SAN DIEGO — A new exhibit is highlighting generations of San Diego art.
"Collecting San Diego" was donated by art collectors Bram and Sandra Dijkstra to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park.
The expansive exhibit covers a wide range of art styles from some of San Diego's most notable painters. While the styles vary from abstract to watercolor to realism, all of the paintings focus on the common themes that define San Diego.
"This exhibition really gives the sweep of lets say the last century of San Diego art," said Sandra Dijkstra. "It gives us a different way of seeing the city, but also the cultural history of San Diego. That's the exciting thing for us."
Three generations of artists are represented, with the earliest painting, In The Banner Valley by Charles Reiffel, dating back to 1926.
The donators say it is painful to part with this collection. But their goal is to offer the public the best and most complete representation of San Diego art.
"The thing we hope to emphasize with the gift is to show how many really brilliant there are in San Diego," said Bram Dijkstra. "There were in San Diego -- and are in San Diego."
They are particularly proud of Sun Goddess of the Computer Age - a massive portrait by Armando Nuñez with abstract symbols that jumps out of the wall.
As a member of San Diego's Chicano Art Movement, Nuñez painted "The Historical Wall" - the first mural in Chicano Park.
"He brings together a lot of ordinary objects -- ordinary slats of wood, various aspects of color, to bring together this sense of goddess of the computer age," said Bram.
Many of the featured artists left a large art scene on the East Coast that celebrated and honored their work. But when they traveled west, many found it difficult to cultivate a big following that relished in their art. Sandra says its still a problem affecting San Diego's artists to this day.
But upon arriving in San Diego, many of these artists were struck by the key natural elements that define the region: a vast coastline in the west, the expansive desert in the east and the tendency for wildfires to ravage the landscape.
Julian, a 1935 portrait from Ivan Messenger, focuses on the historic Julian town center. When the 2003 Cedar Fire burned 273,246 acres, over 2,800 structures and killed 15 people, the Dijkstras - long-time residents of Julian - used this image to raise funds and help the community rebuild.
The exhibit will be on display until Jan. 15, 2023. After that, 15 paintings will be added to the history center's permanent collection, joining more than 1,700 other pieces of fine art.