User:Leonard kaplan

ARTIST LEONARD KAPLAN (1922-2007)

Leonard Kaplan was born January 15, 1922 in New York City, New York. He won a scholarship in 1940 to study at the Art Student’s League under Reginald Marsh and William Palmer. He also won an art scholarship to New York University Academy of Allied Arts in the late 1930’s. At 15, Leonard went to study art at the Henry Street Settlement House where he befriended many of the era’s influential artists such as Paul Cadmus. Kaplan was taught figure drawing by William Dean Fausett, who invited the young artist to assist him on murals for the WPA. Kaplan soon worked for the WPA on his own merit and is considered one of the last surviving bohemian artists that participated in Roosevelt’s artist program. In 1945, Kaplan and his poet wife Nan Wing moved to Laguna Beach where he quickly established himself in the Southern California art scene. Norton Simon was an early enthusiastic patron and Kaplan’s work is represented in the permanent collections of the Laguna Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum.

EDUCATION

Scholarship to Art Student’s League, New York City, New York

Studied under Reginald Marsh and William Palmer, 1939

New York University, 1939

Smithsonian Archives of American Art

MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

Pacific Asia Museum

Newport Harbor Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California

Laguna Beach Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California

Edward Dean Museum

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1996   Kissler-Painter Gallery, Laguna Beach, California

1991   Cal State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California

1987   Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California

1984   Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, California

1982   Cypress College Fine Art Gallery, Cypress, California

1974   Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, California

1973   Edward Dean Museum, Cherry Valley, California

1971   McVey-Richter Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1968   Coffee Garden, Corona del Mar, California

1967   University of Arizona Art Gallery, Tucson, Arizona

1965   Wooden Horse Gallery, Laguna Beach, California

1964   Ensign Building, Corona del Mar, California

1963   Gallery Suse Brecher-Parsons, Los Angeles, California

1962   Hidden Village Art Gallery, San Francisco, California

1955   Claremont Art Gallery, Claremont, California

1954   Rosha Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1954   Dixie Hall Studio, Laguna Beach, California

1954   Lucy Bayne Gallery, Beverly Hills, California

1951   Long Beach Art Association, Long Beach, California

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1996   Three Artists Working In Collage, Gallery B, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, California

1994   “The Generative Spirit”, Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, California

1993   “Outside the Mainstream in Orange County”, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, California

1982   “Carnal Images”, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, California

1979   “Our Artists – Art in Orange County”, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California

1978   “Three Generations of Artists”, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California

1955   National Orange Show, San Bernardino, California

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

1954   National Orange Show, San Bernardino, California

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

Unitarian Exhibit, Los Angeles, California

Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California

Gump’s, San Francisco, California

Municipal Art Center, Long Beach, California

1953   National Orange Show, San Bernardino, California

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

Municipal Art Center, Long Beach, California

1952   National Orange Show, San Bernardino, California

Palos Verdes Art Association, Palos Verdes, California

1951   National Orange Show, San Bernardino, California

Los Angeles Art Association, California

Weyhe Gallery, New York City, New York

1950   National Orange Show, San Bernardino, California

COMMISSIONS

Mural for Gimble’s Department Store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Six Murals in plastic, 7x22 for Stix, Baer & Fuller Department Store in St. Louis, Missouri

Two Whalebone sculptures for the Nordic Room, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California

Painting for the Halls of Hallmark Collection

PUBLIC SPACE EXHIBITIONS

Palace of Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California

California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California

Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, California

Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, California

University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona  PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Professor, Figurative Drawing, University of California at Irvine, Irvine California                      1970-1975

Professor, Figurative Drawing, California State University at Fullerton, Fullerton, California

AWARDS

Los Angeles County Museum of Art Purchase Prize

American Institute of Architects National Award Fine Arts and Craftmanship Nomination - 1954

New York University Grand Prize in Drawing 1934

National Orange County Art Show – First Prize

Laguna Beach Festival of Arts Purchase Prize