"Napa Valley"

JEAN MARION GATES HALL (1911-2001) USA

Napa Valley 1940

Oil on canvas, original wood frame

Signed: with her monogram initials JGH (lower right)
Marked on back: Jean Gates Hall, June 18, 1940, Napa Valley

Canvas: H: 14″ x W: 17 1/4″
Framed: H: 17 1/2″ x W: 20 1/2″

Price: $4,250

Born in Memphis, TN on May 19, 1911.  Jean Gates studied at the Cummings School of Art in Des Moines.  At age 14 she moved to Los Angeles with her family.  There she continued at the Chouinard Art School while working for Warner Bros, Walt Disney, and Mintz Studios.  Upon moving to San Francisco, she married writer James D. Hall in 1938.  Her illustrations were used in her husband’s children’s books.  She established a studio in the “Monkey Block” (now the Transamerica Pyramid) and was active in the local art scene.  She later earned her B.A. degree at San Jose State University (1955) and M.A. degree at UC Davis (1966).   Working in oil and watercolor, her painting style and subject matter evolved with the years from descriptive realism to linear pictures, and finally an entirely new medium called Magpage.  Mrs. Hall was a resident of Oakland in the 1980s and died in Cedar Ridge, CA on June 23, 2001.

Exhibitions:  Iowa State Fair, 1926; California State Fair, 1937; GGIE, 1939;  Paul Elder Gallery (SF), 1939 (solo); NMAA, 1941; SFMA, 1942 (solo); De Young Museum, 1944 (solo); California WC Society, 1945-53; UC Davis, 1946, 1965 (solos); Kingsley Art Club (Sacramento), 1965.