California Fine Art Exhibition

Over a hundred years ago, the Hillside Club hosted a series of fine art exhibitions featuring paintings by some of California’s most notable contemporary artists. This year, during the weekend of June 20-21, the club will mount its first fine art exhibition in many years, featuring some of the same painters who displayed their works in the club during the 1910s, as well as images of Berkeley itself as portrayed by artists of the time.

The weekend event will include a series of lectures by knowledgeable local figures discussing aspects of the art on display.

On Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 1:30 p.m., cultural historian Nicholas Friend will speak about the European tradition of landscape painting, and how a group of Bay Area artists brought their own themes, subjects, and techniques to those Old World roots.

Later that afternoon, at 3:00 p.m., independent scholar Ann Harlow will discuss the involvement…