Robert Perine; painter & art school founder
Hyfler/Rosner
Chouinard Institute
BYLINE: Myrna Oliver, LA Times Staff Writer
Robert Perine, a painter, graphic designer, writer, educator
and publisher of art books who spearheaded the creation of
an art school based on Los Angeles' historic Chouinard Art
Institute, which helped shape Southern California Modernism,
has died. He was 81.
Perine died Saturday in Pasadena of unspecified causes.
A graduate of Chouinard who later taught there, Perine in
1985 wrote and published a historic account of the
freewheeling art school's development and transformation
into the Disney-financed CalArts in Valencia. The title of
his book summed up his opinion: "Chouinard: An Art Vision
Betrayed."
A dozen years after the book renewed interest in the
creative school, Perine and Dave Tourje co-founded the
Chouinard Foundation. An artist and contractor, Tourje had
sought out Perine after unknowingly purchasing the
fixer-upper home of the school's founder, the late Nelbert
Murphy Chouinard. Together, Perine and Tourje started a
newsletter, staged exhibitions and held auctions to raise
funds for a revamped Chouinard, which first welcomed
students last year.
The original school founded by Chouinard, a World War I
widow, had existed from 1921 until 1972, spinning out such
creative threads of the Southern California tapestry as
painter Millard Sheets, architects Richard Neutra and Rudolf
Schindler, Disney animator Marc Davis and costume designer
Edith Head.
But with a founder more interested in fostering artistic
creativity than managing finances, the school fell into
debt, helped along by embezzling bookkeepers. Walt Disney,
who sent his animators there for training, stepped in to pay
the debts. To the chagrin of loyalists, he also
reconstituted Chouinard as the California Institute of the
Arts -- CalArts -- in newly built quarters in Valencia and
left the old campus, name and faculty behind.
Perine and Tourje's revival plans first earned widespread
attention in 2001, when they arranged a three-part
exhibition by Chouinard alumni at the Oceanside Museum of
Art, Palomar College's Boehm Gallery in San Marcos and Mira
Costa College's Kruglak Gallery in Oceanside.
After the modern version of the Chouinard school opened in
South Pasadena in 2003, Perine served as co-director and
taught design, figure drawing and watercolor painting.
Born on Nov. 22, 1922, in Los Angeles, Perine attended
Pasadena Junior College before going into the Navy as a
painter during World War II. Using the G.I. Bill, he
attended USC and graduated from Chouinard in 1950.
He taught briefly at the University of Alabama and at
Chouinard from 1952 to 1954. He also launched a graphic
design business in Los Angeles and for two decades created
logos and marketing materials, primarily for Fender musical
instruments.
Relocating to San Diego in 1970, Perine served as art
director for Zoonooz magazine for 20 years, while painting
and writing for art magazines. He also wrote a number of
books about art and published them through his Artra
Publishing Co.
Perine's latest solo exhibition was at the Oceanside Museum
of Art in 1999. His watercolors and other artworks are in
more than 200 permanent collections throughout the country,
including those of the Riverside Art Center and the San
Diego Museum of Art.
He is survived by his wife of 24 years, Blaze Newman; two
daughters from his former marriage, Jorli Perine and Lisa
Corcoran, and eight grandchildren. His daughter Terri
preceded him in death.
A memorial service is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at
Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar.
The family has asked that memorial donations be made to the
Chouinard Foundation, 1020 Mission St., South Pasadena, CA
91030.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: ROBERT PERINE: He taught design, drawing and
painting at the new Chouinard school. His artworks are in
more than 200 permanent collections.