The Hollywood studio system rose in Los Angeles alongside the peak of the California Impressionist art movement, a network of outdoor painters whose work emphasized the state’s natural beauty in sharp contrast to the region’s rapid urbanization. This talk will explore the relationship between California Impressionism and the development of the Hollywood studio system as a network of multi-media organizations. Tracing the origins of California plein air from turn-of-the-century visual marketing campaigns through the rise of Hollywood during the 1910s and 1920s, this talk will highlight movement’s influence on the work of Pixar animation, the creation of immersive digital environments, and modern-day media art education.

Professor John Trafton is Lecturer of Film Studies at the Seattle University