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| Luther E. DeJoiner |
Among the most recent is an American painter named Luther Evans DeJoiner (1885-1955). Born in Switzer KY, he was influenced by his father, a portrait painter and photographer named Oscar D. DeJoiner (1860-1924). Around the time of Luther’s birth, the family moved from Kentucky to Chattanooga TN (where his father gave art lessons in his studio), then to St Louis MO before finally settling in Alameda CA.
In California, Luther DeJoiner studied at the Mark Hopkins Institute (now the San Francisco Art Institute), and wth Arthur Hill Gilbert in Monterey. As a landscape painter, among his primary interests was the study of nature, and he is frequently cited as a naturalist as well as a painter. He lived in Santa Cruz for most of his adult life, but he traveled thoughout the country with his wife, Emily DeJoiner, in search of subject settings, with a particular interest in redwoods.
When he registered for the draft in June 1917, he described himself as a self-employed painter. During World War I, he served as a ship camoufleur designer, for which he was stationed at Mare Island during 1917-18.
In his final years, he made an attempt to move beyond landscape painting, by experimenting with semi-abstract, non-objective compositions. His final exhibition was held in September 1954, several months before he died. Long preoccupied with fishing, he died unexpectedly of a heart attack, on Christmas day, while fishing on the San Lorenzo River near Santa Cruz.
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