1901-1940
Theme/Style – Modernism, still lifes
Media – Oils
Artistic Focus – Bonnie Beach Ryan’s paintings are rare due at least in part to her short lifespan. While Ryan’s oils reflect her careful attention to composition, what strikes the viewer most is the vibrancy of color infused in her paintings.
Career Highlights –
- Bonnie Beach Ryan was born Bonnie Lucille Beach in San Diego in 1901. Her father, Albert H. Beach, was a prominent Los Angeles real estate developer, and Bonnie attended the city’s elite St. Mary’s Academy and Marlborough School for Girls.
- Though she originally planned a career in music, Bonnie subsequently attended and graduated from the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, and also studied at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute in San Francisco.
- In 1918 Bonnie Beach married Russell C. Ryan, a San Francisco surgeon; they were divorced two years later.
- Ryan continued her art career and was a member of Women Painters West, while also remaining involved in Los Angeles society circles where she often participated in fundraising events for the Red Cross and other aid organizations.
- In 1933, Bonnie Beach Ryan held her first solo show of flower and still life paintings at the Dana Bartlett Gallery in Los Angeles to favorable notices from critic Arthur Millier of the Los Angeles Times.
- While only in her late 30s, Bonnie Beach Ryan passed away in Los Angeles in 1940.
Selection of Works by this Artist
Floral Still Life
Bibliographic references are available upon request.