Info

The Irvine Museum was founded in 1992 by Joan Irvine Smith and her mother, the late Athalie R. Clarke (1903-1993). Our first exhibition opened on January 15, 1993. The museum is located in the city of Irvine, in central Orange County, and hosts more than 30,000 visitors per year. Our web address is www.irvinemuseum.org It is the only museum in California dedicated to the preservation and display of California Impressionism or Plein-Air paintings, an art style that flourished in California from 1890 to 1930. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM to 5 PM. Admission and parking are free. Educational field trips and docent guided tours may be arranged by calling our Curator of Education, Dora James at (949) 476-0294. The paintings from this beautiful and important regional variant of American Impressionism are principally landscapes that document the splendor of California as it was before huge population growth and mass urbanization. New exhibitions are installed every four months and the bookstore is a rich source of books, catalogues and note cards that feature paintings of this style. In our first decade, The Irvine Museum organized 34 exhibitions, 14 of which traveled to one or more venues, and published 12 books in conjunction with various exhibitions. SELECTIONS FROM THE IRVINE MUSEUM (1992) with exhibition book; traveled to the Fleischer Museum, Scottsdale, the Oakland Museum, and The Irvine Museum. REFLECTIONS OF CALIFORNIA (1994) with exhibition book, traveled to Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace, the Jimmy Carter Library, the Palm Springs Museum, and The Irvine Museum.