August gay

 Many of his August Gay’s oils were painted on cigar box tops. Gay did gilding, wood carvings, and furniture-making for the Monterey Guild founded by the artist Effie Fortune. “Gus” Gay arrived in the U.S. about 1901 and settled in Alameda, CA.  He attended night classes at the CSFA and CCAC.  His roommate, Selden Gile, had a strong influence on his creative growth, and the two artists were the first of a group that becomes known as the Society of Six.

 Although he lived in Monterey after 1919, he was still an active member of the Six and regularly exhibited them at the Oakland Art Gallery until 1926. This group did highly praised liturgical interiors for Catholic churches, locally and around the country. Elkins was permitted to stay in the building. Gay and an apprentice did much furniture making for Elkins, and Gay’s wife did sewing for her.

Gus Gay is attending to the record player, and the three Bruton sisters are dancing.

During the hard times of the depression, and especially after his marriage in 1934, Gay’s painting was chiefly for commission. Saint Angela’s Church, Pacific Grove, contains notable works of the Guild, including an altarpiece by Fortune.  Gay’s work did not receive national recognition until the 1950s.

Sources:
Edan Hughes, “Artists in California 1786-1940”
askART.com
Wikipedia

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Elkins’ clients included the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and many movie stars, including Edward G. Robinson and Norma Shearer. For a Guild project at the Mission of San Juan Bautista, by hand Gay made 22 pieces of Magnolia wood furniture in the Spanish Colonial style. Gay made a dining room table and chairs for the amazingly beautiful Byzantine style Crocker-Fagan house in Pebble Beach.

Much of this work was done at the Stevenson House.

Researching the crafts work Gay carried out leads to many historically interesting projects and enterprises.  While in Monterey, he shared a studio with Clayton S. Price in the Stevenson House. After he moved to Monterey, members of the Society would visit him, talk art, review their recent work, and enjoy Gay’s Bohemian life style.

If you have a painting by August Gay that you would like to sell, please contact us by emailing photos and your asking price to greg@californiaartcompany.com or give us a call at (818) 398-7363.

Please visit our “Sell” page to find more information about submitting August Gay paintings for our review.

 His interpretations of the Carmel Valley, coastal scenes, and the fishing fleet of Monterey Bay were Cubist-inspired and geometric in form. To view auction records and sales histories for August Gay paintings visit “askART.com” and search for August Gay.

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