Ocean Park Pier 1926
Artist: Steven John Koeppe
Charles Looff, who had built Coney Island's first carousel in Brooklyn, New York, moved his operations to Long Beach in 1910. He then built and began operating a pleasure pier of his own. In 1916, he started construction. Looff's Pier featured the landmark Hippodrome building, a place that has housed a succession of vintage merry-go-rounds and Wurlitzer organs. Other rides such as The Blue Streak Racer, a wooden roller coaster, thrilled visitors.
Steven's acrylic painting, Ocean Park Pier 1926, captures the expansive grandeur of Charles Looff's dream -- many sea sides were graced with boardwalks and ride emporiums. Bright splashes of color and a festival atmosphere draw the viewer right into the painting. A rainbow of umbrellas graces the beach area to protect the bathers from the sun, while others line the boardwalk to the Dome Theatre and rides. I could almost smell the cotton candy and hear the gears of the old wooden roller coaster as it climbs to the top of its first drop. Happy screams from the riders seem to echo in the background, where Steven
has carefully recreated the coaster. I find myself looking closer, into the painting, trying to see what's beyond the hotel in the distance.
The artist, Steven John Koeppe, writes: This diptych was inspired by an old panoramic view north from Ocean Front Walk and Rose Avenue. The best part of painting it was picking out colors of buildings based on recollections of Santa Monica seniors. They tell me that the umbrellas were almost always either black or faded to grey. It seems strange to us now that people would go to such extremes avoiding exposure to sunlight, even at the beach. Then again, they didn't have any sun block.
The artist has certainly taken us back in time to a more relaxed era, when the vacationer only needed good walking shoes and a little imagination to have fun.
Article by: Terri Campbell
posted:01 Oct 2008
Related Link: http://dadada.com/gallery/SMPier.html
"By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea," was humming through my head as I reviewed this nostalgic acrylic painting, "Ocean Park Pier 1926." The Santa Monica pier has a very rich history. It officially opened on September 9, 1909, after sixteen months of construction, and thousands of people graced the 1,600 foot long wooden pier. The focus at that particular time, was on bathing and walking along the ocean.
Charles Looff, who had built Coney Island's first carousel in Brooklyn, New York, moved his operations to Long Beach in 1910. He then built and began operating a pleasure pier of his own. In 1916, he started construction. Looff's Pier featured the landmark Hippodrome building, a place that has housed a succession of vintage merry-go-rounds and Wurlitzer organs. Other rides such as The Blue Streak Racer, a wooden roller coaster, thrilled visitors.
Steven's acrylic painting, Ocean Park Pier 1926, captures the expansive grandeur of Charles Looff's dream -- many sea sides were graced with boardwalks and ride emporiums. Bright splashes of color and a festival atmosphere draw the viewer right into the painting. A rainbow of umbrellas graces the beach area to protect the bathers from the sun, while others line the boardwalk to the Dome Theatre and rides. I could almost smell the cotton candy and hear the gears of the old wooden roller coaster as it climbs to the top of its first drop. Happy screams from the riders seem to echo in the background, where Steven
has carefully recreated the coaster. I find myself looking closer, into the painting, trying to see what's beyond the hotel in the distance.
The artist, Steven John Koeppe, writes: This diptych was inspired by an old panoramic view north from Ocean Front Walk and Rose Avenue. The best part of painting it was picking out colors of buildings based on recollections of Santa Monica seniors. They tell me that the umbrellas were almost always either black or faded to grey. It seems strange to us now that people would go to such extremes avoiding exposure to sunlight, even at the beach. Then again, they didn't have any sun block.
The artist has certainly taken us back in time to a more relaxed era, when the vacationer only needed good walking shoes and a little imagination to have fun.
Article by: Terri Campbell
posted:01 Oct 2008
Related Link: http://dadada.com/gallery/SMPier.html
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