1908-1983
Theme/Style – Modernism, landscape, still life
Media – Lithography
Artistic Focus – Alexander Fleming had his art career cut short by the Depression, but during the 1930s he produced a body of handsome, intensely dramatic lithographs of trees and flowers, some of which are in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
- Alexander Patrick Fleming was born in Sandwich, Ontario, Canada in 1908, and came to California with his family in 1910, setting in Riverside.
- In 1927-1928 Fleming studied art in Paris, and upon his return to California he established a studio in Riverside.
- In 1935 Fleming was included in the 55th Annual Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association as part of the Opening Exhibition of the San Francisco Museum of Art.
- Fleming exhibited with the Riverside Art Association in 1936, and again with the San Francisco Art Association in 1937.
- Also in 1937, Fleming had solo shows of his lithographs at the Paul Elder Gallery in San Francisco; the San Bernardino County Art Association; and the Laguna Art Gallery in Laguna Beach.
- Fleming was also included in a 1937 show at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco with other artists comprising the “California Group,” including Millard Sheets, Paul Sample, Tom Craig, Phil Dike, Milford Zornes, Paul Mays, Everett Gee Jackson, Rex Brandt and George Post.
- In the late 1930s Fleming was active as an employee of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Fleming’s work was included in a California Federal Art Project show at the National Youth Administration headquarters in Escondido in 1937.
- Fleming’s lithographs were included in exhibitions at the University of Redlands, CA in 1938 and 1939, but as a result of financial hardships during the Depression, Fleming abandoned his art career and turned to growing oranges on a farm near Riverside.
- Alexander Fleming passed away in Encinitas, California in 1983
Selection of Works by this Artist
Untitled (Eucalyptus)
Eucalyptus
Bibliographic references are available upon request.