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September - October 2024
Volume 4, Issue 5
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September 1947
Fiesta Della Questa Della Pescatore
Feast of the fisherman
The photo shows the carrying of the statue of Santa Rosalia, the patron saint of the fisherman. The Santa Rosalia statue. was carried from the San Carlos Cathedral to the wharf where there was the blessing of the fishing boats.
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Emile Norman Endomosaic Panels
In 1954, Emile Norman completed a commissioned mosaic panel to be displayed in the restaurant of the Casa Munras Hotel in Monterey. The mosaic consists of four large panels depicting the history of Monterey. The panels, each about five feet by six feet, were made in molds and were constructed from layers of clear resin. Emile Norman apparently invented the term “endomosaic” in naming the panels. Monterey city eventually acquired the panels, and they were displayed in the conference center of the Portola Plaza Hotel until about 2016, and then were moved to a storage location in one of the city-owned parking garages.
Emile Norman died in 2009, and after years of disputes over the estate, the final settlement included funds for one of Emile Norman’s targeted charities to restore and exhibit his panels. MHAA was announced as the recipient of this grant from the Emile Norman Charitable Trust to restore and exhibit the panels in Stanton Center.
To date, we have signed an agreement with the city for an extended loan of the panels and the panels have been moved from the parking garage storage location and they are now in a secure area within Stanton Center.
We have been working with Architectural Resources Group (ARG) based in San Francisco to develop a plan for the restoration of the panels and to design a structure to support and display the panels. ARG led the restoration of the much larger Emile Norman endomosaic panels permanently exhibited in the California Masonic Memorial Temple in San Francisco.
After restoration, our plan is to exhibit the History of Monterey panels on the first floor of Stanton Center. We will also exhibit some of Emile Norman’s smaller works in this area and provide an explanatory narrative as part of the exhibit.
- Gary Spradlin, President, Monterey History and Art Association
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The panels ready for restoration at Stanton Center | | |
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The panels during shipping | | |
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The Art of
Casa Serrano
Edwin Deakin (1838-1923)
Edwin was born on May 21, 1838 in Sheffield, England to parents Robert & Louisa Deakin. He was the 3rd of their seven children. His family immigrated to the USA in 1856 where they settled in Chicago. 9 years later Edwin married Isabel ‘Belle’ Fox. Their marriage produced 3 children: Oscar in 1866 (Indiana) who also was a talented artist, Edna Isabel in 1871 (Illinois) a skilled architect & Dorothy Holroyd in 1874 (California) a piano teacher. (The US Census records show that Edna & Dorothy lived in Carmel in 1930 & 1940).
Edwin, Isabel & Oscar were included in 1870 US Census as San Francisco residents. He joined the Bohemian Club in 1873. That same year he offered 51 paintings for sale @ H. M. Newhall & Co. Auctioneers.
The April 22, 1877 SF Chronicle described him as “an excellent conversationalist…he is a man of somber appearance, with black eyes & long black hair.” He left for Europe the following month for an extended 2 year trip where he visited assorted cities in Switzerland, Germany, France & England for artistic inspiration.
In 1885 he assisted his brothers (Harry, Walter & Fred) with a Japanese Village exhibition @ S.F.’s St. Ignatius Hall on Market Street where assorted Japanese artwork was presented & available for sale. In 1887 he won a gold medal in the oil painting category @ the Sacramento State Fair.
The following year he purchased part of the Peralta estate in Berkeley where he built both a Mission Revival style studio & his own residence (inspired by God’s Providence House in Chester, England @ 3100 Telegraph Avenue). A feature in the 2/28/1892 SF Examiner stated “the adobe studio is exactly a reproduction of a mission established by the Spanish padres…the tiles on the roof were brought from the old Mission Dolores in San Francisco. From the same old mission was obtained the bell that hangs in the little belfry.” In the 12/25/1904 SF Call edition MHAA’s own Laura Bride Powers said “Over the bay in the classic burg of Berkeley—3100 Telegraph Avenue, to be exact—is a collection of pictures that should, in all justice, belong to the State University…I refer to Edwin Deakin’s superb collection of paintings of the Old Missions of California, twenty-one in all, shown in his studio over the bay…No artist of to-day possesses so thorough a knowledge of the missions, nor is in deeper sympathy with his subject. For thirty years he traveled about the State…oft times sketching under the pomegranate trees in the ruined patio, or perched upon a bit of ruined wall, the haunts of fleet-footed things that burrow…One of the finest pictures is that of San Antonio de Padua. For a background, a blue bathed mountain lifts its head—the beautiful Santa Lucia…This is the mission that the California Landmark League has partially restored. In its work, Mr. Deakin has been of invaluable assistance, being one of the three artists on the advisory board.”
