Unflagging Passion

The Julian, California, home of Bram and Sandy Dijkstra hosts an eclectic mix of artwork

The Julian, California, home of Bram and Sandy Dijkstra hosts an eclectic mix of artwork

Bram and Sandy Dijkstra collect art that intrigues them—art by famous artists, art by unknowns, and artwork that may not fit into today’s “canon,” although, often, it was a star in its day.

In the master bedroom of their

Julian mountain house hangs Flower

Still Life with Antler, circa 1935, by

Tosca Olinsky (1909-1984). “Tosca’s father was the well-known painter Ivan Olinsky,” Sandy notes.“it’s a bold and accomplished work, but we’ve never come across another painting by her. Where could the oeuvre of an artist as accomplished as this have gone?”

I was attracted by a Charles Webster Hawthorne painting of a nude in

Bram’s study. Nudes are no surprise since they appear frequently in the couple’s collection, here, and in their Del Mar home, which we featured in the September 2017 issue of this magazine. Bram wrote a book on the subject, Naked:the Nude in America (Rizzoli, 2010), and the Dijkstras have acquired great examples over the years. In 2014, an exhibition based on their collection of nudes, Naked: 20th Century Nudes from the Dijkstra Collection, curated by Tara Smith Centybear, was featured at the Oceanside Museum of Art.

Known for his portraits, the great colorist Charles Hawthorne (1872-1930) founded the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899. In 1921, the Columbus Museum of Art invited him to give a master class, and his demonstration piece was the nude female torso now hanging in Bram’s

study.“this was not conceived of as a finished painting,” Bram surmises.“see the range of primary colors at the top of the painting, which reveal his palette.as his students’ eyes travelled down the body he painted, they came to understand how he blended these colors into convincing flesh tones. Even today, witnessing this thoughtful and skillful painter at work in this unfinished painting, you begin to understand his mastery.

“The paintings in this collection intrigue, but they also teach us.the pleasure of living with them is always finding something new in them.”

Bram laments that “too many art lovers are drawn to a work of art by the name of a well-known artist, and disturbed by the lack of such a name. Lots of good art is neglected for this reason.art lovers need to get away from the notion of the name, (or absence thereof, as many works are unsigned),

and respond to the work of art itself which, if successful, invites you to enter an unknown country with elements we recognize, and new elements that excite and energize us emanating from the domain of ideas and perceptions of a creative mind. Really good paintings do that.the name of the artist does not make a painting great, after all. It’s the work itself, of course, that does that. We find that it’s a lot more exciting to live and interact with a great painting by an unknown artist than a mediocre painting by a well-known artist.” In Sandy’s view,“great art makes us encounter the unfamiliar. It allows us to see reality in a way we never saw it before. It should take us beyond the known.a real artistic experience is not necessarily a comforting one.”

Bram continues,“if you understand every word of a poem, it may not transcend the sum of its parts. If a poem draws you in, but, at the same time, leaves a lot of mystery in its wake, it will continue to fascinate you. If the artist is dealing with a relatively familiar subject, and all of a sudden, you notice something that isn’t in the painting, you wonder ‘Why not?’,” he explains. “Or you ask ‘Why is that object there?’ like a bird, for example, in a 16th or 17th nude figure painting. It doesn’t seem to belong there, but it’s there, and it’s being there changes our perception of the work. Sometimes abstract

landscapes that don’t make sense can drive you out of your comfort zone. What did the painter have in mind?” Sandy reflects on questions she wished she’d asked those artists whom the couple came to know.“since many of the pieces here were acquired later than those in Del Mar, we came to know a number of these artists personally.when we first met Harry Sternberg, we wanted to see his work from the ’30s, but he wanted us to look at his new work.we only bought his contemporary works after he died, so we didn’t get to discuss them with him.” They now wish that they could ask him about how his transition from East to West came to affect his art, a subject Bram later came to curate in a show for the San Diego Museum of Art.

