Palm Canyon, n.d.

Clarence Hinkle produced landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and figure paintings influenced by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Born in Auburn, California, he moved with his family to a ranch outside Sacramento, where his father had a carriage-painting business. He began his studies under William F. Jackson at what was then known as the E. B. Crocker Art Gallery and later studied in San Francisco with Arthur Mathews at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art. He continued his training at the Art Students League in New York and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he earned a scholarship that allowed him to study abroad.

Hinkle spent six years in Holland and France. He studied at the popular Académie Colarossi and École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, but claimed to have learned more from his visits to the Louvre. He returned to the United States and settled in San Francisco in 1912, exhibiting paintings that his peers considered daringly modern.

In 1917, Hinkle moved to Los Angeles and began teaching at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design. Four years later, he became an instructor at the recently founded Chouinard Art Institute. He also became part of Southern California’s Group of Eight, which aimed to promote advanced styles of art.

From 1931 to 1935, Hinkle maintained a residence in Laguna Beach and then moved to Santa Barbara. He traveled frequently. This painting depicts a spot in the beautiful, 15-mile-long Palm Canyon in Palm Springs, which is known for its palms set amid stark, rocky gorges and desert sands. In the 1940s, he taught at the Santa Barbara School of Art, remaining active in Santa Barbara until his death.

LOOK FOR: The influence of French artist Paul Cézanne’s work on Hinkle’s color, composition, and brushwork.