Mark Monsarrat is Plein Air Gallery’s June featured artist

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Ten of San Francisco-based painter Mark Monsarrat’s paintings adorn the feature wall at Benicia Plein Air Gallery, accompanied by more in the window, in addition to the artist’s regular space in the gallery itself. The oil paintings, done in traditional Craftsman-style plein air, show scenes in sharp detail from around Benicia and locations nearby.

Monsarrat, one of the newest members of the gallery, having joined in January, is its featured artist this month with his show titled “Benicia and Beyond.”

Monsarrat’s path to becoming a widely exhibited artist — he also currently has work in galleries in Crockett and Carmel — was an unusual one.

Originally from Ohio, Monsarrat moved to California in 1980 at the age of 30 to pursue his art, though at the time his education was in engineering and business.

Why the change in direction?

“I like the antithesis, the opposite, in fine art,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the calculations and exactitude (of engineering). I like impressionist work, it’s a rebellion from the whole machine world.”

Monsarrat started off as a street artist in San Francisco, selling pen-and-ink drawings of scenes of the city. He often manned a booth at various art festivals in the area.

“You could say my work is collected the world over,” he said. “I did that for a really long time.”

Calling himself a “tonal colorist,” he said he admires the work of 19th-century masters like Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt, oil painters who created some of the most iconic images of the American landscape in the nation’s history.

“I love the land,” Monsarrat said. “It’s part of that religious underpinning that they used to recognize in the 19th century. … My work has gone back to that style.

“I really thought they had it down with their tonalism, and I try to bring in some more excitement in color.”

He often participates in area paint-outs, which many times are fundraising events that can be a one-day event or run as long as a week. Monsarrat has received awards at paint-outs in Contra Costa County, Fremont and Burlingame.

He became involved with “Da Group,” the collection of Benicia plein air painters responsible for the founding of the downtown gallery, through a group he was painting with in the San Francisco peninsula area called POPS, Peninsula Outdoor Painters.

“I love going to out-of-the-way places to paint,” he said. “Crockett has such charm, Benicia has lots of history and charm in its own right.”

In addition to many familiar Benicia scenes, Monsarrat has also painted scenes in Pinole, Rodeo, Half Moon Bay and dozens of other locations.

“I just love to go out and paint,” he said.

An opening reception for Mark Monsarrat’s “Benicia and Beyond” is Saturday, in conjunction with the Art and Wine walks. Benicia Plein Air Gallery will offer a Pinot Grigio to participants in the Wine Walk.

“We’re a happening place,” Monsarrat said.

If You Go
An opening reception for Mark Monsarrat’s exhibit, “Benicia and Beyond,” is Saturday from 5-7 p.m. at the Plein Air Gallery, 307 First St. Also that day, the Wine Walk is 1-5 p.m. and the Art Walk is 3-7 p.m. at various locations on First Street.