John O'Shea (artist)

John O'Shea (1876 - April 29, 1956) was a California impressionist painter known for his landscape, marine, figure, and portrait paintings. He was one of the major artists in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California between 1917-1945, and resident of Carmel for 36 years. His works are held in the permanent collections of several locations, including the Harrison Memorial Library, Monterey Museum of Art, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, and the Bohemian Club.

Early life
John O'Shea was born in 1876 in Ballintaylor, near Waterford, in southern Ireland. He was an art student in Dublin and Cork. In 1892, at age 16, he immigrated to the New York City in the United States. He continued his studies at the Adelphi Academy and the Art Students League of New York. He first worked at Tiffany & Company as an engraver.

Career


In 1913, O'Shea moved to Pasadena, California and began his artistic career. He held two showings, one at the Kenneth Avery studio and the other at the Friday Morning Club in Los Angeles. Antony Anderson described his work as "wonderfully beautiful interpretations of our landscape, full of vibrating light and color." Twenty of his paintings were shown at the Friday Morning Club's large auditorium.

In 1914, O'Shea painted a canyon with the San Antonio snow-capped mountain in the distance between Mount Lowe and Mount Wilson, Los Angeles County, California.

O'Shea moved his studio-residence to Laguna Beach in 1915, and shared this art colony with George Gardner Symons, Anna Hills, and Frank Cuprien.

He made his first visit to Carmel-by-the-Sea in April 1916, land stayed at the Monte Verde Inn. In 1917, O'Shea relocated to the art colony of Carmel Highlands. He frequently exhibited at the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club in Carmel.

O'Shea returned to New York in November to December 1921, and put on an exhibition of about 28 watercolors and oils at the Kingore Galleries on 5th Avenue.

On May 25, 1922, O'Shea and Mary "Molly" D. Shaughnessy of Terre Haute, Indiana, obtained a marriage license in New York City at the Municipal Building. Their wedding took take place at a later time. Molly had inherited 10 acre in the Carmel Highlands, California, near Smugglers' Cove. This is where they built a stone mansion, that they named "Tynalacan." Fellow artists, Theodore Criley and William Frederic Ritschel were their neighbors. They entertained friends from the area including poet Robinson Jeffers and his wife Una, photographer Edward Weston, Mabel Loomis Dodge and her husband, and Tony Luhan.

In 1926 and 1927, O'Shea made trips to Arizona with a close friend and artist Theodore Criley. Paintings from these excursions, like the Grand Canyon, resulted in art showings in Pasadena, Tucson, and San Francisco.

In 1928, O'Shea and Molly traveled to Tahiti in the South Pacific where he painted landscapes and seascapes. He went to New Mexico in 1930, and painted places around Taos. The New Mexico and Tahiti paintings were exhibited at the Denny-Watrous Gallery in Carmel. O'Shea‘S wife died on October 8, 1941, at St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco after a long illness.

The California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, exhibited 36 of O'Shea's paintings in April and May 1934. The Director of the Legion of Honor said of O'Shea's work "The gorgeous color and design of [his] canvases were sure to please the San Francisco public."

O'Shea also did showings at the Del Monte Art Gallery in the Hotel Del Monte, as well as the Crocker Art Gallery in Sacramento, California in the 1930s. In 1938, The O'Shea's moved to Pebble Beach.

In November 1939, at the Bay Region Art Association's annual at the Oakland Art Gallery, he won first prize for a watercolor called "Old Trees, Monterey."

In March 1941, at the California State Fair, O'Shea won $570 for the first prize in the category "Decorative" of an oil painting called "Rusty Cypress". He exhibited alongside of Paul Dougherty who won second prize. At the Bohemian Club exhibit in San Francisco, in March 1942, O'Shea gave a one-man-show of his work. He showed a closeup of tropical vegetation, a Hawaiian landscape, and a rocky seascape.

O'Shea was an active member of the Carmel Art Association, serving as president, director, judge, and exhibitor. He served three terms as president. He designed their front patio and garden area.

Death
O'Shea died at home on April 29, 1956, at age 80.

Legacy
O'Shea left a legacy of over 500 works in oil, charcoal, and watercolor. In October of 1856, the Carmel Art Association staged a memorial with 29 of his paintings. In 1965, an exhibit of 33 oils and watercolors opened in honor of O'Shea at the Laky Gallaries in Carmel.

List of exhibitions
Some of the venues where O'Shea exhibited include the following:

• Friday Morning Club (LA), 1913-15 (solo)

• Carmel Arts and Crafts Club, 1917

• San Francisco Art Association, 1918

• Monterey Museum of Art (1919)

• Helgesen Gallery (SF) (1st one-man show), 1919

• Schussler Brothers Gallery (SF), 1919

• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1919-21

• Kingore Galleries (NYC), 1921

• Society of Independent Artists (NY), 1922

• Waldorf Astoria (1922)

• Grace Nicholson Galleries (Pasadena)

• Temple Art Gallery (Tucson)

• Beaux Art Gallery (SF), 1928

• College Art Association, 1929

• Denny-Watrous Gallery (Carmel), 1931, 1933

• California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1934

• E. B. Crocker Art Gallery (Sacramento), 1935

• Del Monte Art Gallery, 1936, 1940

• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, Missouri), 1937

• Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939, 1940

• Oakland Art Gallery, 1939 (1st prize)

• California State Fair, 1941 (1st prize)

• Bohemian Club, 1941

• Civic Arts Gallery (Walnut Creek, California), 1986

• Carmel Art Association, 1993 (retrospectives)

Public collections
Among the public collections holding works by O'Shea are the: • Mills College Art Museum (Oakland)

• Harrison Memorial Library (Carmel)

• Monterey Museum of Art (Monterey)

• Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (Dublin, Ireland)

• Bohemian Club (SF)

• Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art at University of California, (Irvine, CA)