Edwin Deakin died on May 11, 1923. He was 10 days short of 85 years. His SF Chronicle obituary remarked “The recent death of Edwin Deakin marks the passing of the last member of the group of celebrated artists who formed the center of San Francisco’s art colony of early days…He made frequent trips to the Eastern art centers and to Europe, and his paintings were admitted to the Paris Salon. In California his special interests were the mountains and lakes of the Sierra and the old missions.“
Casa Serrano is fortunate to contain one of his paintings in its collection. Titled ‘Outdoor Study on Strawberry Creek Berkeley’ 1892. It captures well one of his favorite haunts.
Michael Mazgai
Above photo: Edwin Deakin seated at easel circa 1882
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Strawberry Creek Study 1892 | |
Photo of Deakin's Mission Revival studio in Berkeley | |
Photo of Deakin standing in front of his Berkeley studio | |
Image of 1893 auction ad for Deakin's paintings | |
Local People
Charley Osborne
Charley Osborne has great stories to tell, not just about his grandfather, S.F.B. Morse, but his own life growing up on the Monterey Peninsula and Carmel Valley. He relates many of these stories in his book, “Boss”.
Samuel F.B. Morse died in 1969 when Charley was 22. Charley was fortunate to know his grandfather and spend time with him. Charley grew up in Pebble Beach and also the ranch in Carmel Valley that Samuel Morse built for his second wife, Relda, Charley’s grandmother. Relda died in 1951. Mary, Samuel Morse’s youngest daughter, Charley’s mother, also grew up in Pebble Beach and the ranch in Carmel Valley.
Charley attended the Douglas School in Pebble Beach until it closed when he was in second grade. From there he went to Junipero Serra School at the Carmel Mission until 7th grade. He then went to the newly developed Stevenson School. Charley gives credit to Miss Peacock, a teacher at the Mission School, as someone who did push him as a student to do better in his studies and he did.
Growing up in Pebble Beach, Charley had the opportunity to learn tennis, sail, and of course play golf. Although not a favorite past time, Charley was also given horseback riding lessons. For his 10th birthday, the instructor had Charley ride blindfolded with no saddle or reins to hold on to. Although the horse was following another horse around the ring, every time the horse made a turn, Charley fell off. This happened 10 times, not exactly the best birthday gift.
Charley attended high school at the Cate School in Carpinteria where he boarded. He was required to play soccer but happily joined the tennis team after his summer at John Gardener’s Tennis Ranch. At Cate he discovered he was good at math and was top in his class with near perfect college boards. From there he attended UC Davis where he was a math major. After 3 years at Davis, he transferred to Berkeley, but left there to travel around Europe for the next year with his girlfriend at the time. They bought a new Mini to travel in and sold it at the end of the trip. After a side trip hitchhiking to Copenhagen to see relatives, and pick up a present, they headed to New York to see his grandfather, who sold them his old Nash Rambler for $100. They drove it across the country making it to Monterey before a front tire fell off.
Summer jobs were often with Del Monte Properties Company working with the forest crew or when the Del Monte Shopping Center was being built and he worked for Granite Construction. He was given the job of operating a jackhammer, a job that tired him out. When he attended UCLA and switched his major to art, he was a cue-card boy at NBC.
Charley grew up with 3 sisters. One of his younger sisters introduced him to his wife, Karen.
Charley went on to earn a MBA at Santa Clara and had a successful career in finance in San Francisco. Now back on the Monterey Peninsula, Charley continues to be involved with the community.
If you have a friend or relative that would like to share their story about living in or around Monterey, please contact Monterey History and Art Association at MHAA.org1931@gmail.com
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Expanded Dali 1941 Party Exhibit at Stanton Center
MHAA is pleased to announce that an exhibit about the 1941 Dali party “A Surrealistic Night in an Enchanted Forest” has been installed at the Stanton Center. The party was held at Hotel Del Monte in September 1941, three months before Pearl Harbor, as a fund-raiser for European artists impacted by the war. For the party, Dali transformed the Bali Room into a surrealistic forest grotto that is better described in pictures than with words.
The exhibit includes 9 large black-and-white images taken during party preparations and the party itself. Accompanying these photos are 8 panels that tell the story of the party and its principal drivers. Neal Hotelling wrote a panel on Dali’s time on the Monterey Peninsula. Charley Osborne wrote a panel about his grandfather Samuel F.B. Morse. John Sanders wrote a panel about the Hotel Del Monte. Barbara Briggs-Anderson wrote a panel about Julian Graham, who photographed the party. Additional panels tell the stories of Herbert Cerwin (public relations), Bruce Ariss (installation work), the lead-up to the party, and the party itself.
