Gordon Coutts California (1868-1937) BREAK IN THE STORM oil on canvas, framed signed: lower right H20" W30" *Artist biography: Born in Glasgow, Scotland on Oct. 3, 1868. Coutts studied art in Glasgow, London, and in Paris at Academie Julian under Lefebvre, Fleury, and Rossi. After his stay in Paris, he moved to Melbourne, Australia where he was an instructor at the Art Society of New South Wales for several years during the late 1890s. Upon returning to London in 1899, he exhibited at the prestigious Royal Academy. In 1902 he and his wife, Alice, moved to San Francisco where he became an active member and exhibitor of the Bohemian Club while maintaining a home across the bay in Piedmont. An itinerant globe trotter, he traveled to remote places in search of subject matter. During his early period his work embraced Tonalism; whereas, his style later changed to the brighter, colorful palette of Impressionism. Ill health necessitated his move to a drier climate and about 1925 he settled in Palm Springs, CA. There he built a French-Moroccan style castle where he remained until his death of tuberculosis on Feb. 21, 1937. Exh: Del Monte Art Gallery, 1907-10; Berkeley AA, 1908; Bohemian Club, 1909, 1912-14; Alaska-Yukon Expo (Seattle), 1909 (gold medal); Paris Salon, 1913 (gold medal); PPIE, 1915 (medal); Calif. Artists, Golden Gate Park Museum, 1915; Stendahl Gallery (LA), 1925, 1927; Calif. State Fair, 1930 (gold medal). In: Oakland Museum; De Young Museum; Cleveland Museum; Melbourne Art Gallery; Nat'l Art Gallery (Sydney); Palm Springs Desert Museum; Henry Gallery (Univ. of Washington).