John August Dominique

John Augustus Dominique (Swedish-American, 1893–1994).

Born in Virserum, Sweden, Dominique came to the U.S. in 1898. He spent his youth in Oregon where he began his art career as a typesetter and cartoonist for a small newspaper. He later worked at the Portland Art Museum, attending art classes there (1913), and then studying in San Francisco, first at the Institute of Art (1915–16) and, subsequently, at the Van Sloun School of Painting (1917). In the 1920s, he continued his studies at the Santa Barbara School of Arts under Colin Campbell Cooper and Carl Oscar Borg.

Over the course of a long career, Dominique exhibited widely and with success and was the recipient of numerous medals, prizes and juried awards. He was a member of several notable artist organizations and associations including the California Art Club, the California Watercolor Society, the Laguna Beach Artists Association, Los Angeles Artists Association and the Oakland Art League. He exhibited widely and with success including at the Los Angeles Free Lance Art League (1923–25); the Santa Barbara Art Club (1924), Oakland Art Gallery (1928, 1932, 1941), the Portland Museum (1936), the Oregon State Fair (1936–41, prizes), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1944), Glendale Artists Association (1950, prize), Pasadena Art Museum (1961), Frye Museum (1962), Ventura Artists Association (1964) and the California Watercolor Society (1969). In the 1930s, Dominique maintained a studio in Santa Barbara and in Canby, Oregon. He continued painting at his home in Ojai, CA until his death in 1994.

Inscribed lower right recto

Kerwin Galleries, Burlingame, California

Artists in California 1786-1940, Third Edition, Edan Milton Hughes: Crocker Art Museum, Sheridan Books 2002, Vol. 1, p. 315.

Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 1, p. 936.