Jean Stern, the executive director of The Irvine Museum and a renowned authority on Californian Impressionism, will present an art talk titled “The California Impressionist Style” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, at Art Expressions Gallery, 2645 Financial Court, Suite C, San Diego.  His illustrated lecture will examine the principal painters of art in California between 1890 and 1925, the period when California Plein Air painting was at its zenith. The $20 admission fee is a donation to ArtsBusXpress, a local nonprofit that underwrites bus transportation to art and science field trips for local students.  Reservations are required and may be made by calling (858) 270-7577.

Stern has been the executive director of The Irvine Museum since its inception in 1992.  A highly respected art historian, he has extensive experience as a writer, curator, lecturer, and teacher.

He is the author of numerous books and articles on California art.  His latest book, CALIFORNIA LIGHT: One Hundred Years of the California Art Club (co-authored with Molly Siple), will be available for purchase and signing.

Stern was a consultant to and appears in Impressions of California, a PBS documentary video series on art in California, and on PLEIN AIR: Painting the American Landscape, a 2007 PBS video series.

As the Irvine Museum Chairman Joan Irvine Smith says on the museum website, “Much of what originally made California a ‘Golden Land’ was directly linked to the environment, especially the land and water that nurtured and sustained a rare quality of life.  Over a hundred years ago, the splendor of nature fascinated artists and compelled them to paint beautiful paintings.  As we view these rare and remarkable paintings, we are returned, all too briefly, to a time long ago when the land and its bounty were open and almost limitless. Today, with the renaissance of the glorification of nature in art, that spirit is motivating enlightened people in the same way it energized artists of the past.  The common bond is the deep reverence for nature and the common goal is to preserve our environment.”

For information, contact Art Expressions Gallery at (858) 270-7577 or visit artsbusxpress.org