AN UNEXPECTED FIND: CALIFORNIA MISSION DRAWINGS

February  2025 through January  2026

This exhibit features 15 depictions by artist Dorothy Harrison of California missions from San Diego, founded in 1769, to Sonoma, founded in 1823. These paintings were made in 1933 and were discovered in our archive flat files in the Doud House in the summer of 2024 while checking inventory. That Harrison was living in San Francisco in 1937 and had made a series of mission paintings at that time is the only information we have.

She used watercolor and black pencil to produce each of the 15 paintings in a way that would make the mission instantly recognizable to generations of schoolchildren immersed in California history.

 This collection of images captures the rural feeling of each mission. With a focus on stark lines and shapes the artist seems to be interested in the interplay of light and shadow surrounding each structure, creating a sense of both beauty and isolation. Details about the artist’s intentions are unknown, but the images invite viewers to consider the missions through her unique perspective.