John James Cunningham

John Cunningham (1904-2004) was an American painter, teacher, and director of the Carmel Art Institute in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States. In 1990, He became president emeritus and transferred the responsibility of the Carmel Art Institute to the Carmel Art Association.

Early life and education
Cunningham was born on April 5, 1904, in New Jersey. He was brought up in Manhattan, one of the smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. In 1921, he enlisted as an ordinary seaman aboard the S.S. President Arthur, embarking on a journey to Bremerhaven, Germany. In 1923, he attended the Manhattan College for two years.

In 1926, Cunningham began his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, achieving both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in fine arts. While attending Berkeley, he met Patricia "Pat" Stanley (1907-1984).

European influences
Following graduation, in 1929 Cunningham received a traveling fellowship, enabling he and Pat to study with the same teachers as Hans Hofmann at the Schule für Bildende Kunst (School of Fine Art) in Munich, André Lhote at the Académie Notre-Dame des Champs in Paris, and Beniamino Bufano in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. In 1930 he exhibited his paintings in Munich. Bufano had a studio in southern France and taught Cunningham stone carving.

On May 15, 1930, he and Patricia Stanley were married at the City Hall of the 16th arrondissement of Paris. They were divorced in 1959. On September 2, 1961 Cunningham married Patricia "Patti" Ann Duncan Peterson.

Artistic career
In 1930, during the Great Depression, Cunningham and his wife Patricia returned from Paris to New York City. He worked as a decorator, created murals, for Gimbels and Macy's in New York City department stores. He also worked for Livingston Manor, New York, and the Firestone Winery in Los Olivos. This period of mural execution spanned from 1931 to 1933.

In 1931, Cunningham took up a role as a barker for Barnum & Bailey at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, where he engaged in painting for approximately three months. He presented his artwork from Coney Island in a solo exhibition at the Art Alliance in New York. The same year, Cunningham painted an Arabian Night panel for the Edgewood Inn at Livingston Manor, New York. Subsequently, he also joined the Central Executive Board of the American Artists' Congress in New York City.

In 1931, Cunningham accepted the role of director at the Cranbrook Academy of Art located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Between 1931 and 1933, Cunningham served as the resident artist and head of the Fine Arts Department at Cranbrook. He subsequently assumed the role of heading the Department of Fine and Industrial Art at Cranbrook and took on the responsibilities of directing and establishing the inaugural summer session.

One of his many solo exhibitions took place in November 1932 at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. He had drawings in two galleries. The drawings consisted mainly of people and buildings.

In 1933, he finished the first-hand set tessera glass mosaic (imitation of a stained-glass window) at the great hall at the Cranbrook Educational Community. During the Christmas pageant at Cranbrook School, it was positioned within the dining hall and illuminated using floodlights from behind.

Cunningham took on the role of visiting professor and head of the summer session in Art at Mills College in Oakland, California in 1935. Subsequently, he was appointed as the Director of the Fine Arts Department. His wife, Patricia served on the faculty of Mills College.

Between 1935 to 1937, Cunningham exhibited at the Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C., the Greater Texas & Pan-American Exposition for the World's Fair held at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas, the Paris Exposition. From 1938 to 1939, he accepted a job of staff artist for the State of California Governor's Commission at the University of California for the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in San Francisco.

Carmel-by-the-Sea
Cunningham‘s initial introduction to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California occurred in 1926 when he took part in a traveling amateur production of the play The Young Idea by Noël Coward. It played at the Theatre of the Golden Bough in Carmel, and the Little Theater at U.C. Berkeley. He stayed in Carmel for several months to paint the sets for the Forest Theater.

After the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Cunningham enlisted in the Merchant Marine, during World War II, spanning from 1942 to 1945, serving as an able seaman initially and later attaining the rank of Chief Mate by the conclusion of the war years. He did sketches of seamen during the war that were showcased in exhibitions at the Architectural League in New York City and as part of a traveling show across the county. He was granted an Honorable Discharge from the United States Coast Guard on August 15, 1945.

