Guide to the MAH Historical Paintings Collection

This collection consists of eleven (11) artworks by various artists. They are contained in between sheets of acid-free paper .The artworks appear to be primarily watercolor paintings, with one (1) etching by Augustine Ponce, which is the only item in the collection with an accession number [90.18.1]. The other artworks in this collection are primarily still lives or landscapes by unknown artists. Three (3) still life paintings bear the initials and/or signature of E. Schlup or E.Schulz, and two (2) dating from 1909 and 1915 are signed by Lillian Grooms Huebner. The artworks range in size from approx. 8” height x 13”length to approx. 11”H x 14”L at the largest. They all are in good condition except for some yellowing on the edges.

This collection is divided into the following series:

Series I.  Lillian Grooms
Series II.  Still Life Paintings
Series III.  Etchings
Series IV.  Miscellaneous

Lillian Grooms Huebner (1892-1976) was a Santa Cruz artist who was also very active in the Santa Cruz community and the Santa Cruz art scene. According to the Archives of AskART, an online registry of artists, Lillian Huebner was born Lillian Mae Grooms in 1892 in the town of Ottumwa, Iowa. Lillian studied art at the Cummings Art School in Des Moines, the Lockwood Art School in Kalamazoo, Mich. and later with Claude Buck after moving to Santa Cruz in the year 1929 (Info. From askart.com and Edan Hughes Artists in California 1786-1940, Hughes Publishing Co, 1989 and S.C. Sentinel 3/14/1976). A member of the Santa Cruz Art League since 1930, she and her husband, artist Walter Huebner, helped facilitate the exhibit of the Last Supper at the Santa Cruz Art League Gallery, a wax-figure version Of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting (S.C. Sentinel 8/1/1974). Lillian G. Huebner also was program chair for the Santa Cruz Art League and President in 1950-51 (S.C. Sentinel 8/2/1943 and 3/14/1976). Lillian was President of the TTT state chapter in 1956-7 and state president of the Federation Art Club in 1958 (S.C. Sentinel 3/14/1976). She also was chairman of the Santa Cruz Beautification Commission and fine arts chairman of the Santa Cruz Women’s Club, and was a matron of the Order of the Eastern Star, and a high priestess of the White Shrine of Jerusalem (S.C. Sentinel 3/14/1976). In 1974, Lillian G. Huebner wrote Ours the Rose, a privately printed book about her childhood growing up on a farm in Albia, Iowa. The book was sold at the Santa Cruz Art League Gallery and included such childhood memories as visiting her grandparent’s “pioneer log house”, making the trip by sleigh, and having her home burn down sixty years before she published the book. Lillian G. Huebner is listed in The World Who’s Who of Women; Who’s Who in California and in the International Who’s Who in Art and Antiques (S.C. Sentinel 8/1/1974). Also according to AskART she is listed in Edan Milton Hughes’s Artists in California 1786-1940 (published by Hughes Publishing Co, 1989 (2^nd Edition) and Crocker Art Museum in 2002 (3^rd Ed. Harcover) which are available on Amazon.com. Lillian’s worked in several different mediums and her paintings were shown in exhibits at the DeYoung Museum of San Francisco, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara Museum of Fine Arts, the Oakland Art Museum and the Iowa State Fair (S.C. Sentinel 3/13/1976). Two of Lillian Grooms Huebner’s works are included in the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History’s MAH Historical Paintings Collection. Lillian passed away on March 14, 1976 (S.C. Sentinel 3/14/1976).

SERIES I.  LILLIAN GROOMS

Two (2) Paintings, one (1) Folder

Subseries Scope and Content Summary:

This subseries consists of two (2) paintings bearing the signature of Lillian Grooms Huebner. One painting is a landscape scene of a river dated 1915 and approx. 8”height x 13” length. The second painting is a bust length portrait (head and shoulders) of a young woman dated 1909, and is approx. 11”height x 13”length. These two paintings may be watercolors and are in great condition with some slight yellowing on the edges. These paintings are non-accessioned and are in a folder labeled “Lillian Grooms Folder 1 MAH Paintings Collection”.

BOX ID#: Folder ID#

1:1

SERIES II.  STILL LIFE PAINTINGS

Three (3) Paintings

Subseries Scope and Content Summary:

This subseries consists of three (3) non-accessioned still life paintings that bear a signature that looks like E. Schlup or perhaps Schulz and/or the initials E.S. The still lives are in good condition with some slight yellowing and spotting on the edges. The still lives are of vases with flowers, bottles, bananas, and other items. They are approx. 11” in height by 14” length. These paintings are in a folder marked “Still Life E.S. or E. Schlup Folder 2, MAH Paintings Collection”.

BOX ID#: Folder ID#

1:2

SERIES III.  ETCHINGS

One (1) Etching

Subseries Scope and Content Summary:

This subseries consists of one (1) etching by artist Augustine Ponce completed in 1989. The etching is approx. 13 ¼” in height x 14” length and is entitled “Tuesday 5:04 pm”. According to the donor file this black and white etching depicts the Town Clock after the 1989 earthquake in downtown Santa Cruz with allusions to the Hispanic Day of the Dead. The etching is in great condition, and was purchased at a UCSC student print sale. It was donated by Linda Pope of Aptos, CA to the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History on December 12, 1989. The etching is in a folder labeled “Etchings, Folder 3, MAH Paintings Collection”. This etching has an accession number which is 90.18.1.

BOX ID#:Folder ID#

1:3

SERIES IV.  MISCELLANEOUS

Five (5) Paintings

Subseries Scope and Content Summary:

This subseries consists of five (5) paintings by unknown artists. They are possibly watercolor paintings, and are in good condition except for some yellowing and/or stains on the edges. The paintings are primarily of flowers, vases and bottles along with one landscape scene. The paintings range in size from approx. 12 height ”x16 length” to 8H”x14L”. One painting is double-sided, with paintings on each side. These paintings have no accession numbers and do not appear to have any initials or signatures of the artist. It is not known whether these paintings belong to Lillian Grooms Huebner or to E. “Schlup” whose works appear in this collection, since these works have no visible signature or initials. These artworks are in a folder labeled “Miscellaneous Folder 4, MAH Paintings Collection”.

BOX ID#: Folder ID#

1:4