Since 2005, the Bowers California Arts Council has collaborated with the museum’s Collections Department and the Balboa Art Conservation Center, San Diego, to preserve the quality of the paintings’ canvases and frames. These early California paintings represent one of the most notable areas within the collection—all made possible through donations since the museum opened its doors in the 1930s. 

Many of the museum’s most important and iconic portraits, Impressionist, and plein air works, from the 1850s to1930s, are presented in the exhibition and cover a range of subjects that include landscapes, coastal scenes, still life images, and portraits of artists and prominent figures. Classic California: Recently Conserved Paintings from the Permanent Collection features paintings by artists Frank Coburn, Paul Dougherty, Charles Fries, William S. Jewett, Carl Jonnevold, Joseph Klietsch, Edgar Payne, Hansen Puthuff, William Ritchel, Guy Rose, Gardner Symons, Elmer Wachtel and Marion Cavanaugh Wachtel, and William Wendt.