Celebrating History Edwin Deakin Exhibit
Board trustee and exhibition sponsor John C. Woodward with Lynn Brittner, SBHM executive director
by Hattie Beresford
Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Carmelo (Carmel Mission), as portrayed by Deakin, is in better repair than shown in the photograph by W.J. Rea. Deakin portrays an earlier time when the roof has not collapsed and sheep meander in the fields.
(from left) Michael Redmon, SBHM director of research, with Pauline and Marc Sylvain, sponsors of the Edwin Deakin exhibit of 21 California Missions portrayed in watercolor
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n exhibit of the complete set of 21 California mission watercolors, completed by landscape and picturesque painter Edwin Deakin circa 1900, opened May 4 at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM). Sponsored by Pauline and Marc Sylvain and museum trustee John C. Woodward, the exhibit is supported by a beautiful book depicting images of each of Deakin’s watercolors juxtaposed with a historic photograph that closely matches the angle and viewpoint. The museum’s director of research, Michael Redmon, developed the plan for the book and included elements of Deakin’s original design in the museum’s publication California Missions in Watercolor. Near the turn of the 20th century, Mexican secularization (1833-1848) and American neglect had taken their toll on the venerable colonial establishments. Some missions lay in complete ruin and little remained. When needed, therefore, Deakin relied on written and oral descriptions, earlier paintings and sketches (his own and
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Ms Beresford is a retired English and American history teacher of 30 years in the Santa Barbara School District. She is author of two Noticias, “El Mirasol: From Swan to Albatross” and “Santa Barbara Grocers,” for the Santa Barbara Historical Society.
others), and historic photographs to create his images of the missions. Deakin sketched and painted 21 large oil paintings of the missions between 1897 and 1899. These were placed on exhibition at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1900. Coupled with the publication of The Twenty-one Missions of California, which contained blackand-white images of his paintings, the exhibit had a profound effect on the nascent movement to save the historic mission complexes from oblivion. Deakin created three complete sets of the mission paintings; two were oils and one was watercolor. He intended to publish a full color version of the original book using the watercolors and had gone so far as to design the
Carmel Mission was the second mission founded in Alta California by Father Serra. The photo shows it in near ruin. Today, the mission has been restored to its former grandeur. Deakin’s paintings are a “compelling reminder of the power of art as a catalyst for change.”
cover and template for the pages in illuminated manuscript style. At the time of his death in 1923, this project lay incomplete and was tucked away with his other works and placed in storage. In 1955, the entire grouping of his works was sold to Howard Willoughby, who was a Santa Barbara native and an art collector living in Piedmont, California. Upon inspection of the contents, he discovered a sewn-up canvas container labeled “watercolor paintings for book.” Protected from the light of day for some 50 years, all the paintings were in perfect condition. In 2013, through then owners David Packard and Bernadette Castor, the paintings came into the custodianship of Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery on consignment. Frank
• The Voice of the Village •
Goss, respectful of Deakin’s reasons for insisting on selling each of the three sets of Mission paintings as a whole, introduced the idea of transferring the watercolor set to the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Thanks to the generosity of David Packard, Bernadette Castor, Winifred Vedder, John C. Woodward, Sally and David Martin, and Frank Goss, the Santa Barbara Historical Museum is now the custodian of Edwin Deakin’s entire set of paintings, which is currently on exhibit for all to enjoy. The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is located at 136 East De la Guerra Street. The exhibit is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Saturday noon to 5 pm. Closed Monday. California Missions in Watercolor is on sale at the lobby entrance for $12.95 with a 10-percent discount for SBHM members. •MJ 1 – 8 June 2017