Founding the Carmel Art Institute
The Carmel Art Institute was founded in 1937 by painters Armin Hansen, Kit, and Paul Whitman, offering year-round instruction. This art school offered instruction for art students for many decades.

Cunningham began at the Institute when he helped teach a painting class for Hansen when he fell ill. In 1938 Cunningham took on the role of Director for the First Summer School at the Carmel Art Institute. In 1939, Hansen and the Whitmans sold the Institute to the Cunninghams, as Hansen returned to his own painting pursuits.

By 1940, the Art Institute was holding six week summer classes outdoors, teaching figure and landscape painting. In 1941, Kit Whitman made a public announcement that Cunningham and his wife Patricia would take over all day-to-day affairs at the Institute.

Cunningham's international connections brought well known European artists to the institute to assist in instructing students. Notable figures like Fernand Léger, Alexander Archipenko, and Salvador Dalí served as guest instructors. Artist Jane Reece had one-person shows at the Carmel Art Institute and the Dayton Art Institute in 1947.

In 1947, the Carmel Art Institute hosted its art activities initially at Cunningham‘s studio on Rio Avenue on Carmel Point, then moved to the Serra School, then to a studio at Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, and subsequently relocated to the Seven Arts Building. In 1954, the Carmel Art Institute was relocated again to a studio in the Court of the Golden Bough at Monte Verdi and Ocean Avenue. In 1976, the Carmel Art Institute was relocated to the Flanders Mansion, where the Institute continued to operate until Cunningham's retirement in 1990.

Cunningham ran the institute until 1990, when he retired and transferred the responsibility of the Carmel Art Institute to the Carmel Art Association. Subsequently, he stopped his teaching duties and dedicated his time to painting within his studio in Carmel Valley.

Carmel Valley
In July 1964, Cunningham and his family moved to Carmel Valley, where he settled near the Carmel River and constructed an art studio. Between 1972 and 1973, Cunningham embarked on a year-long painting journey across Europe, exploring various destinations in a van accompanied by his wife and their son, Blair.

In September 1992, Cunningham organized an auction and benefit for the Blind Children's Center of Los Angeles, featuring his paintings, at Graystone Mission in Beverly Hills, California.

Death and legacy
On January 22, 2004, Cunningham died at the age of 99 at Hospice House. His dedication to art, education, and community engagement earned him the title of President Emeritus of the Carmel Art Institute.

Drawings
• Guatemalan Mural (1935)

• Antibes (1943)

• Higgins from San Francisco, SS Sea Snipe, (1943) Pencil 14"×10 1/2

• Able Seaman, MV Perida, (1944) Pencil 16"×12"

• Able Seaman, MV Perida, (1944) Pencil 16"×12"

• Able Seaman, SS Steel Exporter, (1944) Pencil 16"×12"

• Able Seaman, Helmsman, SS Arcadia Victory, (1945 Pencil 16"×12"

• Third Mate studying medical book, MV Perida, (1944) Pencil 12"16"

• Looking Across San Francisco from the Gun Tubs, SS Arcadia Victory, (1945) Pencil 16"x12"

Paintings
• Monastery Bay (1950)

• San Jose Beach - Carmel Bay (1951)

• Point Lobos (1966)

• Flowers in Vase (1966)

• ''Night of the Iguana, Miemaloma (1870)

• Portrait of Art Student (1970)

• Flowers in Vase (1971)

• Little Red School House (1975)

• Student Portrait (1976)

• Flowers and Bowl of Fruit (1978)

• Carmel River Mouth (1984)

• Carmel Coast (1984)

• Houses in Carmel (1984)

• Carmel Point (1985)

• Klamth River (1986)

• Rose in Teapot (1986)

• Grimes Barn, South of Carmel (1987)

• Carmel Valley

•  Man Playing Guitar