Summer Session at Ballast Point, San Diego, by Charles Reiffel 13139

Charles Reiffel (1862 - March 14, 1942) was an American

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

and post-Impressionist painter who became "one of California's best-known painters."

Life

Reiffel was born in 1862 in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, Indiana. Reiffel was initially a lithographer, and he took up painting in 1912. He was self-taught, and he painted

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

as a

post-impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

. Reiffel first moved to the

art colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

Silvermine, Connecticut Silvermine is an unincorporated community in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States that extends across three southwestern Connecticut towns: Norwalk, New Canaan and Wilton. The name "Silvermine" comes from old legends of a silver mine in ...

, where he was the president of the Silvermine Artists' Guild. He later moved to San Diego, where he became "one of California's best-known painters." Reiffel died on March 14, 1942, in San Diego, at age 79. He was the subject of a retrospective at the

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...

and the

San Diego History Center The San Diego History Center is a museum showcasing the history of San Diego, located in the city's Balboa Park. Description and history Founded in 1928 by businessman and civic leader George W. Marston, the San Diego Historical Society was h ...

in 2013.

References

1862 births 1942 deaths People from Indianapolis People from Fairfield County, Connecticut Artists from San Diego American lithographers American male painters Painters from California Post-impressionist painters 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-1860s-stub