Francis Livingston show opens at new State Street gallery
In April, the Thomas Reynolds Gallery — Santa Barbara’s newest fine art gallery, located at 1331 State Street — will feature “Francis Livingston: On the Waterfront,” a series of paintings of California’s seaside amusement parks.
Livingston is one of the premier figurative painters working today. In Santa Monica and Santa Cruz — known for their turn-of-the-20th century amusement parks and beaches — Livingston has found a wealth of subject matter. He documents the exhilarating feeling of being confronted by the enormity and grandeur of a majestic roller coaster. Or he portrays gargantuan Ferris wheels surrounded by brightly colored, circus-like tents with a carnival atmosphere. Add to this the artist’s love of nostalgia and mood and what emerges are paintings that exude a uniquely spirited ambiance.
The artist, who now lives and works in Sun Valley, Idaho, honed his skills in California, where he absorbed the Bay Area look — bold and free impressionistic brushstrokes, emphasis on shape rather than on line, and an abstract approach to realism. Yet the tone of Livingston’s art — its most essential characteristic — is in the vein of the Ash Can School of the early 20th century.
The Thomas Reynolds Gallery opened in December 2020 at 1331 State Street, near the historic Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara’s arts district. The gallery was located in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood for the previous 25 years, specializing in the art and artists of California.
The gallery is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., or anytime by appointment. Images and more biographical information is available on the gallery website at thomasreynolds.com.
THOMAS REYNOLDS GALLERY
1331 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
415.676.7689http://www.thomasreynolds.com
VIDEO: “On the Waterfront”https://youtu.be/oovdbkcsQ3U
IMAGE: Frances Lingston, Golden Pier, Santa Monica
