Stellar Gallery Exhibits

Patricia Allen

Susan Bolen

Mary Brewster

Jonathan Bock

Jerry Bosworth

Michael J Costa

Franka Gabler

Jeff Grandy

Charlt Hoffman

David Hoffman

Joseph Holmes

Ken Maggard

Amy Morgan

Toby Raetze

Terry Robinson

John Rogers

Norma Rogers

Duncan Spencer

Heidi Vetter

Duncan Alanson Spencer

June 19 to July 31, 2010

Opening Reception - Saturday, June 26, 4 to 9 PM

    at Stellar Gallery

An art exhibit celebrating the life's work of California artist Duncan Spencer

 “I love to paint what I see as I see it.”

CLICK HERE to view our catalog of available works by Duncan Spencer.

D. Alanson Spencer 1911-1999  

Duncan Alanson Spencer was born in Los Angeles , California . Spencer attended Chounard Art School in LA, and served an apprenticeship under Arthur Beaumont for two years.  Most of his artistic education was received during this apprenticeship period. It was also during this time that he was accepted into the prestigious Painters and Sculptors Club of Los Angeles.  After leaving Mr. Beaumont in 1932, Mr. Spencer had the opportunity to work with Maynard Dixon and went on to do a great deal of sketching and painting in the field. Since jobs were scarce, he took a job in a frame shop where he learned to make frames, and up until his death made and carved most of his own frames.

In 1937 that he began a career that would span 38 years and some 400 movies working for MGM Studios, Columbia Pictures and Fox Studios. What free time he had was spent with a group of other artists from MGM on sketching trips around the Los Angeles area. Among the many well remembered movies that Mr. Spencer worked on are “White Christmas”, “The Wizard of Oz”, and “National Velvet”.

In 1957 that he painted the Grand Canyon Diorama for the Anaheim Disneyland, as well as working on several other fantasyland rides.

In 1962-63, he was the sub-contracting artist for the IBM exhibit at the New York World’s Fair. He painted the art for the backgrounds on the mechanical exhibits that IBM displayed.  

In 1965, he left the motion picture industry for a short while to paint the background for the Elephant Habitat Group at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. He was then requested to paint many other habitat backgrounds at the museum.

In 1972, Mr. Spencer painted a mural of the Mississippi River as seen from a riverboat. The mural, which was 192 feet long and 16 feet high, showed the landscape of the Memphis , Tennessee area around 1870. The Schlitz Brewing Company (Now Coors) contracted this mural for use in their Hospitality House in Memphis .

He then lived in Denver for a short time while working on habitats at the Denver Museum of Natural History. His last major project was for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington , D.C. He painted a diorama of the Capital building entitled, “We the People” which hangs in the Smithsonian in the Political Hall.  

Mr. Spencer claimed to have retired residing with his wife Alice of 53 years, in a renovated stage coach stop in northern California , but seemed to work harder than ever at his two great passions, painting and gardening.  Mr. Spencer was an active member of the American Water Color Society and the AICA –American Indian and Cowboys of America. Spencer won numerous awards including the “Eagle Feather Award.”  

The first question he was usually asked concerning his work is how long it takes to complete a picture. His answer, invariably, was that it has taken a lifetime. He felt that he was always learning something new from every painting and conscientiously tried to improve with every new project.  

His customers liked to know if western American art is all he paints and, while he is by no means limited to this style, the “ Four Corners County ” was his favorite and had been a life-long love. When asked why, he simply answers, “I haven’t worn it out yet.” He tried to visit the reservations and area around there at least once a year.

 He also painted a lot of the landscape in and around Yosemite National Park where he had lived.  His paintings are scattered throughout the United States as well as Canada and Europe and in many private collections such as that of the late Senator Barry Goldwater and his work had even been added to the Santa Fe Collection.

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The Art Exhibit is open to the public from 11 AM to 5 PM, Wednesday through Sunday.
Admission to the Exhibit is Free.  

Purchase requests for works from the exhibit should be made to Stellar Gallery 559-658-8844  or by email at admin@stellargallery.com

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