Renowned Benicia artist Jerrold Turner has donated more than 40 paintings to Arts Benicia for an online auction to help raise funds for the non-profit to help during the COVID-19 pandemic. The auction goes live on Sept. 21 until Oct. 12.

BENICIA – Long-time Benicia artist and Arts Benicia supporter Jerrold Turner has donated more than 40 paintings for an on-line auction to raise funds for Arts Benicia. “I’m so happy to help Arts Benicia, particularly at this time of the pandemic when funds are so tight for all arts organizations,” Turner said.

“We are so grateful to Jerry and his support of Arts Benicia,” said Celeste Smeland, Executive Director of Arts Benicia. “His generosity is overwhelming. He has a huge following in the Bay Area, and we’re sure there will be great interest in the auction.”

The auction, which can be found at https://www.32auctions.com/ArtsBenicia_JerroldTurner, will open on Monday, September 21 and run until October 12. It will feature 30 of Turner’s small works on wood panels, measuring 8” x 8.” Many of the works in the auction have been painted since the pandemic began. Minimum bids are $100. “You can also buy a piece outright with a purchase price of $350,” Smeland said.

Turner’s long-time friend Nikki Basch Davis, another well-known Benicia artist and fellow member of Benicia’s Gallery 621, first came up with the auction concept. “Nikki suggested I donate some of my work to Arts Benicia to help raise funds,” Turner said. “I thought it was a great idea. I have all this work, and Arts Benicia can use the money, especially now during this pandemic. After all, what would Benicia be without Arts Benicia?! It is essential to the artists in town and to the city itself.”

Diablo, 2020, Oil on Wood Panel, 8”x8”.

Turner has been called one of the region’s most prominent plein air painters and his work can be found in collections throughout the United States. Until recently, he often could be found outdoors with his easel and camp stool, painting some of his favorite Benicia scenes.

For many years, art wasn’t his day job. Turner graduated from UC Berkeley with BS and MS degrees in structural engineering. But he soon came to realize that he had two loves, engineering and painting. He was determined to do both. He retired as an engineer about ten years ago. But the painting continues.

As a painter, he was dramatically influenced by The Society of Six, founded in 1917 by six plein air painters in Oakland, all known for their colorful and vivid works. He also is a founding member of the Outsiders, a group of Bay Area plein air painters known for their colorful Fauvist style.

Turner moved to Benicia about 15 years ago and was one of the founders of the Benicia Plein Air Gallery. He remains a member there, as well as Gallery 621. “It is so amazing to see how Benicia has changed since then,” he said. “We now have 10 galleries on First Street.”

Benicia remains one of his favorite places to paint. “There is wonderful, even infamous, history to capture here, old buildings, the waterfront,” he said. He also loves painting in Crockett (“the Giverny of San Francisco Bay”), Bolinas, China Camp, Virginia City, NV, and all along the coast.

Through the years, he has taught advanced plein air painting privately as well as in workshops and has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows. His most recent solo exhibition was a 2018 retrospective at the Marilyn Citron O’Rourke Art Gallery at the Benicia Public Library.

The auction is just the latest project Turner has taken on to promote Arts Benicia and its many member artists. Over the years, he has curated a number of exhibitions at Arts Benicia, has lobbied for support of the art community, and has taught many of Benicia’s most prominent artists. But it is as a plein air painter that Turner hopes he will be remembered. “Plein air is so important, not only as a style of art, but as a way to capture history, a slice of time,” he said. “It shows us what we had, what has changed over time, what we’ve lost.”

For more information about the Jerrold Turner Auction in support of Arts Benicia, visit https://artsbenicia.org/jerrold-turner-small-works-auction/

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