A Signature Painting Member of the California Art Club, Coons participated in numerous juried and published exhibitions, including several California Art Club Gold Medal Shows, and a joint exhibition with Robert Clunie at the Ventura County Historical Museum. Before his untimely death in 2003, Richard wrote and published the definitive volume on Clunie's life: Robert Clunie Plein-Air Painter of the Sierra.
The son of a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power hydrographer, Coons was born in Los Angeles and moved to Bishop during World War II. Coons met Robert Clunie, when in 1945, his grandfather, owner of the local brickyard, asked him to help deliver bricks to Clunie who was building a studio on Bishop Creek, now the site of Coons Gallery. Though impressed by Clunie's paintings, Coons did not start painting until 47. The two men often painted together in the High Sierra, on large format canvases of three to four feet.
Gallery hours: varied. Most days: Noon-5pm Also open by appointment.
760 | 872 | 1524