Piedmont Art Gallery

In May 1907, patrons of the arts from around the Bay Area gathered at Piedmont Park for the opening of the Piedmont Art Gallery, where 375 oil, pastel, and watercolor paintings were displayed in four separate galleries. Under the guidance of curator Richard Partington, emerging California impressionists were well represented, including William Keith’s massive painting “The California Alps” in the main gallery and works by Xavier Martinez, R.D. Yelland, Thaddeus Welch, James Gamble, and Charles Rollo Peters. After Frank Havens died in 1918, the gallery closed and the paintings were sold, with many purchased for the M.H. deYoung Museum then being built in San Francisco. For a short time, the building was used as classrooms for the first students at Piedmont High School while their school was being completed in 1921, and it was eventually torn down and replaced by the current tennis courts.

Piedmont, California · United States