Gift of Valentien Painting to Marston House

Gift of Valentien Painting to Marston House
March/April 2025

Scott Sandel and Jim Marich, longtime SOHO members and friends and neighbors of the late Allen Hazard, a former board member and active preservationist, recently made a heartfelt donation to SOHO for display in the Marston House Museum in honor of Allen’s memory. Scott, a past SOHO board member, and Jim generously gifted a small painting of Mount San Miguel (c. 1908-1920) by Albert Valentien, an artist renowned for his botanical illustrations and landscape paintings of San Diego and California. Viewers of the painting today think Valentien may have worked from a vantage point in National City or El Cajon when he painted the 2,500-foot mountain.

This donation has a poignant backstory that makes it especially significant. In early 2024, Scott and Jim attended the prestigious Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference in Asheville, North Carolina. Allen and his wife, Janet O’Dea, were also there. During the event, Allen, Scott, and Jim all admired the painting, which was for sale in the conference antiques show, but Allen had settled on other purchases and decided not to buy it. Knowing this, Scott and Jim, who appreciated the artwork’s beauty and its San Diego connections, acquired it for their own art collection for their historic Arts and Crafts home.

Just months later, in October 2024, Allen passed away unexpectedly, leaving a profound void in the preservation community and among the Grove Park conference regulars, who had heard his presentations in recent years and enjoyed his and Janet’s company. In a touching tribute, Scott and Jim decided that the painting belonged where Allen’s heart always was—with SOHO and the Marston House.

Albert Valentien (1862-1925), a former decorator and art director for Rookwood Pottery, moved to San Diego in 1908 with his artist wife, Anna. Shortly after their arrival, Albert embarked on an ambitious project commissioned by the philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps: painting all of California’s wildflowers and native plants. Over the next decade, he traveled extensively throughout the state, capturing its natural beauty in exquisite detail.

The donated landscape painting, done in gouache on board, was previously purchased at the Cincinnati Art Galleries’ landmark exhibition of Valentien’s work in 2000. Now, thanks to Scott and Jim’s thoughtfulness and generosity, it is being preserved and displayed at the Marston House Museum, as a testament to Allen Hazard’s enduring legacy and his unwavering passion for historic preservation. When you visit the museum, you can see the painting hanging in the library—and perhaps it will resonate with you too, as it did with Allen, Scott, and Jim.

SOHO is deeply grateful for this meaningful contribution, which not only enriches our collections, but also keeps alive the memory of a beloved friend and preservationist.

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