CAROLINE LOUISE MARTIN

(American, 1903-1993)

CENTRAL PARK ZOO

Oil on Canvas

22 x 26 ½ Inches
Signed Lower Right 'Caroline Martin'

Provenance: San Francisco Museum of Art

San Francisco Women Artists 22nd Annual Exhibition

1947, Purchase Prize Winner

     Exhibited: California Palace of the Legion of Honor

Born in San Francisco, Caroline Martin was educated in New York City at the Spence School and in Florence, Italy, where she began her art studies.  After returning to California, she furthered her studies under Maurice Sterne at the California School of Fine Arts. Known for her brightly-colored depictions of domestic animals, cityscapes, and still-lives, she exhibited frequently at major museums and was the recipient of juried awards nationwide. This work has been in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts for over sixty years. Recently de-accessioned, it represents an unusual opportunity to acquire a significant Modernist painting with impeccable museum provenance. Caroline Martin’s Central Park Zoo was exhibited at the 1945 San Francisco Museum of Arts 19th San Francisco Women Artists Exhibition and was acquired by the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts in March of 1948 for the permanent collection of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor where it has remained until this time. We are pleased to offer a significant post-Impressionist work by this notable California Modernist.

Reference:

Who Was Who in American Art, Falk, Vol. II, p. 2197; Artists in California 1786-1940, Hughes, Vol. II, p. 726; Davenport’s Art Reference Guide, 2007/8 Edition, p. 1574; et al.