August Gay

August Gay
BornJune 11, 1890
Rabou, France
Died1948
Monterey, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Painter, etcher
SpouseMarcelle Chaix

August Gay whose birth name was Auguste-François Pierre Gay (June 11, 1890 – 1948) was a French-born American painter and etcher. He was a member of the Society of Six in Oakland, California, and an Impressionist landscape painter.

Life

Gay was born on June 11, 1890, in Rabou, France.[1] He emigrated to the United States with his family as a teenager, settling in Alameda, California.[1] He suffered from tuberculosis as a young man, and he attended the California School of Fine Arts.[1]

Gay co-founded the Society of Six with Selden Connor Gile, Maurice Logan, Louis Siegriest, Bernard von Eichman, and William H. Clapp, in Oakland, California.[2] He was an Impressionist, and he painted California landscapes en plein air.[3] For art historian Nancy Boas, Gay had "an instinctive understanding of picture making, an original sense of color, and a desire to deal with important pictorial issues."[1] Gay later moved to Monterey, where he shared a studio with Clayton Sumner Price and he managed a furniture repair store.[4]

Gay married Marcelle Chaix, who was also French, in 1934.[4] He died in 1948.[2] His artwork can be seen at the Oakland Museum of California.[5]

Further reading

  • Kelso, David (1997). Small Wonders: The Etchings of August François Gay. Monterey, California: Monterey Museum of Art. ISBN 9781891586002. OCLC 39727565.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Boas, Nancy (1998). The Society of Six: California Colorists. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp. 31–33. ISBN 9780520210554. OCLC 35762633.
  2. ^ a b "Funeral Rites for Native of France". Oakland Tribune. March 11, 1948. p. 7. Retrieved April 24, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Marinovich (April 12, 1985). "'Open air'. Landscape paintings featured". Santa Cruz Sentinel. p. 51 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Fowler, Adaline (June 13, 1934). "Recollections". Salinas Morning Post. p. 2. Retrieved April 24, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "August Gay". Oakland Museum of California. Retrieved April 24, 2019.