Eric Whitten paints landscapes in oil, some on a large scale. His work is concerned with history, culture and memory. His recent work is more intimate and explores personal memory and landscape. Influenced by the French artist, Pierre Bonnard, Whitten works from small sketches done on location, using color to express emotions as the memory is revisited many times. Eric Whitten was born in Walnut Creek, California in 1966, and educated at Yale where he received a Bachelors of Arts in 1989. Whitten, also has a Masters of Arts in United States History in American Indian Affairs and an Masters of Fine Arts in Painting from the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He is married and has three children and lives in Point Reyes Station, California.
In 2008 Whitten was chosen as one of three artists to show his work in conjunction with a conference on the writer Wallace Stegner. Whitten’s paintings were large scale landscapes (up to seven feet wide), done on location and based on the writings of Stegner about the American West. The work explored themes of Western scale and color as well as the culture and history of our relationship to the land. To learn more about Wallace Stegner exhibition, read an article from the Pt. Reyes Light by Jacoba Charles "Painter Evokes Raw, Rough West | Pt. Reyes Light". EDUCATION 1989 - Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, Bachelor of Arts in American Studies. Senior thesis: The Legend of Butch Cassidy 1993 - University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, Masters of Arts in American History. Thesis: American Indian Policy in the 1880s 2000 - Academy of Art College, San Francisco, California, Masters of Fine Art in Painting and Drawing EXHIBITIONS 2015 - Landscape, Point Reyes Library, Point Reyes Station, California 2014 - Marin Open Studios, Novato, California 2013 - Landscape and Memory, The Tamalpais, Greenbrae, California 2013 - Member Show, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, California 2013 - Marin Open Studios, Novato, California 2012 - Small Treasures, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, California 2012 - Marin Open Studios, San Rafael, California 2012 - Fresh Work, juried show, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, California 2010 - Members Show, juried show, Honorable Mention, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, California 2010 - Donner-Truckee Veterinary Hospital, Truckee, California 2008 - Geography of Hope, juried show in conjunction with the Wallace Stegner Conference, Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, California 2007 - Figure Interpretations, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, California 2005 - Marin Open Studios, Point Reyes Station, California 2004 - Marin Open Studios, Point Reyes Station, California 2003 - Marin Arts Council Members Show, Corte Madera Town Center, Corte Madera California 2003 - Cafe Arrivederci, San Rafael, California 2003 - The Beauty of Marin, Marin Civic Center, San Rafael, California 2002 - Water Dragon Group Show, Water Dragon Gallery, Fairfax, California 2002-2003 - Doce Lunas Restaurant, Kenwood, California 2002 - Marin Open Studios, San Rafael, California 2000 - Master of Fine Arts Show, Academy of Art College, San Francisco, California 2000 - Graduate Figure Show, Academy of Art College, San Francisco, California AWARDS/COMMISSIONS 2012 - Painting, Mr and Mrs. Wayne McIntosh, San Rafael, California 2010 - Painting, Dixie School District, San Rafael, California 2006 - Drawing, Mr. and Mrs. Joe McLaughlin, San Francisco, California 2004 - Painting, Mr and Mrs. Gordon Greve, Durango, Colorado 2004 - Painting, Dixie School, San Rafael, California 2003 - Painting, Dr. and Mrs. Whitten, Point Reyes, California 2002 - Painting, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Burbank, Mill Valley, California 2001 - Drawing, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick McGee, San Anselmo, California 2000 - Painting, Mr. and Mrs. Joe McLaughlin, San Francisco, California 1998 - Painting, Mr. Richard Respini, Marshall, California 1995 - Buck Foundation Achievement Award in Painting RELATED EMPLOYMENT/ACTIVITIES 2006-Present - Critique Leader, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, California 2000-2001 - Art Instructor in Color and Design, Academy of Art College, San Francisco, California |
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