Since reopening in February after an expansion tripling its display space, the Hilbert Museum of California Art has also tripled the number of visitors to its two wings, quickly and quietly becoming one of Orange County’s destination art museums.
The museum, affiliated with Chapman University and located near the Old Towne Orange train station, has a 5,000-piece collection from which to draw, including a robust collection of California scene paintings and classics by Southern California painter and mosaicist Millard Sheets.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that we can stage exhibitions for the next 30 years and never have to duplicate a show,” said museum founder and benefactor Mark Hilbert, a resident of Newport Coast. “We have more than 500 examples of American illustrations, 1,000 pieces of Disney and cinematic art and more than 1,000 print pieces.
“And now that we have 26 galleries in two different wings,” he added, “it’s safe to say that there will always be something new for California art lovers to see at the Hilbert Museum.”
Now through April, the Hilbert has several special exhibitions on display. Each has some connection to Southern California, but perhaps none will capture the hearts of visitors more than “Disney Classics of the 1950s and ‘60s.”
Curated by Hilbert Museum director Mary Platt, the exhibition features original works — concept art, cels and illustrations — by Disney artists from films such as “Peter Pan,” “Cinderella” and “Alice in Wonderland.” In fact, the Hilbert is home to one of the world’s largest private collections of animation and movie art.
“We’re building a higher profile for the museum in national and international art circles,” Hilbert said. “I think this is a testimony to our ability to display more of our collection as well as the appeal and accessibility of California narrative art itself. Everyone likes art that tells a story.”
Another current exhibition is “Picturing Paradise,” an array of colorful orange crate labels from the 1880s to 1955 that tell a spectacular story about Southern California’s idealized agrarian history.
The designs not only helped to sell oranges, but promoted the notion of California itself as a golden dream state of idyllic beauty.
The museum is also displaying the “Art of the Airwaves,” a fascinating arrangement of novelty radios, and “21st Century Realism by California Artists,” a selection of works exhibiting photorealist and hyper-realist techniques pioneered by modern California artists.
While these four exhibitions run through April, additional displays will open on Nov. 9, including showcases on women California scene painters, Timothy J. Clark, a modern figurative painter, and “Somebody to Love,” a selection of portraits from the Hilbert collection.
From Nov. 9 through Jan. 11, the museum will also run an exhibition on Christmas card designs by California scene painter and Disney artist Ralph Hulett, whose watercolors appeared in nearly every Disney animated feature film from 1937 to 1973.
Between his work on movies, Hulett created hundreds of lively Christmas card designs for companies such as Designers Showcase and California Artists. His card designs became one of his most successful revenue streams.
