JOHN GAMBLE (1863-1957)
16. Poppy Field
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right
30 x 40 inches
38 x 48 framed
In 1916, the art writer Antony Anderson said of John Marshall Gamble: “… He makes the note in California landscape intelligible to the layman. He transcribes the note as simply and directly as possible, and with much sincerity. His poetry is not subtle – the touch in his lyrical note is not poignant – but its aim is truth.” Because of the brilliance and purity of color, many who viewed his paintings did not believe they were truthful to nature. He would, however, prove doubters wrong by taking them to the countryside in springtime. Gamble became nationally known for his California landscapes.
However, John Gamble was not a native of California. He was born in 1863 in Morristown, NJ. His father worked for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and, as a teenager, he moved with his family to Auckland, New Zealand. At age 20, Gamble enrolled in the San Francisco School of Design and moved to California. In San Francisco, he studied under Virgil Williams (1830-1866) and Emil Carlsen (1853-1932). He furthered his education in France at the Academie Julian and the Academie Colarossi. After he returned to San Francisco, Gamble established a large following as a painter of wildflowers. He painted many different kinds of flowers; however, he became best known for the orange blooms as seen in Poppy Field, which depicts poppies spread across a long field, below a cloudy sky. This style of painting, with its bold color fields and dramatic contrast, earned the affectionate label of “Gamble’s Prairie Fires.” On flowers, Gamble said, “They were just color patches to me. I simply liked the way they designed themselves across the field.”
Works held: California Historical Society; Laguna Art Museum; The Fleischer
Collection, Arizona; The Oakland Museum; The Irvine Museum; the Crocker Museum,
Sacramento; Shasta State Park; The Museum of Art, Auckland, New Zealand.
The Redfern Gallery
1540 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 T: (949) 497-3356 F: (949) 497-1324 mail@redferngallery.com
at the Montage Resort and Spa
30801 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 T: (949) 715-6193