This exhibit will probably only be up until January 2025.
If you’ve not been to the Stanton Center in some time please go – the combination of history and art exhibits is compelling, and something we can be proud of.
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Peninsula Diary
Mayo Hayes O'Donnell
This article was originally published in the Monterey
Peninsula Herald on July 22, 1957.
The Adobe Tour
The annual, always looked-forward-to Adobe House Tours, sponsored by the Monterey History and Art Association, will be held this summer on Aug. 31st (1957) from 1 until 6 o’clock in the afternoon. This year there will be nine of Monterey’s most historic and attractive private homes open to the interested public for a charge, which will include a shuttle service from house to house by private car.
On the list of houses not usually open to visitors will be Casa Alvarado, the home of Mrs. Wesley Heard, 510 Dutra Street; Casa Amesti, 516 Polk Street, through the courtesy of the Old Capital Club; Casa Abrego, corner of Abrego and Webster Sts. Courtesy of Casa Abrego Club; Casa Bonifacio, Mesa Road, Mrs. Guy Catlin, hostess; Casa Boronda, Boronda Lane, Dr. and Mrs. Mast Wolfson, hosts; The Larkin House 510 Calle Principal, Mrs. Alice Larkin Toulmin, hostess, courtesy of California Division of Beaches and Parks; Casa Soberanes 336 Pacific street, Mrs. William O’Donnell, hostess; and Casa de Joaquin Soto, No. 5 Joaquin court, off Eldorado at Pacific street, Mrs. Mary Greene, hostess; and Casa Castro, on Castro road, Miss Margaret Jacks, hostess.
Each of these unusual houses are of special interest for their historical value as well as their charm in furnishings, the gardens, and the early California architecture which they exemplify. Casa Alvarado was once owned by one of California’s early governors, Don Juan Bautista Alvarado; Casa Amesti, once the residence of Mrs. Frances Elkins, now the Old Capital Club, built in the Mexican period by Don Jose Amesti, a Spaniard; and Casa Bonifacio which once stood on Alvarado Street where the First National Bank now is. The old adobe was the home of Miss Maria Ygnacio Bonifacio, the heroine of the Sherman Rose legend. The Boronda adobe is one of the oldest adobe buildings in Monterey. It was once a boys’ school conducted by Don Manuel Boronda. Dr. and Mrs. Mast Wolfson are now the owners of this old home.
Casa Soto is the residence of Mrs. Mary L. Greene, the curator of the Custom House Museum. The Soto adobe was built in 1827 by Joaquin de Soto and remained in the family until purchased by Mrs. Greene in 1943.
The Casa Abrego was built by a Spanish merchant who came to Monterey from Mexico in 1834 with a group of colonists under Don Jose Maria Hijar in the vessel “La Natalie,” which is said to be the vessel on which Napoleon escaped from the Isle of Elba. The adobe is now the home of the Casa Abrego, a newly formed women’s club.
The Castro Adobe on the Del Monte Fairways, is the home of Miss Margaret Jacks. It was the country home of Gen. Castro and his family as well as the caretakers’ house at one time. Casa Soberanes was built by Don Jose Estrada, a prefect of Monterey in the Mexican period, later acquired by the Soberanes family.
The Larkin House is one of the best known of the old adobes in Monterey. It was built by Thomas Oliver Larkin, the first and only American Consul to Monterey. His granddaughter, Mrs. Alice Larkin Toulmin, recently presented the house and the furnishings to the State of California as a historical monument.
R. H. Partridge, a director of the Monterey History and Art Assn., is in charge of the shuttle service for the guests who wish to visit these old and historic homes. Those taking the Historic Route, who do not wish to drive their own cars, are asked to motor to the Monterey Peninsula College parking lot, park their cars and accept the offer of a ride from one of the members of the History and Art Assn. The Guests will be dropped at one of the adobes, picked up later and driven to the second house, and so on throughout the afternoon. Tickets may be purchased at the first house visited or at the Monterey Chamber of Commerce after Aug. 1st.
There appeared recently in The Herald a news story announcing the sale of part of an old Spanish grant near Hollister, by Gaston B. Ashe. That grant was part of the Bolado property. Ashe is the son of the late Julia Bolado Davis, a member of a distinguished Spanish family of Monterey.
