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Chouinard: An Art Vision Betrayed : The Story of the Chouinard Art Institute, 1921-1972
Thousands of artists, illustrators, graphic designers, costume designers, art directors, and more, went through the Chouinard School of Art between 1921 and 1972. An Art Vision Betrayed chronicles the history of 20th century art in America.
260 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 6, 2015
Having attended CalArts myself, and having an older sister who attended Chouinard, I had a personal interest in the precursor school to my alma matter. I can remember visiting Chouinard when my sister took me to school with her when I was about six. I remember the first naked person I ever saw (who wasn't a family member) was a nude model posing in a room full of painters. Those memories return whenever I smell turpentine and oil paints.
The book did a good job of covering the years from inception, their building near MacArthur Park, how the school was affected by the war, the GI bill, and fiscal mismanagement. There's a bias against what the school became (CalArts) and what seems to me to be a misplaced hope that if Walt had lived, Chouinard and its faculty wouldn't have been cast by the wayside. One of the arguments made was that Chouinard turned out all these great graduates who went on to work in the movie industry or become artists that could support and make a name for themselves as professional artists. Of course, the new school in Valencia was no slouch at turning out notable artists either.
Los Angeles didn't have a notable art scene prior to the 60's, with the birth of the "Cool School," the "Finish Fetish," the "Light and Space" artists, and notable performance art that came later. Chouinard was an essential part of the early scene, and even to today, the Southern California art scene is tied like no other to the local educational institutions. To it's credit, CalArts continued to produce notable artists, which gets left out of the final chapters that outline the formation of the new institution.
The book did a good job of covering the years from inception, their building near MacArthur Park, how the school was affected by the war, the GI bill, and fiscal mismanagement. There's a bias against what the school became (CalArts) and what seems to me to be a misplaced hope that if Walt had lived, Chouinard and its faculty wouldn't have been cast by the wayside. One of the arguments made was that Chouinard turned out all these great graduates who went on to work in the movie industry or become artists that could support and make a name for themselves as professional artists. Of course, the new school in Valencia was no slouch at turning out notable artists either.
Los Angeles didn't have a notable art scene prior to the 60's, with the birth of the "Cool School," the "Finish Fetish," the "Light and Space" artists, and notable performance art that came later. Chouinard was an essential part of the early scene, and even to today, the Southern California art scene is tied like no other to the local educational institutions. To it's credit, CalArts continued to produce notable artists, which gets left out of the final chapters that outline the formation of the new institution.
July 4, 2011
This book chronicles the history of 20th century art in America - illustrators, graphic designers, costume designers, art directors, fine artists - thousands came through the Chouinard School of Art between 1921 and 1972. Perine is an alumnus of the school himself, and has a particular editorial fondness for his time there late in the school's life. The organization of the book is odd, however, going back and forth in time, I'm guessing to accommodate the placement of art, but it's aggravating to lose the thread and have to pick it back up again. Rather a modern art equivalent of spatial relations. Nelbert Chouinard's theory of teaching was simple: you have to have the basics of drawing and design in order to be an artist. And artists live in every visual medium of American life. The school would still be doing its fine work today, but for corporate incompetents. Chouinard's vision could not survive the splintering by committee and accountants; art's eternal enemies.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews