Hendry's Low Tide, 2024
24 x 18 | Oil on duralar mounted on board
Born in San Bernardino and raised on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Mary-Austin Klein found inspiration in the California landscape from an early age. She studied at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and has lived in the Echo Park district for more than thirty years.
In 2001, she purchased a Mojave Desert cabin, an experience that rekindled her dedication to painting landscapes. Known for her small-scale and highly detailed oil paintings, Klein captures both natural and man-made environments throughout the Southwest. Her collectors include the late American painter Wayne Thiebaud, who admired the intimacy and precision of her work.
Her paintings often begin with sketches and photographs gathered on her extensive travels. She works with pure oil paint on Dura-Lar®, a smooth polyester film that allows for the clarity and detail that define her style. Though intimate in size, her paintings evoke the expansiveness of the desert and the history of the land, instilling both awe and quiet reflection.
Klein’s work has been exhibited at the Riverside Museum of Art, Oceanside Museum of Art, Bakersfield Museum of Art, and Santa Paula Art Museum. She has also been featured in Jackrabbit Homestead by Kim Stringfellow and The Guide to the Wild Mojave by the California Wilderness Coalition.
I met Mary-Austin Klein at the Sullivan Goss show “American Details” where I first saw her amazing paintings of places like Mojave, Death Valley, and Palm Springs, where I love to vacation. I recognized those mountains and that light right away before I even looked at the painting titles. We chatted and I invited her on the show.
EDUCATION
1991 Otis/Parsons
1987 El Camino College
AWARDS
2024 “Bold Brush Finalist Award” - “Turtle Mountains Wilderness” painting
BoldBrush Art Contest and Exhibit
2022 "Irrigation Award” - “Billiwhack Ranch” painting
Art About Agriculture, Santa Paula Art Museum, Santa Paula, CA
2018 "Water Is Life Award” - “Los Angeles Aqueduct” painting
Art About Agriculture, Santa Paula Art Museum, Santa Paula, CA
2013 “Bold Brush Award” - “Encelia and Train, San Gorgonio Pass” painting
BoldBrush Art Contest and Exhibit
2002 Blue Ribbon, Weed Show, Huell Howser, Judge
29 Palms Historical Society
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024 Sarah Abrams, “Meet Mary-Austin Klein of Echo Park”
VoyageLA, February 2024
2018 Sid Reddy, “Meet Mary-Austin Klein of Echo Park”
VoyageLA, August 2018
2016 Liz Goldner, “Exhibition Review - Into the Blue”
Art Scene Magazine, June 2016
2016 John Seed, “Into the Blue”
Huffington Post, June 2016
2015 Richard Chang, “The Real Deal”
Laguna Beach Magazine, May 2015
2013 Pamela Burgess, “Mary-Austin Klein, TPF Artist-in-Residence”
The Poppy Print, April 2013
2013 Danae Jarrett, “Painter of Kern County”
Bakersfield Life Magazine, August 2013
2013 Steven Biller, “Palm Springs and the High Desert: It's a Dry Heat”
Art LTD Magazine, February 2013
2012 William Lagattuta, “I See Mary-Austin Skies in LA”
Made in Frogtown Blog, August 2012
2012 Andy Brumer, “Exhibition Preview”
Art Scene Magazine, November 2012
2007 Vickie Waite, “Two Artists and a Homestead Cabin”
Sun Runner Magazine, October/November 2007
2006 Bryn Jones & Mark Trautwein “Desert Legacy, Guide to the
Wild Mojave” Califonia Wilderness Coalition
2001 Danette Riddle, “Elegant Resting Place” LA Architect Magazine,
July/August 2001
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Airspace, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2022 Airlight, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2016 Into the Blue, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2014 Golden State, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2013 The Native Edge, Theodore Payne Foundation, Sunland, CA
2011 Landscapes, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2010 Urbane Terrain, True World Gallery, Joshua Tree, CA
2009 Desert Paintings, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2009 Desert of My Heart, True World Gallery, Joshua Tree, CA
2008 Collective Amnesia, Metro Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2006 The Arroyo in Miniature, Bliss Gallery, Pasadena, CA
2004 Skylight, Ojala Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003 Echo-29, Ojala Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2001 Elysian Views, Ojala Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1998 Memoria, Ojala Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1992 Burning Buildings, Frogtown Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
2021 Art About Agriculture, Santa Paula Art Museum, Santa Paula, CA
2017 Art About Agriculture, Santa Paula Art Museum, Santa Paula, CA
2015 California Dreaming,Riverside Museum of Art, CA
2014 California Dreaming,Oceanside Museum of Art, CA
2014 California Dreaming, Palazzo della Provincia di Frosinone, Italy
2014 Kern County at a Distance, Bakersfield Museum of Art , Bakersfield, CA
2012 Face of California, Santa Paula Art Museum, Santa Paula, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Summer Salon II, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2025 Cityscape Show XV, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2025 Jardin De Reves, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2025 Spring Salon, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2024 Cloud Nine, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2024 Cityscape Show XIV, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2023 Winter Salon II, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2023 S P A C E, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2023 Cityscape Show XIII, Billis Williams, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Search for the Modern West, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2022 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2022 Summer Salon II, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2022 Cityscape Show, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2021 California on My Mind, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2021 Real Women, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2021 Cityscape Show XI, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2020 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2019 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2019 Cityscape Show VIIII, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Group Show, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2019 Spring Salon, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2018 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2018 Cityscape Show VIII, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Bradley Hankey, Mary-Austin Klein & Jason Kowalski, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2018 Spring Break, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2017 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2017 Dog Days of Summer, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2017 Cityscape Show VII, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2016 Winter Small Works Show, Altmira Fine Art, Jackson, WY
2016 Massively Small, J Go Gallery, Park City, UT
2016 The Salton Sea: Lost in Paradise, Marks Art Center, Palm Desert, CA
2015 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2015 American Details, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2015 Desertscapes: Peripheral Vision, Marks Art Center, Palm Desert, CA
2015 Road Trip, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2014 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2014 California Dreaming,Oceanside Museum of Art, CA
2013 100 Grand, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2012 Nothing But Blue Skies, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2012 Palette to Palate, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2012 New Works, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2012 Semblance, Metro Galleries, Bakersfield, CA
2012 California Dreamin’, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2010 Landscapes, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2011 Valley of the Ancient Lake, Salton Sea History Museum, CA
2010 California Contemporary, Metro Galleries, Bakersfield, CA
2009 Urban Color , Metro Galleries, Bakersfield, CA
2008 Los Angeles River, City Hall Bridge Gallery, Los Angeles
2006 Off in the Distance, Metro Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2006 Visions of the Golden State, Metro Galleries,Bakersfield, CA
2005 Diane Best & Mary-Austin Klein, 29 Palms Gallery, Twentynine Palms, CA
2005 Desert Diversity, 29 Palms Gallery, Twentynine Palms, CA
