Mendocino 

Eyvind Earle made this serigraph, or screenprint, titled "Mendocino" sometime during his career as a landscape artist. Earle's landscapes are stylized, almost graphic, a mode that was very commercially successful in mid-century America. Earle's work is interesting as a case study in the complex relationship between art and commerce. On one hand, his landscape paintings seem to take inspiration from the flat expanses and vibrant colors of California, echoing the mid-century's artistic fascination with place. On the other hand, Earle also worked as a background artist for Disney, bringing his artistic vision to a mass audience. It's worth asking whether his style, with its bold lines and simplified forms, was shaped by the demands of commercial illustration. To understand Earle’s work, one might look at the history of landscape painting, the rise of commercial art, and the institutions that exhibited and sold his work. Thinking about how artists like Earle navigated the art world can help us better understand the values and assumptions that shape our own.