AN ANALYSIS OF THE ARTIST'S WORK

Anders Aldrin never forgot the difficulties of his youth and realized his dream fully. His expressionistic, lively, and colorful style was a purposeful rebellion against Sweden's typically bleak landscape. The paintings are perhaps a response to the joy and freedoms he found in California: it was a new world characterized by dramatic light, a sensual landscape, and an intriguing urbanity that he found deep satisfaction in painting for over 60 years.

The late start of his art career and immigrant heritage heavily influenced Aldrin's nonconformist style. His thick accent and Swedish cultural idiosyncrasies prevented him from fitting into the popular Los Angeles art scene. Aldrin had no pressure to paint conservatively or within the parameters of commercial art. Because he never had a group with which to identify, he was free to develop a highly original and personal style. Aldrin painted instinctively; his confidence gave his art a distinct style that poetically captures the essence of his subject.

Beginning with the exuberant brush strokes of his first still life in 1923, Aldrin took a Fauvist approach. His renderings featured strong, sure brush strokes driven by emotional, evocative color. His style of bold brushwork and thin impasto is apparent in his oils, watercolors, and pastels. He was equally talented in woodblock printing, using color blocking rather than detail to create interest in his compositions. (He learned Japanese woodblock technique under Frank Moreley Fletcher at the Santa Barbara School of Fine Arts.) Although Aldrin was always able to paint in a representational manner, he was never content to paint traditionally and used his talent to push boundaries with his unique sense of color.

Aldrin's compositions are complex without being overwhelming. His early woodblocks, such as Zabriskie Point from 1933, reflect his skill in creating refined, dramatic scenes. His varied colors could appear busy, but Aldrin's easily move one's eye into the heart of the painting. Oils like Big Pine, California (ca. 1944), Hollywood Ravine (1943), and Elysian Park (1940) use rounded, undulating lines to define the relationships between forms within a composition. His portraits have a similar feeling. Vincent, a portrait from 1942 alternates light and dark very specifically - almost mathematically - on either side of the picture. The same is true for Woman with Flower in Her Hair (ca. 1935), in which Aldrin paints a woman seated on a brightly printed chair. Color permeates the painting but does not overpower the subject because of the balance of vivid greens and deep blues.

Critic and historian Bruce Kamerling aptly described Aldrin's paintings as "emotional, sometimes mystical, reactions to the things around him expressed in terms of form and color as distilled through his personal vision. Aldrin's landscapes often feature rolling hills that use strong in lieu of fine detail. He creates rhythm by covering large areas in boldly colored broken brushwork. Although Aldrin painted identifiable landscapes with correctly proportioned trees and houses, they lost their representational quality in the emotional use of color. Forms are abstracted, giving compositions a simple, folk art appearance. Horses, trees, and especially people are stripped down to their most basic shapes. Bulky figures such as the large dancing woman in Woodbox Dancers (1933), the stylized horses of Kellogg Ranch (1931), and big, chunky clouds are common to many of his landscapes.

Color is the driving force of Aldrin's artwork. Arthur Millier praised his distinctive blend of expressionistic, fauvist, and modernist style for its ability to "make... colors sing". Aldrin himself referred to color as the most important part of his work; subject matter was secondary. His ability to capture the essence of a scene through the emotional use of rich, unusual color gave his paintings their compelling interest.

Elysian Park, Los Angeles (1956) is a beautiful example of Aldrin's expertise in capturing the exact light of late afternoon in his sunny fields, deep green eucalyptus groves, and lightly colored clouds. He uses simple palettes of complementary hues to capture romantic scenes, as in San Francisco Ferries(1928); composed entirely of burnt orange and baby blue. In Aldrin's later pieces, virtually every color is unrealistic, but when seen in the context of his compositions, they seem natural. Swedish Landscape (1962-63) is a composition that exemplifies his Fauvist use of color. The fields leading up to the forest are intense strokes of whites, bronzes, reds, pinks and purples. The forest trees themselves are bright pink with deep brown and black leaves. Even when defining objects, he uses colors instead of plain lines. Playa Del Rey (1951) relies on a bold line of red to create the clear division of the composition. The bright waves create a secondary boundary and both strokes of color are so natural that one almost forgets the colors he uses.

Besides his focus on color, Aldrin's work is of great social and historical interest. He concentrates on unique depictions of a city on the verge of mass industrialization. Aldrin had a love of all things mechanical and a craftsman's mind. He painted subjects, most often bridges and power plants that dealt with the technological growth of the period. While traditionalists might use their artistic license to omit unattractive power lines or plumes of factory smoke, Aldrin transforms them into focal points because of their visual impact on the landscape. In Power Station, he bathes the power station in a soft palette of oranges and blues so it appears more like an exotic Moroccan palace than a gritty industrial institution. His fascination documented the fleeting moments of a rapidly changing landscape at a critical juncture in time: early Los Angeles glamour giving way to power stations, neighborhoods, and the city we know today. Aldrin's accuracy becomes an interesting document for capturing and preserving early Los Angeles.

