Past Exhibitions

Highlighting artistic innovation between equal creative partners and drawing from the Museum's permanent collection, Double Vision thoughtfully pairs art from the painter Henrietta Shore and photographer Edward Weston. Shore and Weston became fast friends beginning in 1930, spending many hours exploring Point Lobos and the California Coast together. From Weston's iconic seashell imagery to Shore's critically acclaimed and distinctive style, Double Vision demonstrates a strong resonance between two artists bonded by a shared reverence for Nature and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of artistic expression.

Similarly, artists Eugenia Frances McComas and Francis McComas who met, married, and settled on the Monterey Peninsula, have styles that appear to evolve in parallel, growing progressively more colorful and expressive. This true creative partnership flourished until Francis's death in 1938, with Eugenia remaining an accomplished artist until she passed in 1982. Double Vision celebrates Monterey's rich artistic history and the personal connections that fueled and strengthened these artists' creative legacies.

About the Artists

Henrietta Shore and Edward Weston

In the early 20^th century, Henrietta Shore's artwork was already widely exhibited and critically acclaimed. Born and raised in Toronto, ON, she studied in New York City under painters William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri, and in London under John Singer Sargent, traveling broadly until settling in the Monterey Peninsula in 1930, where she would become friends with Edward Weston.

Edward Weston was born in Highland Park, IL in 1886. Having received a camera as a gift from his father as a child, he knew from an early age he wanted to be a photographer. After honing his skills in the Chicago area, he moved to Califorinia in 1906, and by 1911 established his own studio in Tropico, in suburban Los Angeles, with photographer Margarethe Mather. He was introduced to Henrietta Shore in Los Angeles in 1927. Dazzled by her abstracted style of painting, they soon became fast friends when Shore moved to Monterey in 1930, spending many hours exploring Point Lobos and the California Coast together.

Francis and Eugenia McComas

Born in Fingal, Tasmania in 1875, Francis McComas emigrated to San Francisco in 1898, studying  under the renowned Arte Nouveau painter and designer Arthur Mathews, before attending the Académie Julian in Paris. Francis's work reflected his time and influences, evolving from a moody "tonalist" style towards increasingly bright and abstracted imagery. He exhibited and traveled extensively and was one of only three California artists invited to participate in the historic 1913 Armory Show in New York City.

A native San Franciscan, Eugenia (a.k.a. Gene) McComas studied painting at the California College of Arts and Crafts under California tonalist artist, Xavier Martinez. She first met Francis at Martinez's studio, and after divorcing his first wife, Francis and Eugenia were married in 1917. The couple then settled on the Monterey Peninsula while traveling extensively throughout Europe, and the South Pacific, sketching and painting as they went.

Support for this exhibition provided by Susan DuCoeur

Image: Henrietta Shore (1880-1963),Two Nudes, 1928-1930, lithograph on paper, 19.06 x 14.88 in. MPMA Purchase, 1986.023.004. © Estate of Henrietta Shore.