A collection of watercolors featuring local landscapes of artist Rollin Pickford will be published this week by the University Press at California State University, Fresno.
The book, California Light: The Watercolors of Rollin Pickford — authored by Rollin’s son, Joel Pickford and journalist Mark Arax — marks the return debut of The Press, which was founded in the School of Arts and Humanities in 1980 but has not published since 1992.
Dr. Luis Costa, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities who serves as The Press’s publisher and director, announced that the book containing a series of about 150 plates will be available Thursday, Sept. 10 at the dean’s office in Music Building, Room 186 or by calling (209) 278-3056.
The book is being shipped to local stores and libraries with several book-signings and readings planned. The official book-signing will be Saturday, Sept. 13 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Fig Garden Bookstore.
A retrospective of the Pickford watercolors opened Sept. 8 at the Fresno Art Museum. The Pickford book highlights the work of one of the Valley’s most prolific and beloved artists,” Costa said.
Rollin Pickford is painter laureate of California’s San Joaquin Valley, a landscape he has interpreted through his watercolors since the early 40s. His paintings of the region have been exhibited internationally, winning over 300 awards. They are represented in more than 1,700 public and private art collections. Pickford’s legacy comprises some 13,000 watercolors and thousands of works in other media.
“Since 1939, when he began interpreting the Valley in watercolor, much of the farmland surrounding his native Fresno has been consumed by strip malls and housing tracts,” said Joel Pickford, who selected the watercolors for the book. “Many of his paintings document an agrarian landscape that no longer exists.”
The younger Pickford authored three essays in the book detailing background on his father and the painters of the San Joaquin, giving a chronology of his works and a description of the preparation of the book. Joel Pickford is a photographer, writer and filmmaker with many awards, film festival screenings and museum and gallery exhibitions to his credit.
The book also includes essays by Mark Arax, a Los Angeles Times reporter and Fresno State alumnus. The essays focus on a conversation with the artist about the San Joaquin Valley as well as Arax’s own valley recollections.
Costa said the photographs and the plates were all done digitally through computer technology.
“We have been able to adjust every individual color in a state-of-the-art Hexachrome printer just acquired by Larry Early for Dumont Printing so that the reproductions are extremely faithful to the originals,” said the dean. “The photographs were done in the studio of Duncan Ceramics also using newly acquired digital equipment.”
Costa is equally excited about the return of the University Press, which has not published in five years due to a lack of funding although it has reprinted previously published books. He said the independent publishing house, established by his predecessor Dr. Joseph Satin in 1980, was resurrected this summer and is entirely self-supporting.
“With budget cuts, we lost the position of director of The Press, and it has not been possible to do another project until this one came along,” Costa said. “It was done because the main part of the work occurred during the summer.”
The last book published by The Press was Surviving the Storms, by Helen Dimitriew, former professor of Russian at Fresno State. Costa said The Press is looking at a number of manuscripts for possible publication including a history of the Armenians in Fresno.
For more information about the book or University Press, contact Dean Costa at (209) 278-3056.
