Santa Monica Pier

It is common knowledge that painters reproduce a subject matter or image more than once. For instance Claude Monet’s haystacks, Van Gogh’s sunflowers and Paul Cezanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire are just three examples. Dick’s interest in seascapes and structures lead him to various locations such as San Pedro Harbor, Santa Monica Pier, Morro Bay, Monterey Bay and the Mendocino coastline. The Pier in Santa Monica is a famous landmark and tourist attraction appearing in numerous films and on postcards and was one of Dick’s favorite locations. He produced works of the Boathouse (viewed from the beach), Merry-Go-Round, the Boathouse Café (viewed from on the pier), weekend fishermen casting off the pier and several extended paintings viewed from the Ocean Avenue bluff overlooking the Pier.

This composition of the Santa Monica Pier is an example of Dick’s mature style. His capture of the marine greys and reflection in the shoreline at low tide are wonderfully depicted. The storm scented ocean and figures say so much of the blustery day at the beach. There even seems to be an intimate conversation between the three figures arranged on the sand. The reds and pinks of the building on the pier left and the small skiff on the beach right, tie the scene together and help move the viewer’s eye and add continuity.

Dick submitted versions of the Santa Monica Pier on two occasions to the San Gabriel Fine Arts Association Art Show; September of 1978 and April 1982 both garnering first place. One of the judges from the 1978 show was Ben Abril, a contemporary with whom Dick painted on location in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles.

A bit of trivia; an amusing 1948 film noir exists called Pitfall, staring Dick Powell and Lizabeth Scott. There are views of the pier, Santa Monica Incline, bluffs and shoreline while Powell and Scott take a zany motorboat ride. Another noir Quicksand 1950 staring Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre was shot on location in Santa Monica with exterior scenes at the old Santa Monica Pier.

Santa Monica Pier; 24x30, oil, canvas, framed, signed

Courtesy of Shirley Kelly Burg estate