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Peter Adams
Eucalyptus at Twilight
Oil on board 24" x 18"
Blomstrom Collection
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Education has also come through travel on various trips. In China, the Blomstroms
have toured the art academies all over the country, meeting with artists
and teachers. On a 1986 tour, the couple visited the Hangchow Fine Arts
Institute (notable in that Hangchow is the home of one of the four top art
schools in China, the others being Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai.) They
discovered the exceptional talents of two art professors in Hangchow, but
because of certain proprieties, they were not able to buy their works on
the spot. However, to the Blomstrom's surprise, that evening the two professors
appeared at their hotel on bicycles with their huge 40" x 30"
paintings which they had carted through the streets. Today, these paintings
are prized possessions in the Blomstrom's evergrowing collection.
Such one-on-one interaction with artists is the hallmark of the Blomstrom's
style of collecting. "When we buy contemporary work, we want to know
the artist," says Bruce Blomstrom. "We want to understand something
about how an artist creates his works and their point of view. We become
more educated buyers this way." And Anne adds, "Being reminded
of our friendship with these talented people adds to the pleasure of looking
at the work." The Blomstroms also keep a file on each contemporary
artist they collect, following the development of their careers. Invitations
to gallery openings, articles on the artist, brochures, as well as notes
and letters from the artist become part of the archives.
Every August, when the California Art Club paintings at the Mission San
Juan Capistrano's plein air exhibit goes on display under the arched colonnades
of the Mission, you can find the Blomstroms making their way from artist
to artist, catching up with old friends and discovering new talent. Anne
admits, "We wouldn't miss going to these events! Each year during the
Mission's painting exhibit and sale weekend we have different friends staying
at our beach house, and we always take them to the events. And each year
our friends end up purchasing a painting!" Anne and Bruce share the
same tastes and when it comes time to make an acquisition, they rely on
each other's judgement. However, their rule of thumb for the Capistrano
exhibit is to buy only as many paintings as they can carry out with both
hands!
The Blomstroms happened upon California plein air artists when Anne picked
up a copy of the 1982 publication of Plein Air Painters of California: The
Southland by Ruth Westphal. As she and her husband poured over the pages,
they were drawn to the California subject matter and the sense of natural
light in the paintings. Next step was The Irvine Museum where they could
see examples in person, and then visiting the many local galleries featuring
this type of work.
The Blomstroms particularly find gallery exhibition previews useful, and
admit to preferring smaller crowds, which gives them a chance to see the
works and to talk to the artists. The focus becomes more intimate, making
it easier for them to make the right acquisition decisions. And that they
have done, collecting the works of such contemporary California Art Club
members as Peter Adams, Jacobus Baas, Kenn Backhaus, John Budicin, Glenna
Hartmann, Gregory Hull, Jean LeGassick, Eva Marguerite, Joyce Motazedi,
Zenaida Mott, Billyo O'Donnell, Tim Solliday, Joseph Stoddard, Jean Summers,
and Jove Wang. The Blomstroms exemplify the type of collectors committed
to both art and artists, which helps movements such as plein air painting
to develop and thrive. Their involvement with the art world includes many
avenues of participation. When Anne
Blomstrom says, "in choosing art, we use our eyes and our hearts,"
that's easy to believe.
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Anne and Bruce Blomstrom
at their home with paintings by (left to right) Peter Adams, John
Budicin, Jove Wang, and two artists from Hangchow, China.
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