“A Summer Idyll” at Irvine Museum

Art enthusiasts who appreciate California Impressionism will love the free Irvine Museum that’s focused on California and its beautiful landscape. And, it’s newest exhibition, “A Summer Idyll: Picturesque Views of California” debuting Saturday, June 25 through October 6, combines works by historic and contemporary California artists painted over the past 100 years.

Historic California impressionist artists featured include Joseph Kleitch (1882-1931), Emil Kosa (1903-1968), Guy Rose (1867-1925), Donna Schuster (1883-1953), George Gardner Symons (1863-1930), and Sam Hyde Harris (1889-1977), among other masters.

One of the highlights is Kleitsch's Red and Green, which depicts the artist's wife and a friend strolling through the gardens of the Mission San Juan Capistrano; and a watercolor painting by Kosa entitled Lunch in the Park, which portrays a family's summer outing beneath the shade of a grove of trees.

The exhibition also features several works by noted plein air painters such as On the Edge by John Cosby, a large important work that shows cliff-side homes in Shell Beach. A bouquet of elegant summer flowers set against a background of intricately woven oriental rugs is the subject of Lavender Gladiolus and Sunflowers by Jim McVicker.

You can also enjoy paintings by contemporary plain air masters Jesse Powell, Bryan Mark Taylor, Mian Situ, Steven Mirich, Rita Pacheco, and West Fraser, among others.

Admission to The Irvine Museum is FREE.

Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The museum is closed between exhibitions, and for major holidays.

18881 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 100 Irvine.