Skip to content

Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers

Scala Arts Publishers, Inc.

  • About us
    • About us
    • Director’s message
    • Meet the team
  • Publish with us
    • Publish with us
    • Client list
  • How to order
    • How to order
  • Scala publications
    • All titles
    • Upcoming titles
    • Art
      • Fine art
      • Contemporary art
      • Decorative art
      • Architecture
      • Sculpture
    • Collections
    • Education
      • Schools & colleges
      • Academic
      • Children’s
    • Exhibitions
    • Heritage
      • Royal collection
      • Castles
      • Homes & gardens
      • Sporting venues
    • Illustrated histories
    • Libraries
    • Religious sites
    • Series
      • Director’s Choice
      • Art Spaces
      • Highlights
      • 4-Fold
Menu
  • About us
    • About us
    • Director’s message
    • Meet the team
  • Publish with us
    • Publish with us
    • Client list
  • How to order
    • How to order
  • Scala publications
    • All titles
    • Upcoming titles
    • Art
      • Fine art
      • Contemporary art
      • Decorative art
      • Architecture
      • Sculpture
    • Collections
    • Education
      • Schools & colleges
      • Academic
      • Children’s
    • Exhibitions
    • Heritage
      • Royal collection
      • Castles
      • Homes & gardens
      • Sporting venues
    • Illustrated histories
    • Libraries
    • Religious sites
    • Series
      • Director’s Choice
      • Art Spaces
      • Highlights
      • 4-Fold
Search
Close this search box.

Breaking the Rules

Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown

Scott A. Shields, Matt Gonzalez

  • Categories: Upcoming titles
ISBN: 978 1 78551 446 3
Size: 305 x 240 mm
Binding: Hardback
Pages: 240
Images: 200
In association with: Crocker Art Museum
Date published: May, 2023
UK £55
/ US $65

Highlights

  • The most in-depth examination of the rich and varied careers of one of California’s premier artistic couples.
  • Features previously unpublished works and new scholarship.
  • Positions the artists within the context of their peers, both in California and nationally.
  • Accompanies a major retrospective exhibition at the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA (April 30–August 27, 2023); travels to the Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA (Oct 14, 2023–Jan 7, 2024); and the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN (January 28–March 30, 2024).

Description

In reaction to the widespread pursuit of Abstract Expressionism in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Paul Wonner and William “Theophilus” Brown were among the artists in the San Francisco Bay Area who began to reengage with the visible world, applying the gestural style of action painting to depictions of people, landscapes, and still lifes. Together, the couple aligned themselves with this new direction and became leading practitioners of the style known today as Bay Area Figuration.

Over time, both artists’ works became less gestural and more overtly representational. Brown became known for his psychologically evocative landscapes with classic bathers, as well as for his lonely urban scenes. Wonner received greatest acclaim for his “baroque” still lifes laden with everyday objects, animals, and flowers.

Published to accompany the most comprehensive exhibition of the artists’ work ever mounted, this exquisite publication offers an in-depth study of these trailblazing artists.

Author information

Scott A. Shields is the Ted and Melza Barr Chief Curator and Associate Director at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento.

Matt Gonzalez is an attorney in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and an artist exhibiting with Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco.

Share

Amazon UK
ACC UK
Amazon USA
ACC USA

Related publications

Memory Bank

A Biography of Blythe House

Addie Herder

Machines for Living

Guercino’s Friar with a Gold Earring

Fra Bonaventura Bisi, Painter and Art Dealer

Orchid

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

Chinese Fans

The Untold Story

Kutná Hora: Sedlec Cathedral Church and Ossuary

Director's Choice

Treasures of Christ Church Cathedral Dublin

Director's Choice

Impressions of Oman

Nineteenth-Century Sketches by Charles Golding Constable

Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd
305 Access House
141-157 Acre Lane
London SW2 5UA
United Kingdom

Scala Arts Publishers, Inc.
c/o CohnReznick LLP
1301 Avenue of the Americas
10th Floor
New York, NY 10019
United States

  • Contact us

Follow us

  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • FAQ
  • Download catalogue
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookie policy
  • Credits