Mrs. Davis’ grandfather was Don Jose Abrego, the builder of the Casa Abrego, the old adobe at the corner of Abrego and Webster streets, now the Casa Abrego Club. Her grandmother was Josefa Estrada. One of their daughters married Don Joaquin Bolado and they became the parents of Julia Bolado Davis, who died at her home near Tres Pinos a few years ago. She was the donor of Bolado Park to the City of Hollister for the establishment of a 27-acre park.
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JO MORA GATHERING, OCTOBER 5 & 6
Ticketing is now live for both members and the public for the Symposium and Terry Trotter Walkabout portions of the October 5 & 6 (Saturday/Sunday) Jo Mora Gathering. As a reminder the Gathering will consist of four parts:
SATURDAY OCTOBER 5:
Symposium at Stanton Center Theater, 9 to 3:30.
Presenters will include Peter Hiller (sculpture), Scott Gale (curating the carte exhibit), Neal Hotelling (Jo Mora & Sam Morse, A Symbiotic Relationship), Joss Grandeau (authored & illustrated books), Terry Trotter (1936 Fable Mural: Celebration of Pan & The Compass Rose), Mark McDonald (The Serra Statue), Melody Burgess and Susan DeLay (Mora archive work), and Bill & Dennis McQuerry, and Griff Durham (saddles, including The Sweetheart Saddle).
There will be a few surprises during the symposium!
Lunch will be on your own, bring your own or enjoy a nearby establishment.
MEMBER PRICED TICKETS, $60 for members
$80 for non-members
Members use code gomha2024 when purchasing tickets
LIMITATION OF 4 TICKETS PER MEMBER IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
Reception for Jo Mora: Cartographer exhibit at Stanton Center, 3:30 to 5.
After a few words about the exhibit, members may enjoy the exhibit, chat with presenters, and view a few items from the archive that are not part of the exhibit, but will be brought out for the reception only.
There will be a surprise at the reception too, which you will not want to miss! Wine & cheese will be served.
FREE FOR ALL MHAA MEMBERS.
PLEASE RSVP IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND
BUT DO NOT HAVE A TICKET TO THE SYMPOSIUM.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 6:
· Jo Mora Room at Casa Serrano, 1:00 to 4:00
Enjoy Mora items on display in the Jo Mora Room at Casa Serrano. A brief presentation will be given periodically in the Sala Grande, on the origins of the Mora collection at Serrano.
Members may chat with any symposium speakers that are present.
FREE FOR ALL MHAA MEMBERS
· Terry Trotter walkabout
Trotter Gallery/Museum in PG, 2:30 to 4:30.
Terry will provide one of his famous walkabouts, in which he will discuss selected Mora items in the Trotter’s vast collection.
LIMITED TO SATURDAY TICKET HOLDERS TO ENSURE A QUALITY EXPERIENCE. GROUP A WILL START AT 2:30, GROUP B AT 3:30
Use code gomha2024 for members pricing
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Stanton Center
Guest Artist Exhibit
Monterey History and Art Association will be hosting the artistry of Randy Chavez, through Thursday, October 24th.
You can get a glimpse of Randy's work at Stanton Center in the Guest Artist Exhibit Room or at www.randychavez.art
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Library News
The library welcomed two new volunteers in August. They have already begun training. Three other library volunteers are working in the Mora Archive at Stanton Center during the week.
The library received a copy of a newly published work California Eden: Heritage Landscapes of the Golden State by Christine Edstrom O'Hara and Susan Chamberlin. We contributed a historic photograph and were recognized in the list of contributors.
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Monterey History and Art Association Annual Membership Meeting
September 29, 2024 at 2 P.M.
Stanton Center
Watch your mail for the meeting agenda, proxy form, biographical statement for our candidate Board Member, and membership renewal form.
Come early and visit the museum!
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‘ADOPT A PAINTING’
ART RESTORATION INITIATIVE CONTINUING AT CASA SERRANO
The artwork hanging in Casa Serrano is a wonderful legacy to the artists who made the Monterey Peninsula their permanent or temporary home and left us their impressions of the beautiful place we call home.
If you are interested in joining this initiative and adopting a painting, please send an email to: mhaa.org1931@gmail.com
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MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL REMINDER
Our membership year is October 1 to September 30; please remember to renew your membership to continue receiving our newsletter, invitations to lectures and events, and FREE ADMISSION to Monterey History and Art at Stanton Center.
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Come visit our exhibits at Stanton Center.
Free admission for MHAA members!
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P.O. Box 1082
Monterey California, 93942
montereyhistory.org
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