August Gay Explained

August Gay
Birth Date:June 11, 1890
Birth Place:Rabou, France
Death Date:1948
Death Place:Monterey, California, U.S.
Occupation:Painter, etcher
Spouse:Marcelle 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

Notes and References

  1. Book: Boas . Nancy . The Society of Six: California Colorists . 1998 . University of California Press . Berkeley, California . 9780520210554 . 35762633 . 31–33.
  2. News: Funeral Rites for Native of France . April 24, 2019 . Oakland Tribune . March 11, 1948. 7. Newspapers.com.
  3. News: Marinovich . 'Open air'. Landscape paintings featured. . Santa Cruz Sentinel . April 12, 1985. 51. Newspapers.com.
  4. News: Fowler . Adaline . Recollections . April 24, 2019 . Salinas Morning Post . June 13, 1934. 2. Newspapers.com.
  5. Web site: August Gay . Oakland Museum of California . April 24, 2019.