{"id":505216,"date":"2026-06-18T01:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/505216\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T01:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:07:10","slug":"work-of-santa-rosa-artist-maurice-lapp-featured-in-major-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/505216\/","title":{"rendered":"Work of Santa Rosa artist Maurice Lapp featured in major retrospective"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than a decade after his death, the work of painter and teacher Maurice Lapp<\/a> will return to public view this weekend in a major retrospective exhibition featuring more than 100 watercolors and oil paintings spanning his career in Sonoma County and the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

The exhibition, marking the 101st anniversary of Lapp\u2019s birth, opens Saturday, June 20, with a reception from 1 to 3 p.m. at Corrick\u2019s Stationery, Gallery and Gifts in downtown Santa Rosa and remains on display through Aug. 24.<\/p>\n

Keven Brown, co-owner of Corrick\u2019s with his wife, Jeri Yamashiro Brown, said he and Lapp\u2019s sons, Michael and Ben Lapp, have spent the past year organizing the exhibition.<\/p>\n

\u201cFormer students and friends of the family have been working to make this a great celebration of Maury and all that he contributed to our artistic community,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

\"Maurice“Self-portrait” by Maurice Lapp. (Courtesy of Corrick’s)
\nA broad survey of a career<\/p>\n

The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view a broad cross-section of paintings from across Lapp\u2019s artistic life, from little-seen early abstractions to the urban scenes and landscapes that defined his legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The Caffe Trieste,\u2019 as well as the early abstracts, will be pieces less known, most not seen outside his studio,\u201d\u00a0Brown said.<\/p>\n

Lapp consigned a selection of paintings to Corrick\u2019s in 2013 for what would become his final exhibition. After his death, the family added additional\u00a0works. The exhibition will include paintings from those consignments, along with more than 50 works that have never before been available through the gallery.<\/p>\n

Most of the artwork will be offered for sale. Proceeds will be shared among the Lapp family, Corrick\u2019s and the SRJC Maurice Lapp Scholarship Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is truly a community event,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThere are works on loan from the Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa Junior College and various collectors. There are also close to 100 works from the family\u2019s collection and works at Corrick\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artist, mentor and teacher<\/p>\n

Lapp, who died in 2014<\/a> at age 88, was a fixture of Sonoma County\u2019s arts community for nearly four decades as both a painter and an instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College. Generations of students studied under him, and some returned years later to take classes from a teacher known for his rigor, generosity and commitment to the craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cPainting every day of his life, Maurice Lapp had an incredible work ethic and an exceptional eye for portraying urban landscapes,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWhile he is known locally for his impact as a teacher and mentor for decades at SRJC, he was also part of the West Coast\u2019s Abstract Expressionist movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""Coast,"“Coast,” by the late Maurice Lapp, is one of more than 100 of his works to be shown at Corrick’s in downtown Santa Rosa. (Courtesy of Corrick’s)<\/p>\n

Born in Chicago on June 17, 1925, Lapp earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before joining the Santa Rosa Junior College faculty in 1956. He retired in 1991 but continued teaching part time for years afterward.<\/p>\n

Joel Werring, an artist who now maintains a studio in Redding, Connecticut, said he still recalls taking figure drawing from Lapp as a 19-year-old student.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the seriousness and discipline he brought to his practice, and the respect he demanded for drawing as a way of seeing and understanding the world,\u201d Werring said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaury stressed the importance of drawing from life and from the great artists throughout history. He was articulate and direct. He didn\u2019t simply lecture; he demonstrated,\u201d said Werring, who also teaches fine arts at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. \u201cEven now, decades later, things he said in the classroom still surface unexpectedly, informing both my own studio practice and my teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael McGinnis, an artist and Santa Rosa Junior College faculty member who was first Lapp\u2019s student and later his colleague, described him as a singular presence in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaury Lapp was the quintessential art teacher of the mid-20th century,\u201d McGinnis said. \u201cHe was a Beat poet with paint who sat on the streets of San Francisco with his easel and canvas, recording the scenes of caf\u00e9s and people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an instructor, Maury would wax philosophical, pointing with a stick at figure drawings on the floor during critique,\u201d he continued. \u201cAs a colleague, he welcomed others into the fold as the new generation. Maury Lapp gave his life to SRJC and had a lasting influence on tens of thousands of people in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Painting the city and coast<\/p>\n

As a painter, Lapp became known for his vivid depictions of San Francisco street life, including scenes from Telegraph Hill, Potrero Hill and the caf\u00e9s of North Beach, as well as North Bay coastal landscapes.<\/p>\n

His work was featured in solo exhibitions at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in 1956 and 1968 and at the de Young Museum in 1962. He was also represented by the George Krevsky Gallery in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\"Corrick'sCorrick\u2019s Stationary owner Keven Brown hangs paintings by Maurice Lapp, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter \/ The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

Lapp\u2019s reputation extended well beyond the classroom. One of his most enduring friendships began while he was painting in North Beach. Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, founder of City Lights Bookstore, noticed him working outdoors and asked him to paint the landmark shop. The commission grew into a friendship that lasted decades, with the two meeting regularly for coffee in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Ferlinghetti later reflected on their friendship in a 2005 interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaury and I used to go out painting landscapes together at Bodega Bay,\u201d Ferlinghetti said. \u201cWe\u2019d set up our easels side by side. He\u2019d get this perfect, beautiful landscape, and I\u2019d get some fantasy piece I could have done back in the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lapp, speaking in the same interview, described his attraction to painting directly from observation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI taught myself a lot by painting at the ocean or on the street, or sitting in caf\u00e9s and drawing,\u201d he said. \u201cI like to react to places where there\u2019s a sense of near and far. When I paint on site, I pick places that are timeless.\u201d<\/p>\n

IF YOU GO<\/p>\n

What: Opening reception for a retrospective exhibition of paintings by Maurice Lapp<\/p>\n

When: Reception from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 20; exhibition continues through Aug. 24<\/p>\n

Where: Corrick\u2019s Stationery, Gallery and Gifts, 637 Fourth St., Santa Rosa<\/p>\n

Admission: Free<\/p>\n

Information: corricks.com\/events<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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