Landscape painter Daniel Pinkham works out of a studio he built for himself in Palos Verdes, California where he was raised, having been born in the inner city of Los Angeles. He studied at the Art Center College of Design and then studied for five years with Russian artist and teacher, Sergei Bongart (1910-1985).

Pinkham's choices of subjects are based on direct emotional responses with the imagery in front of him. His work takes him throughout the U.S. and Europe. From each locale, he experiences varied emotions that he translates to paint.

Regarding his experience as a plein-air artist he says "When I listen to the landscape it never lies or betrays, it responds to patience and a loving eye."

Pinkham is also a signature member of the Oil Painters of America, has exhibited at the Los Angeles Museum of Art, Carnegie Art Museum, Monterey Museum of Art, the Joan Irvine Smith Gallery of Fine Art, and The Parkside Gallery in Carmel, California. He has received numerous awards and has been featured in several art publications including Southwest Art Magazine.

Source: www.pvplc.org/artshow/pink.htm

Daniel Pinkham first met Sergei Bongart when he was a student at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. His studies with Bongart were formative and intense. Soon after his studies began, Pinkham's father died and the artist put away his brushes and paints and took over his father's plumbing business. Bongart disapproved of the sacrifice which Pinkham believes had to with Bongart's own decision to help his parents in a similar manner.

Once Pinkham was able to pay off the mortgage on his mother's house he picked up his paint brushes and headed off to a workshop Bongart was conducting in Idaho. Although the two had not seen each other for eight years, when Pinkham entered the lecture, Bongart interrupted his comments to go over and greet his student. He told him he looked eight years younger and he offered him a full scholarship.

Bongart had Pinkham paint in black and white for a full year before moving into color. The artist credits those lesson with teaching him subtlety which allows him to paint his personality and character.

Source: Art of the West, March April 2003

Daniel W. Pinkham has been a principle force in the resurgence of plein air painting, leading by example that plein air painting is not only a career, but also a lifestyle.
Pinkham was born in Los Angeles on January 31, 1952.He showed both interest and ability in art as a young child and began studying art through private instruction at the age of nine.He later attended Art Center College of Design from 1972 to 1974, after which he received a scholarship to apprentice for five years with Russian-born artist and renowned teacher Sergei Bongart (1919-1985).He later opened his own art school, which he operated from 1980 to 1985.

To further his artistic training, in 1985, Pinkham traveled throughout Europe for several months, studying the masterworks in prominent museums.Upon returning from Europe, he then began traveling throughout the United States to focus on plein air painting, which allowed him to be close to the sources of inspiration for his artwork.

Based on his artistic philosophies, in 1982, he founded Plein Air Artists of California, a group of six artists dedicated to painting on location.He also became a founding member of the Plein Air Painters of America.

Pinkham is a Signature Member of the California Art Club, as well as a member of the Club's Board of Directors. He has also taken on the responsibility of working with the Club's Mentor Program Members - art students and professionals under the age of thirty.

Other memberships include Oil Painters of America as a Signature Member and the Portuguese Bend Artist Colony, which he and his wife, Vicki, founded in the "South Bay" of the Los Angeles area to preserve this open space and natural habitat. Pinkham was also selected by the National Park Service as the Artist in Residence at the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

In 2009, Pinkham won the Gold Medal for Best Painting at the California Art Club's 98th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition.

Daniel W. Pinkham

Studied:
Los Angeles Art Center College of Design
Sergei Bongart (scholarship) Russian School of Art

Memberships:
California Art Club, Signature member
California Art Club, Board of Directors
Oil Painters of America, Signature Member
Portuguese Bend Artist Colony artist member

Museums Where in Permanent Collection:
Autry Museum of the American West , Los Angeles CA
Carnegie Art Museum , Oxnard, CA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

Exhibition Record (Galleries and Art Shows):
2025 National Cowboy Museum of the American West
2025 Autry Museum of the American West
2024 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
2024 Autry Museum of the American West
2023 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
2023 Autry Museum of the American West
2022 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
2022 Autry Museum of the American West
2021 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
2021 Autry Museum of the American West
2020 Autry Museum of the American West- THOMAS MORAN AWARD for exceptional merit
2019 Autry Museum of the American West
2019 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
2019 National Museum of Wildlife Art
2018 Autry National Center, ARTIST'S CHOICE AWARD
2018 National Museum of Wildlife Art
2017 Autry National Center (two exhibitions)
2016 Autry National Center ( two exhibitions)
2015 Autry National Center
2015 National Museum of Wildlife Art
2014 Autry National Center
2014 National Museum of Wildlife Art, BEST OF SHOW, RED SMITH AWARD
2013 Autry National Center
2013 Fisher Museum of Art, University of Southern California
2012 Autry National Center
2011 Autry National Center
2010 Autry National Center
2009 Autry National Center
2009 Pasadena Museum of California Art, GOLD MEDAL,BEST OF SHOW
2008 Autry National Center
2008 Pasadena Museum of California Art
2007 Autry National Center
2007 Pasadena Museum of California Art
2006 Autry National Center
2006 Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art
2006 Pasadena Museum of California Art, Best Western Genre Award
2005 Autry National Center
2005 Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute, Grand Prize Best of Show
2005 Laguna Museum of Art
2004 Autry Museum of Western Heritage
2004 Pasadena Museum of California Art
2003 Autry Museum of Western Heritage
2003 Laguna Museum of Art
2003 Pasadena Museum of California Art
2002 Autry Museum of Western Heritage
2001 Autry Museum of Western Heritage
2001 The Haggin Museum
2001 The Pasadena Historical Society Museum
2000 Autry Museum of Western Heritage
2000 The Pasadena Historical Society Museum
1999 Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art
1999 Autry Museum of Western Heritage
1998 Natural History Museum
1998 San Jose Museum of Art, Top 20 American Plein Air Artist Award
1997 Academy of Art College, Springville Museum of Art
1996 Carnegie Art Museum
1996 Natural History Museum
1994 Carnegie Art Museum
1987 Pioneer Museum
1985 Springville Museum of Art, Tivoli Gallery Award
1984 Monterey Museum of Art
1984 San Jose Museum of Art
1978 Los Angeles Museum of Art

