back at the history of the Nevada Museum of Art. With an emphasis on the Museum’s early ties to the San Francisco Bay Area, the Bohemian Club, Fallen Leaf Lake, and the University of Nevada, Wolfe will review the roots of the Latimer Art Club from the 1910s to the critical role the Club played in the founding of the Museum.
$10 | FREE FOR MEMBERS
Jack Bacon on The Latimer School
Thursday, December 9, | 6pmNevada art specialist Jack Bacon and co-curator of the exhibitionThe Latimer Schoolwill share stories of the Latimer Art Club’s founding members, many of whom came from pioneer families as far afield as Tuscarora, Virginia City, and Carson City.
$10 | FREE FOR MEMBERS
A Closer Look: Landscapes in Nevada
First Fridays, August 6 –March 4, 2022 | 1pm
Experience a guided tour of The Latimer School. Docents will host conversations centered around landscapes in Nevada and beyond.
FREE WITH ADMISSION