Aldrin was never afraid of stylistic experimentation and was influenced by many great artists of his generation. He sought "all the glow of the primitives, and mystery of Rembrandt." He drew inspiration from Matisse's Fauvism, Cezanne's formalism, and Van Gogh's use of the brush stroke as a compositional tool. He shared an affinity with more modern artists such as Birger Sandzen (1871 - 1954) and fellow Otis alum Milford Zornes (1907 - 2008).

Although Aldrin's work was featured alongside that of Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Childe Hassam (1859-1935) and Arthur Wesley Dow (1857-1922), his style was always his own. Fellow artist and inspirational friend Millard Sheets called his work "a declaration of independence from the style and manners of his contemporaries", and described the artist himself as "an extremely sensitive painter, not preoccupied by the need for constant public attention. Aldrin worked furiously to find his special qualities of expression...Today I realize even more clearly the importance of his work...unique qualities in color chords, depths of insight into nature and sheer delight for life are unclouded by superficial style."

AWARDS & AFFILIATIONS

1924 Los Angeles County Museum of Art
1942, 1944 Los Angeles County Museum of Art
1946 California Watercolor Society
1941, 1950 Pomona Fair
1949, 1954 National Orange Show
1950 Los Angeles County Fair
1956 San Bernadino Orange Show
1957 California State Fair
1962 Pomona State Fair

COLLECTIONS (SELECTED LIST)

Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Chaffey Community Art Association Museum of History and Art, Ontario, CA
CPLH
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Library of Congress
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

CHRONOLOGY

1889 Born August 29th in Stjernsfors, Varmland, Sweden
1911 Immigrates to the United States, first to Chicago and then Minneapolis
1918 Marries Mabel Esther Lindberg August 18th. Drafted to serve in World War I, serves 1 year in France
1919 Sent to Veteran's Administration Hospital in Prescott, Arizona to recover from tuberculosis
1923 Moves with family to Los Angeles. Enrolls in Otis Art Institute
1926 Awarded scholarship from Otis
1927 Moves to Santa Barbara to attend School of Arts. Studies printmaking with Frank Morley Fletcher
1928 Studies at California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco for 6 months
1930 Moves back to Los Angeles. First 1 person Show at Hollywood Library Art Gallery
1938 Paints in Oregon and Washington
1945 Lives on East Coast with daughter Inez and husband. Paints in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts
1945 Shows work to New York dealer Frank Rehn
1950 Work is juried into exhibition American Painting
1951 Travels to Europe and Sweden (First trip home)
1952 Exhibition in Hafgors, Sweden, great success
1956 Wins purchase prize for watercolor at 41st National Orange Show, San Bernadino, CA
1958 Travels to Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Wake Island, and Hawaii
1961 Receives purchase prize in oils, California State Fair
1962 Travels to Sweden and Russia
1963 Receives First Prize at Scandinavian American Art Society of the West
1964 Receives Gold Medal at Scandinavian American Art Society of the West
1964 Receives Pottinger Merchandise Award for Painting Outstanding in Color, 44th Nat'l Exhibition CA Watercolor Society
1966 Hospitalized at Veteran's Administration Hospital in Sylmar
1968 Travels to Sweden
1970 Dies at Veteran's Hospital, Sylmar on February 24th.
1970 Tribute Exhibition at Los Angeles Art Association

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Aldrin, Anders to Margret Cromer, 10 April 1969.
2. Aldrin, Anders. Personal Statement, Feb. 4, 1964.
3. Aldrin, Anders. Personal Statement, Aldrin Family Archives.
4. Aldrin, Betty. Biography of Anders Aldrin.
5. "Anders Aldrin, 1908, 1928, 1942".
6. "Anders Gustave Aldrin." .
7. Blake, Janet. "Anders Aldrin: 1889 - 1970."
8. Blake, Janet. "Anders Aldrin: An Independent Vision." 9 September 2005. .
9. Dominique, John. Taped memoir, 7 December 1981.
10. Falk, Peter Hastings. "Who Was Who in American Art." Sound View Press: 1999. p.78.
11. Fietelson, Lorser. Personal Letter, Nov. 11, 1974.
12. Hench, Elizabeth A. "A Brief Personal History".
13. Hernandez, Jo Farb. Forward to Monterey Peninsula Art Exhibit, 1992.
14. Hughes, Edan Milton. Artists in California 1786-1940. Crocker Art Museum: Sacramento. Thrid edition, Volume II.
15. Kamerling, Bruce. Unpublished Essay, Aldrin Family Archives.
16. Line, Mr. and Mrs. Francis R. Personal Letter, Dec. 2, 1974.
17. Millier, Arthur. Los Angeles Times, 25 February 1940, part 3, p.8
18. Millier, Arthur. Los Angeles Times, 13 October 1940, part 3, p.8
19. Millier, Arthur. Los Angeles Times, 24 November 1940, part 3, p.9
20. Millier, Arthur. Los Angeles Times, 12 September 1948, part 4, p.4