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By Marcia Manna
ONE OF THE MORE FASCINATING ASPECTS of the “Translucent Visions: Frederic Whitaker & Eileen Monaghan Whitaker” exhibit at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido is the way two notable American watercolorists have expressed themselves. Frederic thought his way through a painting. Known for his exquisite landscapes and architectural renderings, he mapped out every inch of space and emphasized the focal point of his composition with detailed shadow colors. Large white birds beat their black-tipped wings in the dramatic Seagulls of La Jolla, filling the frame against a backdrop of gray storm clouds. In Baroque Façade, Frederic fastidiously renders every detail of an ornate white building, marked by columns, arches and tiny figures.
A much different approach was taken by Eileen, who felt her way through the artistic process. In A Blue Mood, a nude woman stands alone, draped in sheer blue fabric. Washes of color behind her allude to a garden or forest, and her thoughtful, downcast expression gives the work a sense of melancholy.
The exhibit’s 100-plus paintings by the late couple are accompanied by a wall of photographs that document their lives together. A selection of figurative drawings emphasizes the strengths each artist brought to the canvas.
“There is a group of nudes by Frederic that are traditional life studies,” says curator D. Scott Atkinson, who is also San Diego Museum of Art’s chief curator and curator of American art. “He was very interested in formal compositional structures. Next to them, the figure by Eileen is less about capturing the structure of the model. There’s a veil of translucency that gets an emotional response.”
Though their painting approaches contrasted, the love between Frederic and Eileen fueled their passion for art. They met on Valentine’s Day in 1943, when Eileen attended the opening reception for the “Whitaker——Watercolors” exhibit at New York’s Feragil Galleries. After their introduction, Frederic personally escorted her through the show. He was married and an accomplished artist with numerous solo exhibitions to his credit.
Born to a family that struggled financially, Frederic left school to design ecclesiastical metalware and eventually owned two companies that made religious objects. He was square-jawed, successful and, at 52, two decades older than Eileen. She came from affluence and had attended the Massachusetts College of Art before moving to New York to become a fashion illustrator.
They continued to meet, first as friends with a common interest in art. When his relationship with Eileen intensified, Frederic obtained a divorce in Mexico. The pair married in 1950 and eventually settled in La Jolla, where they spent the rest of their lives. They are the first married couple to be elected Academicians in the watercolor division of the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, formerly known as the National Academy of Design.
“They accept only 25 watercolorists within their ranks at any one time,” says Atkinson. “It’s a high honor to have that distinction. That’s what the ‘N.A.’ means next to their signature.”
After Frederic died in 1980, Eileen was depressed for years. But a trip to color-drenched Guatemala in 1988 recharged her enthusiasm for painting, and some of her best works, including many San Diego landscapes, were painted in the later years of her life. Eileen died at age 93 in September 2005, six months after Contrasts that Complement: Eileen Monaghan Whitaker and Frederic Whitaker was published by Marquand Books. Written by close friend Jan Noreus Jennings, the volume is available at the exhibition.
“Translucent Visions” is on display through July 4 at the Museum of the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 760-839-4120; artcenter.org.
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