1930s Alfred R Mitchell Calif. Plein Air Oil Painting Acacia Seed Pods & Leaves

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A rare C. 20th century oil painting by Historic San Diego painter Alfred Richard Mitchell of Acacia seed 

pods and leaves. The painting is canvas laid on board. The beautiful orange and purple seed pods with

the seafoam green Acacia leaves are contrasted by the brown background. The painting is signed in 

blue on the bottom right corner. Mitchell did mostly landscape paintings making this one of the few still 

lives he had done. Painting is in a modern Stickley period style frame. 

Alfred Richard Mitchell (1888 - 1972) 

Alfred Mitchell, born in York, Pennsylvania, became a painter of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism 

who settled in San Diego in 1908. His plein-air paintings provide an historical record of the growth of San 

Diego in the early 20th

century.

Mitchell was an adventurous young man, who, as a teenager, went West to Nevada during the Gold Rush 

where he prospected for gold and drove a coach. Then he went to Southern California, and in 1913, began training at the San Diego Academy of Art. This was the city's oldest art school, and it had been founded by Maurice Braun, who regarded Mitchell as one of his most important pupils. He encouraged Mitchell to 

return to his native state and study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Enrolling there in 1916, 

Mitchell studied with Joseph Pearson, and New Hope Impressionists Daniel Garber and Edward Redfield. 

With these influences, his style turned from Braun's 'feminine'  Impressionism toward the Pennsylvania 

school's stronger brush work and strong color as well as clear light and strongoutlines.

Mitchell returned to San Diego in the early 1920s and became a major influence in the art community. He 

was president of the San Diego Art Guild in 1922-23; he helped found the Laguna Beach Art Association; 

and in 1918, the La Jolla Art Association where he exhibited his works regularly. Along with Braun and 

other artists and sculptors, Mitchell formed the Associated Artists of San Diego in 1929, later changing the 

name to Contemporary Artists of San Diego, which as a group represented the strong professional art community that had developed there.

Because of its strong color and emotional undertones, much of Mitchell's art is categorized more as Post-Impressionistic, although his painting "Summer Hills" of 1929 is a fully Impressionist piece. Many Southern California landscapists of the 1920s composed ideal scenes within their studios, but Mitchell continually 

painted outdoors, "en plein air", within a radius of San Diego, and often included buildings in his paintings, 

thus creating a valuable record of the development of the area. 

(cc: Ask Art)

Framed Height: 23 1/2"

Framed Width: 25 1/2" 

Canvas Height: 13"
Canvas Width: 16 1/8"