Jane Berlandina (1898 – 1970)

Children’s Theater, 1934, watercolor on paper, signed and dated lower right, 10 ¾ x 12 5/8 inches (image)

$1250

Children’s Theater is a fine example of Berlandina’s modernist approach to American Scene painting. It displays the influence of Raoul Dufy’s simplified figuration and unusual palette choices, including burnt orange, a greenish ochre and touches of sky blue. Painted in the same year she completed her mural for Coit Tower, Berlandina resisted the temptation to fall under the influence of Diego Rivera who had cast a long shadow across the San Francisco mural community. Rather, she pursued a unique artistic path.

Jane Berlandina was an American painter, designer, and muralist. Born in Nice, France, Berlandina trained at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris with Raoul Dufy. After having artistic success in France, Berlandina moved to Tarrytown, New York, to teach at a private school. She then married the architect Henry Howard and the couple moved to California in 1931. Berlandina’s success continued as she was commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project to paint a mural for San Francisco’s Coit Tower in 1934. During the following twenty years, Berlandina exhibited extensively across the United States, including at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Golden Gate International Exhibition. She was an active member of the San Francisco Art Association and San Francisco Society of Women Artists, where she won numerous prizes. Her work is in the permanent collections of major institutions, including San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the St. Louis Art Museum. She is listed in Who Was Who in American Art and other standard references.