James Weeks - I buy James Weeks Bay Area Figurative paintings.

PHONE: 760-943-8706

JAMES WEEKS

a bay area figurative painter

James Weeks
(1922-1998)

Born:	Oakland, CA
Studied:	California School of Fine Arts, California Hartwell School of Design
Taught:	California College of Arts and Crafts San Francisco Museum of Art University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Boston University

James Weeks Biography

Bay Area Figurative painter James Weeks was born in 1922 in Oakland, California, to bandleader Ansel Weeks and classical pianist Ruth Daly. James showed an affinity for art at an early age and attended children’s art class at California School of Fine Arts during the early 1930s. Weeks later attended Lowell High School with future colleagues William Wolff and Richard Diebenkorn. Upon graduating from High School, James Weeks worked a day job with Wells Fargo and began studying with traditionalist painter William Gaw painting while taking classes in the evenings at the California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco.

Considered a member of the first generation of Bay Area Figuration, his work is characterized by a signature "flattened" style, bold outlining of brilliant color fields, and aggressive, interlocking shapes. His influences range from European Modernists Henri Matisse and Max Beckmann to California Modernist Maynard Dixon and Mexican muralist Clemente Orozco, as well as Picasso, Cezanne, Courbet, Marsden Hartley and Walt Kuhn.

James Weeks works are especially valued for their exceptional balance between color and form, as well as, their clear exploration of light and space. Unlike other members of Bay Area Figuration, Weeks never experimented in a non-objective style. He painted "the darker side of American culture": jazz clubs and sports arenas. His characters did not represent an everyman or seek to convey a universal truth about humanity; rather, they served as social commentary.

James Weeks held teaching positions at the San Francisco Art Institute (1958-1967), where his colleagues included artistic luminaries Richard Diebenkorn and Elmer Bischoff; the University of California, LA (1967-1970), and Boston University where he acted as Chairman of the Art Department.

The work of James Weeks can be found in the collections of such prominent institutions as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC; and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.

James Weeks Biographical information: Edan Hughes and Askart.

JamesWeeks.net is interested in purchasing original paintings by James Weeks. If you have a painting by James Weeks and are considering selling it or just wish to obtain an estimated value, please contact us and we'll provide a free art evaluation.

email: info@jamesweeks.net | phone: 760-943-8706 | send printed photos to: JamesWeeks.net 2240 Encinitas Blvd. #302, Encinitas, California 92024