26 Facts About Victor Matson

Victor Stanley Matson was an American artist representative of the California Plein-Air school of painting.

Victor Matson was active from the 1920s until his death.

Victor Matson's work was widely exhibited with the Southland art clubs in an era when few galleries were interested in Plein-Air landscapes and he had a solo exhibition at Los Angeles City Hall in 1964.

Victor Matson attended military school and learned to fly as a young man.

Victor Matson graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering.

Victor Matson moved to Southern California to take an engineering job in 1922, settling first in Long Beach.

Once he settled in South Pasadena and began working as an engineer for the city of Los Angeles, Victor Matson began to study art in earnest.

Victor Matson studied privately and painted with Jack Wilkinson Smith and made trips to the desert to paint with the Alhambra painters.

Victor Matson was part of the Arroyo Arts and Crafts Movement.

Victor Matson exhibited extensively with all of the major Southern California art organizations from then until the late 1960s.

Victor Matson won dozens of awards in local and regional competitions including the Purchase Prize at the California Statewide Exhibit in 1943 and 1946, where his paintings joined the official California State Collection.

Victor Matson had solo exhibitions at the Los Angeles Arts Center, the Alhambra City Hall, the Glendale Art Association and the Beverly Hills Women's Club.

Victor Matson participated in many shows at places like the Greek Theatre, the Friday Morning Club, the Duncan Vail Galleries, the Hollywood Women's Club, the Pasadena City Library, Bullocks Department Store, the Eden Club and even local banks.

Victor Matson was part of the large pictorialist movement in Southern California.

Victor Matson was a member of the Camera Pictorialists of Los Angeles, a group that was founded in 1914 had an annual exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art, beginning in 1918.

Victor Matson participated in the organizations salons from the 1920s through the late 1930s and he exhibited internationally.

Victor Matson was an active in photography from the 1920s through the 1940s.

Victor Matson's photographs are in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

For several decades, Victor Matson was one of the most active artists on the Southern California art club scene.

Victor Matson served as an officer for virtually every Southland art organization and was President of the California Art Club, the Painters and Sculptors Club and the Scandinavian-American Art Association.

Victor Matson and his wife Virginia, who was an Honorary Member of the California Art Club, helped to organize exhibits for many of the clubs at a time when few galleries were interested in the Impressionist landscapes.

Victor Matson painted more scenes of the Mojave desert than any other location and he joined Sam Hyde Harris on many trips to the desert.

Victor Matson did paint coastal landscapes and marines on occasion, but they are rare in his oeuvre.

Victor Matson did paint in the Sierras, but his trips there were infrequent.

Victor Matson did a few scenes of Utah and Colorado during family vacations.

Victor Matson was never a major California painter but he served as an important link in maintaining the Plein-Air tradition.