Exhibition Record (Museums, Institutions & Awards):
2018 Palos Verdes Art Center CA
2014 Bingham Gallery, Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts UT
2013 Bingham Gallery, Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts UT
2012 Malaga Cove Library and Art Gallery CA
2012 Center for the Arts, Jackson Wyoming
2012 Bingham Gallery, Thunderbird Foundation UT
2011 Coors Western Art Show CO
2010 The Salmagundi Club, N.Y.
2010 American Legacy Fine Arts, LLC CA
2010 Bingham Gallery, Thunderbird Foundation, UT
2010 Insight Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX
2009 Bingham Gallery, Thunderbird Foundation, UT Gold Medal,Best of Show
2006 Malaga Cove Art Gallery and Library, CA
2006 Bingham Gallery, Thunderbird Foundation, UT
2005 Trailside Gallery, AZ
2005 Malaga Cove Art Gallery and Library, CA
2005 Bingham Gallery, Thunderbird Foundation UT
2004 Malaga Cove Art Gallery and Library, CA
2004 Cathedral of Our Lady, CA
2003 Malaga Cove Art Gallery and Library, CA
2003 Trailside Gallery, AZ
2003 The Old Mill, California Art Club Gallery, CA
2002 Hollis Gallery, Solo Exhibition , CA
2002 Colorado Mountain Club CO
2001 Edenhurst Gallery, CA
2001 California Art Club Gallery, CA
2001 Mission San Jaun Capistrano Mission, CA
2001 Malaga Cove Art Gallery and Library, CA
2000 The Morseburg Galleries/Edenhurst Galleries CA
1999 Malaga Cove Art Gallery and Library, CA
1998 Joan Irvine Smith Fine Art Gallery, CA (Two Man Show) CA
1997 Joan Irvine Smith Fine Art Gallery, CA
1996 The Craftsman Guild and the California Heritage Gallery, CA
1996 The Los Angeles Arboretum, CA
1995 Joan Irvine Smith Gallery, CA
1994 Gallery of the Winds, CO
1992 Oil Painters of America, Permalba Award
1991 The Amparo Gallery, AZ
1987 Texas Art Gallery, TX
1987 Hunter Gallery, CA
1987 Gallery of the Ravens, CO (3 Man Exhibition)
1984 Catalina Island, Best of Show
1983 Catalina Island, Wrigley Award Best of Show

Magazine and Media References:
2018, California Art Club News Letter, "Hungry Eye: Daniel W. Pinkham-Pioneer Spirit and the Grand Plan"
2016, Art of the West, "Dan Pinkham, A Visual Poet"
2014, Western Art Collector, "Vast Perspectives"
2013 Art of the West, "The Studio of Daniel W. Pinkham"
2013 Western Art Collector, "Western Art Insights, Daniel W. Pinkham, Intellectual Modern Impressionism"
2012 Fine Art Connoisseur , (COVER IMAGE), "Daniel W. Pinkham, Relayingthe Inner Poetry of Landscape and Himself"
2011 Western Art and Architecture, "A Deliberate Artist"
2011 Southwest Art, "My World, a Visit with Daniel Pinkham at his Studio Palos Verdes, California"
2009 American Artist, Studios, "Daniel Pinkham: A Major Conversion"
2009 American Artist, Masters of Realism, "Daniel W. Pinkham: Poetry Outdoors"
2006 Peninsula People, "The Building of an Art Colony"
2005 American Artist, "From the Desert: Plein Air 2005 Winners"
2003 Art of the West, "Dan Pinkham, The Power of Color"
2002 Art of the West, "For the Love of the Land"
2002 Southwest Art, "In the Studio"
2000 Art of the West, "California Art Club Exhibition"
2000 Southwest Art, "Painting the American West"

Book References:
2009, Mitchell Albala, Landscape Painting-Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice
2011, Jean Stern and Molly Siple, A Century of Landscapes-Paintings of theCalifornia Art Club
2017 Jean Stern and Molly Siple, Painting California: Seascapes and Beach Towns, Paintings of the California Art Club

Galleries:
American Legacy Fine Arts,- Pasadena California
Wood River Fine Arts,-Ketchum, Idaho
DanielPinkham.com - Pinkham Foundation for the Arts