Chaffey Community Art Association
Museum of Art
THE BARBARA LINE COLLECTION
Nucleus of the Chaffey Community Art Association Permanent Collection of
fine paintings was the Barbara Line Collection. This was a succession of
fine paintings donated by Francis and Helen Line, beginning in 1941, as a
memorial to their lovely young daughter.
Louise, Thomas Craig, 1941
Signed
“T. Craig” lower right
Oil
on canvas board
14”
x 18”
circa
1940
1941
Barbara Line Memorial purchase
THOMAS CRAIG 1907-1969
Thomas
Craig was born in Ontario, California. He was the youngest son of Dr. W. H.
Craig, the first medical doctor in Upland, California. He had a brother and a
sister who were medical doctors.
He
studied botany at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1928, at age 21, he
contracted tuberculosis and moved to Cathedral City, California, where he stayed
for several years and began painting. After his return to the
Los Angeles area, he studied with Frank Tolles Chamberlin and Clarence
Hinkle.
Watercolors
became his favorite medium; he usually worked in a very wet style and for the
most part chose soft colors. His
works often depicted farm or rural scenes on misty, foggy, or rainy days.
Because the Northern California coast supplies this type of weather, as well as
beautiful scenery, he spent as much time painting in this area as he could.
He
received a Guggenheim Fellowship in the early 1940's, which allowed him to
travel and paint throughout the Southwest. During World War II he was a war
artist and produced paintings for Life magazine. Thereafter he painted only
occasionally, spending most of his time raising hybrid flowers on 250 acres
north of San Diego. He developed a
prize-winning iris.
Although
he actively painted and exhibited for only about twenty years, he played an
important role in the development of the California Style of watercolor
painting. His works were exhibited in many important shows including the
California Group traveling exhibitions.
He was a member of the California Watercolor Society and the Philadelphia Watercolor Society.
Other
paintings
in our Permanent Collection are:
Goldfield
Signed
“T. Craig”, lower right
Watercolor
24”
x 30”
1941
1942
gift of by artist
Signed
“T. Craig”, lower right
Watercolor
21
¾ “ x 14 ¼”
Circa
1940
1941
Barbara Line Memorial purchase
Mendocino
Coast
Signed
“ T. Craig”, lower right
Oil
33”
x 25”
dated
1942
1942
purchase award
The nine paintings of the Barbara Line Collection are:
Desert River, Conrad Buff, 1941.
Blue House, Thomas Craig, 1941.
Storm at Sequoia, Emil Kosa, Jr., 1941.
Mineral King, Paul Lauritz, 1941.
After the Sing, Marjorie Reed Lindgren, 1941.
Iron Mountain, Clyde Scott, 1941.
Location (map):
THE J. FILIPPI WINERY, North Wing
12467 Baseline Road, Rancho Cucamonga, California 91739
Mailing Address:
Chaffey Community Art Association Museum of Art
P.O. Box 3902, Rancho Cucamonga, California 91729
© Chaffey Community Art Association Museum of Art
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