Sandy continues,“collecting in depth is rewarding because an array of work gives a deeper sense of an artist’s range and interests. In the set of serigraphs displayed in Bram’s office, Harry Sternberg memorialized his circle of friends in Newyork City,

some of the most highly respected artists of his generation. He told each one, including Chaim Gross, Moses Soyer, David Burliuk, Marion Greenwood and Robert Gwathmey, that he was going to depict them, and behind each, create an example of work in their style. If they agreed with his representation, he asked each to sign the piece, and then, he signed it ‘By Sternberg’.the Walkowitz, for example, shows nudes and dancers, the subject for which he was wellknown. Like the others in the series, it contains both artists’ signatures.”the Dijkstras take pleasure in placing artists in conjunction with their friends. So, in front of the serigraph of Moses Soyer is a sculpture of that artist by Eugenie Gershoy, which faces a painting by her lover,wpa artist Harry Gottlieb.

In her office, Sandy has works by Sternberg after his move west. Leaving NYC, he abandoned his imagery of social realism and his color palette changed dramatically.“he went into a surrealist mode,” Sandy explains.

“In surrealism, there is an element of intrigue,” Bram asserts.“why is he doing that? How does the artist see the world? Harry painted humans with birds’ heads. For me, it’s not impossible to understand the connection between man and animal.the point is how does the artist convey this idea, and is she or he successful in conveying it. In Ethel Greene’s painting, Skyscape with Landscape, for instance, why are there suddenly flames breaking up through the clouds, and why is there a landscape in the sky? It’s beautiful and intriguing.as a viewer, you have to learn to ‘see’, i.e. to try to understand the artist’s conception, beyond its arresting visual appeal.” In coming to know the artists (but also through their work), one can learn about their anarchic nature:“ethel Greene loved to put rainbows in her paintings,” Bram recalls.“sandy and I were out driving one day and saw a sign for a little town called ‘Rainbow.’ I took some photos of the bridge over the freeway along the exit sign for ‘Rainbow,’ and took them to Ethel, asking her to do a painting for us with a rainbow over the highway and the sign. She refused, saying ‘It’s a wonderful idea. But it’s not my idea.’” “So much good art is hiding in plain sight,” Sandy observes.“bram and I feel it’s our mission to rescue that art, and to place it in its historical context. Seeing it juxtaposed with other ‘lost’ paintings enhances the viewer’s understanding of art history.these works should be returned to the lustre they had in their day. It’s exciting to see museum professionals come by, who, on seeing an extraordinary image, ask to borrow it for an exhibition.”

She adds,“we collect work from underrepresented groups such as women and Chicano artists. If we encounter something intriguing we buy it. Hugo Crosthwaite was born in Tijuana and works with graphite. Urbanidades—la Mariposa, 2001, depicts a young woman with the wings of a butterfly.” Crosthwaite’s drawings are about beauty “a personal intimate beauty,” he says.“the depiction of human suffering and violence permeates

my works.the works themselves are not violent, rather thoughtful and rife with seductive imagery. I explore the complexities of human expression, everything from alienation to acceptance and even celebration.” Sandy asks,“but, will that mariposa be able to fly out of the barrio?”the Dijkstras regularly loan works from their collection to museums, including LACMA, the Huntington and beyond, as well as to local museums such as the Timken Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art, the Oceanside Museum of Art and the San Diego History Center. Bram often curates exhibitions in the area bringing to light the work that was once labeled “local art” but is, in fact,“american art.” Their passion for art is unflagging as they continue to learn from the works they own and as they work to share it with wider audiences.

Bram and Sandy Dijkstra sit in front of a group of paintings by Ethel Greene (1912-1999). From left, they are The World’s Greatest Parking Lot, 1969; Skyscape with Landscape, 1978; and Waterbed, 1968. Partially obscured behind the collectors are, from left, Egg of an Unknown Bird, I, 1970; Egg of an Unknown Bird, II, 1971; and Rowing in the Sand, ca. 1974.

2001. Above the cabinets in Sandy’s office are Moonsongs # 10, ca. 1973, by Harry Sternberg (1904-2001) and below it, Street Scene, 1953, by Fred Hocks (1886-1981). On the right above the cabinets are Bootleg Miners, 1937, by Miron Sokole (1901-1985) and below it, Sternberg’s, Steel, 1937, serigraph. On the right is his Moonsongs # 14, ca. 1973.

