Charles Marchant Stevenson

Charles Marchant Stevenson (August 29, 1927 – August 30, 2004) was an American artist.

Biography Early life and education Stevenson was born to Mildred and Charles Marchant Stevenson II in Washington, D.C. He spent his early years at his family home in Maryland.

He was awarded a scholarship to the adult school of the Corcoran Academy of Fine Art in Washington, D.C., which he attended from 1938 until 1945, when, immediately after his eighteenth birthday, Stevenson enlisted in the United States Navy.

After his tour of duty, Stevenson studied in Philadelphia, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the University of Pennsylvania. Of his radical change in location and lifestyle, Stevenson said, "Years ago a fortune teller told me that I had a chance to remake my entire life and I said, 'What I'd really like is to find someplace like Carmel or Monterey was when all the artists and writers were there,' and she said, 'Mendocino!'"

Just arrived in Mendocino, Stevenson phoned artist Dorr Bothwell who introduced him to Mendocino Art Center founders Bill and Jennie Zacha; that night the Zachas fed Stevenson dinner and rented him a studio behind their house. To earn money, at first Stevenson did architectural drafting for Bill Zacha, then worked part-time at several local restaurants.

Mendocino Art Center Subsequently, Bill Zacha offered Stevenson a position teaching at the Mendocino Art Center, where Stevenson taught for almost forty years.

Inspired by private schools of art on the East Coast, in the mid-1970s Stevenson created and was the first director of the Mastership Program at the Mendocino Art Center, an accredited alternative art school for children and teens. Instructors included James Maxwell (life drawing), Miriam Rice (sculpture), Ray Rice (murals and animation), Charles Stevenson (painting), and Bill Zacha (watercolor). Outside the classroom, Bill Zacha was the school's administrator and Dorr Bothwell acted as advisor. Stevenson sold the property, located on Little Lake Street between School and Howard Streets, for one dollar, with the provision that it be used for affordable housing for artists. Among the works produced by the team were a series of large painted screens, currently administered by the Mendocino Theatre Company, and the Gloriana Opera Company (now Gloriana Musical Theatre). Stevenson directed plays as well. Referring to Stevenson's paintings, Maureen Eppstein wrote, "In some the richness of texture is enhanced by the surface under the paint, layers of gesso and loosely woven cheesecloth..." In addition to acrylics, Stevenson worked in serigraphy, watercolor, gouache and pen and ink drawing.

Portraits Initially, Stevenson's work focused on his distinctive multiple-image portraits, for example Bata Bheag: Portrait of Irving S. Shapiro (1968), Mendocino Shepherd: Portrait of Thorkild Thompson (1967) and Dorr (1964), Stevenson's portrait of Dorr Bothwell at work in her Mendocino studio.

Although Stevenson always painted portraits, in the early 1970s he became more selective in accepting commissions and began to focus on other genres; his interests were wide and most are reflected in his subject matter.

Golden ratio and "Sparles" Stevenson based his compositions on the golden ratio, first referred to by Leonardo da Vinci as the secto aurea (golden section). Leonardo's line drawings of the five Platonic solids illustrate Luca Pacioli's book La Divina Proportione (1509). One of Stevenson's reference books on the subject was Elements of Dynamic Symmetry by Jay Hambidge.

Stevenson's post-1961 work often included dynamic fractures inspired by Pythagoras' "theory of spiraling forms, serial dynamic symmetry" patterns which Stevenson said compose "the webwork of energy that extends everywhere.", Fort Bragg, California, were designed by Stevenson and installed in 1984. Other church installations include Stevenson's murals at the Methodist Church of the Good Shepherd (now Good Shepherd United Methodist Church), Richmond, California, and the Piedmont Community Church, Piedmont, California. In a rare foray into sculpture, Stevenson designed the altar cross for the children's chapel at the Piedmont Community Church. Fox & Hare: The Story of a Friday Evening (1980), published by Paul Williams' Entwhistle Books.

Lately I've Been Thinking (1990), one of the Mendocino Malady series by Bobby Markels, is illustrated on the cover and throughout the text with Stevenson's line drawings of the author.

Stevenson's painting The Hee Ancestor Landing on the Headlands appears on the cover of the Kelley House Museum publication Chinese of the Mendocino Coast, by Dorothy Bear and David Houghton.

Exhibitions A Charles M. Stevenson retrospective was held at the Mendocino Art Center in 1994.