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Eugenia Frances Baker McComas
(1886-1982)
Eugenia Frances Baker McComas was born in San Francisco, California on September 6, 1886. She came from a family of journalists where her father Joseph Eugene Baker was the editor of the Alta Californian, now San Francisco Examiner, and her mother was a theater critic for The Oakland Tribune.
Eugenia also known as “Gene” worked as a journalist for The Oakland Tribune for a period of time. She also studied at the California School of Arts and Crafts under artist Xavier Martinez. She met artist Francis McComas through her mentor Xavier Martinez, and married Francis in 1917 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and a day after their wedding, they moved to Monterey.
They settled on the Monterey Peninsula in Pebble Beach but continued to make trips to Europe, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, and the South Seas. Not wanting to compete with her husband’s landscapes, Gene painted flower and still life paintings though her greatest passions were her large mural paintings. She received her first solo show at Gumps in 1924, but her first successful show was at O’Toole Gallery in New York City in 1938, a year after the death of her husband. Throughout her life, she received various commissions for murals. Her last commission mural was executed in 1950 for the lobby of the Spreckles Sugar Company building. Although this building was destroyed, her mural was saved and is now the property of Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art.
Towards the end of her life, Gene lost her eyesight but was able to attend a museum retrospective of her works in 1980. She died in Monterey, California on March 21, 1982. Gene McComas is well-known as a landscapist, although she also painted portraits and still lifes.
Member: Carmel Art Association; San Francisco Art Association; National Society of Mural Painters.
Exhibited: Gump’s, San Francisco, 1924; O’Toole Gallery, New York City, 1938; Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1940; Art Institute of Chicago, 1942; De Young Museum, San Francisco, 1952; Pasadena Art Institute, California, 1954.
Works Held: Monterey Peninsula Museum; Mills College, Oakland, California; Oakland Museum; Pebble Beach Lodge, California; Orange County Museum, California.
Source:
Hughes, Edan M. Artists In California 1786-1940. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. Sacramento: Crocker, Art Museum, 2002. N. pag. 2 vols. Print.
Botke-McComas-Seideneck by Carmel Art Association
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