If you want to view quality impressionist paintings, you don’t have to go far. You might even recognize some of the regional landscape depicted in the Crocker’s new exhibition opening next week.

Coming up at the Crocker Art Museum is the largest exhibition ever assembled of the work of E. Charlton Fortune, one of California's most progressive female artists. The exhibition runs from Jan. 28 — April 22.

E. Charlton Fortune: The Colorful Spirit brings together approximately 85 of Fortune's portrait drawings, her most important impressionist and modern landscapes, and ecclesiastical paintings and ecclesiastical paintings and furnishings made for the Catholic Church.

The exhibition includes:

• Examples of one of the West's leading plein-air painters and nationally renowned ecclesiastical designer;
• Bold, vigorous paintings often thought to have been painted by a man.

Ruth Rippon still on view through Feb. 4

While you are at the Crocker, don’t miss the opportunity to catch Ruth Rippon’s Exhuberant Earth exhibition. On a holiday visit to the Crocker, this surprised me in its poignancy, beauty and fun. It’s my favorite current visiting exhibition. It was a pleasure to spend time in the relatively small room of her work.

You’ll find and incredible variety of smooth, juicy fruit; rough-edged vessels that seem to have sprung directly from the earth;  a pile of children’s blocks (look closely) and even depictions of some of our first ladies far west of the beltway. Exhibited is a variety of talent from this Sacramento artist, a contemporary of some UC Davis’ first-generation faculty, including Wayne Thiebaud and Robert Arneson. On view through Feb. 4.

E. Charlton Fortune: The Colorful Spirit is organized by the Pasadena Museum of California Art and curated by Scott A. Shields, Associate Director and Chief Curator at the Crocker Art Museum.

Crocker Art Museum, 216 O Street, Sacramento

Back from the Fires: di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art in Napa Reopens with “Be Not Still”

Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times Part 1 explores artist-selected topics of surveillance, citizenship, the rise of white nationalism, and American exceptionalism.

On view January 27–May 27, 2018 di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art presents Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times is shown in two parts throughout 2018. The group exhibition addresses the present social and political climate through an experimental blend of commissioned artworks and di Rosa’s vast collection of Northern California contemporary art. 

Part 1 of the exhibition displays a diverse intergenerational mix of artists and cultural producers with ties to the Bay Area, including authors Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian, and artists Ala Ebtekar, Rigo 23, and Allison Smith. Participants were invited to identify and respond to a topic of their choosing under the overarching theme of present-day America. The resulting artist projects—exploring topics of surveillance, citizenship, American exceptionalism, and the rise of white nationalism—are presented to open a dialogue around prescient matters affecting our local and global communities.

“California, and the Bay Area in particular, has long hosted a productive intersection of politics and culture,” Curator Amy Owen said. “The artists in Be Not Still reflect this transgressive lineage of provocation and share a distinct interest in looking back on history to explore what it can tell us about our present moment.”

Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times Part I on view January 27–May 27, 2018, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art (5200 Sonoma Highway, Napa). A public reception will be held on January 27, from 4 to 6 p.m. Part II opens on June 23 and will feature new work by Victor Cartagena, Ranu Mukherjee, Lava Thomas, and Lexa Walsh. Hours: Visit here for admission fees, tour schedule, and exhibition-related programming.