Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents:
Exhibitionist: Earl Stendahl,
Art Dealer as Impresario

with April Dammann
Thursday, September 26, 2013, 7:00 p.m.
Admission is $5

In her Gualala Arts talk, "Exhibitionist: Earl Stendahl, Art Dealer as Impresario," April Dammann will reveal how Earl Stendahl, a preeminent twentieth century dealer, made a lasting impression on the California art scene. She draws material from her recently published book with the same title.

This talk provides a fascinating insight into Los Angeles life peopled with celebrities and rocked by scandals. It includes failures and triumphs and chronicles how Stendahl helped his neighbor, Walter Arensberg, amass what one art historian called "the most discriminating single group of twentieth century paintings and sculpture in existence."

The Arensbergs were also among the gallery's earliest clients of Pre-Columbian art from Mexico, Central and South America. This ethnographic material has become an important part of the Stendahl legacy and complements the gallery's collection of impressionists and modern artists.

One little remembered example of Stendahl's influence is the 1939 exhibition of Pablo Picasso's Guernica to benefit Spanish refugees from the Spanish Civil War. One of only two non-museum showings in the U.S. of this iconic work illustrates Stendahl's efforts to expose the public to fine art.

The story Dammann tells is also a personal one because she married Stendahl's grandson and the family has carried on the business tradition after Stendahl died in 1966. Her husband, Ron, is currently president of Stendahl Galleries, which celebrated one hundred years of continuous operation in Los Angeles in 2011. Learn more online at www.stendahlgalleries.com.

Stendahl's daughter, Eleanor Stendahl Dammann Howell, lived in Gualala for many years and was a generous supporter of Gualala Arts. The Howell Conference Room is named for her and her husband, Tom. Dammann is her daughter-in-law and lives part-time north of Anchor Bay on property overlooking Haven's Neck promontory.

After making her PowerPoint presentation, Dammann will gladly answer questions from the audience. Copies of her book will also be available.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.