On the top left (behind spiral staircase) Portrait of a Man, ca. 1938, by Samuel Brecher (1897-1982). Below it is Martha Matthews’ A Bridge Past Industry, 1988. At the bottom is Mississippi Flood, 1936, by Arthur Durston (1889-1938). Above the left passage way are, from top, East of Syracuse, 1948, by Carl Gaertner (18981952) and The Coast Near Santa Maria, 1931, by Warren Newcombe (1894-1960). In the left left passage way is Seated Nude, ca. 1981, by Byron Randall (1918-1999). Above the right passage way is Still Life with Clothes Dummy, ca. 1930, by Jan Matulka (1890-1972). In the right passageway from top are James Aitchison’s Leda and the Swan, 2002 and his Figure Studies, 1999. Above the counter are Lynn Schuette’s Song (from the In A World Where Butchers Sing Like Angels Series), 2003, and Robert Christy’s Super Budget Zen, 2007. Above the doorway to the bedroom is Hugo Crosthwaite’s Urbanidades—la Mariposa,

Above the counter is At the Docks, 1948, by Harry Gottlieb (1895-1993). On the top right is Model in the Studio, charcoal, ca. 1985, by an unknown Berkeley artist. The photograph above the desk is Pelicans at the Cove, ca. 1990, by Joseph Rubenson (1920-2011).

Next to fire place is a painting by Armando Walker Silva (1897-ca. 1966), Sitting Nude, 1934. Below it is Althea Brimm’s Raptor Resting, collage, ca. 2008. In the middle at the top is Farm Scene, ca. 1926, by Charles Rosen (1878-1950). Below it is Waterfront, ca. 1935, by Miron Sokole (1901-1985). Next, from top, are works by Milford Zornes (1908-2008), Uncloaked Nude, 1946; Leah Younker, El Cajon Boulevard, Morning, 2014; and Mary Plaisted Austin (1919-1977), Still Life, 1942. To the right of the Zornes are, top to bottom, works by Eugenie Geb, The Hired Man, graphite, 1992, and Todros Geller (1887-1949), Simchas Torah, lithograph, 1931.

Above the bookshelves in Bram’s study are portrait serigraphs by Harry Sternberg (1904-2001). They are, from left, Chaim Gross, 1943; Abraham Walkowitz, 1944; Mervin Jules, 1944; Moses Soyer, 1944; and David Burliuk, 1944. On the bookshelves is a portrait sculpture of Moses Soyer, ca. 1971, by Eugenie Gershoy (1901-1986). On the facing wall is A Visitor to the Studio, 1932, by Jacob Getlar Smith (1898-1958). Beneath it is Althea Brimm’s Untitled Collage, ca. 2008. Next to them is Figure Study (Class Sketch), 1921, Charles Webster Hawthorne (1872-1930).

Above the rail from left are works by John Atherton (1900-1952), Shasta Dam, 1951; Harry Gottlieb (1895-1992), An Industrial Landscape (Steel Mills, Western Pennsylvania), 1939; and Joseph Kaplan (1900-1980), Untitled Beach Scene, ca. 1960. Beneath the Atherton is a piece by Arthur Osver (19122006), Low Tide, 1939. Beneath the Kaplan is 80 years of Postal Service in Texas (Unexecuted Mural Design, Big Spring), 1938, by Peter Hurd (1904-1984). Seen through railing are two Sitting Nude monoprints, 1928, by Belle Baranceanu (1902-1988).

Through the doorway is Seascape on the Rocks, ca. 1968, by Harry Sternberg (1904-2001) and below it, is In the Studio, ca. 1926, lithograph, by Miriam Mckinnie (1906-1986). On the top left in the bedroom is Desert Scene, ca. 1950, gouache, by Theodore Polos (1901-1976), and below it, Nymph at the Seashore, ca. 1895, by F. Humphry Woolrych (1854-1941). In the center is A Dream of California, ca. 1915, by Clark Hobart (1868-1948). On the top right is Flower Still Life with Antler, ca. 1935, by Tosca Olinsky (1909-1984). Below it is Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, 1945, serigraph, by William Newport Goodell (1908-1999). On the bottom right is Coastal Scene, 1939, gouache, 1939, by Ivan le Lorraine Albright (1897-1983).

On the top left in Sandy’s study is Family Group, 1930, by Lily Harmon (1912-1998). Below it isBarbed Wire, power tool woodcut, ca. 1980 by Harry Sternberg (1904-2001). On the adjoining wall is Sternberg’s Tallis and Teffilin, 1986. On the top right is Proserpine, 1916, by Louis Frederick Bernecker (1872-1937). Beneath it is Lily Harmon’s, My Nude Mother-in-law, 1931.