JOSEPH KLEITSCH (1882-1931)
20. Heisler Park Cliffs
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right
16 x 20 inches
23 x 26 framed
Provenance:
Private Collection, Adamson-Duvannes Galleries, 1986
Private Collection until 2005
Joseph Kleitsch was born in 1882 in Banat, Hungary. While he was a teenager, he was apprenticed to a sign painter, but he left soon after to open his own studio. Kleitsch moved to the United States in the early 1900’s and resided in Ohio, Colorado, Kansas, Mexico and Illinois. He became famous for his academic renditions of still life’s, genre scenes and portrait paintings. In 1912, he achieved significant recognition for painting the portraits of Mexican President Francisco Madero and his wife.
In 1920, Joseph Kleitsch once again moved, and this time he arrived in Southern California. He settled in picturesque Laguna Beach, where he was seduced by the year round sunshine and pleasant painting conditions. Kleitsch began to paint in the plein air style. Inspired by the local scenery, Kleitsch could often be seen painting outdoors in the natural light. His color pallet became bolder and his application of paint was applied in a free, non-restrictive style. Heisler Park Cliffs was painted in 1925 and depicts a typical atmospheric day, at the shoreline cliffs of North Laguna.
Kleitsch also taught painting in Laguna Beach and together with his wife, Edna, they established the Kleitsch Academy. He exhibited his paintings in Los Angeles at the Stendahl and Hatfield Galleries. Los Angeles Times critic, Arthur Millier, called Kleitsch “a born colorist,” and in 1922, Antony Anderson said of his work: “Kleitsch has discovered more varieties of loveliness in Laguna Beach than any other artist.”
Works held: Laguna Art Museum; The Irvine
Museum; Laguna Beach City Municipal Collection; The Fleischer Collection,
Arizona; Colorado History Museum.
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