She appeared to be a docent, standing in front of a colorful oil painting and chatting with museumgoers at the Hilbert Museum of California Art in Orange on a recent Saturday afternoon.
But the woman turned out to be the artist, pointing out the painting she had finished for her father, artist Emigdio Vasquez, who died in 2014.
Rosemary Vasquez Tuthill completed her father’s oil on canvas rendition of an orange packing house back in the heyday of the local citrus industry. The workers depicted in detail in the painting were her aunts.
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Rosemary Vasquez Tuthill stands next to a painting she finished for her late father, Chicano American artist Emigdio Vasquez, at the Hilbert Museum of California Art in Orange in March 2026. The painting depicts orange packing house workers who were her relatives.
(Courtesy of Penny E. Schwartz)
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Rosemary Vasquez Tuthill stands next to a painting she finished for her late father, Chicano American artist Emigdio Vasquez, at the Hilbert Museum of California Art in Orange in March 2026. The painting depicts orange packing house workers who were her relatives.
(Courtesy of Penny E. Schwartz)
Emigdio Vasquez was a renowned California painter known as the “godfather of Chicano art,” Tuthill said. His works exposed the gritty life of the historic barrio neighborhood of the City of Orange.
An artist herself, she said she was reluctant to finish the sketched-out work that she found in her father’s studio.
“I was afraid that I could not do his work justice,” she said.
Family members convinced her to proceed, and the finished piece now resides in a gallery at the Hilbert.
Museumgoers listened to her story and chimed in about the local sights and scenes they remembered and places they had lived, all pictured in paintings by the elder Vasquez. Many of the paintings have never been publicly displayed before as they were in personal and family collections.
The works show buildings and street scenes located close to the Hilbert, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
Two years ago, the museum, associated with Chapman University, settled into its location opposite the Orange Train Depot a few blocks from the downtown Orange Circle. Two separate buildings house a plethora of California art, much of it collected by museum founders Mark and Janet Hilbert.
Connecting the two wings is a raised concrete wall decorated with an iconic Millard Sheets mosaic that was transferred to the museum from a Home Savings and Loan building in Santa Monica. It is titled “Pleasures Along the Beach.”
Back in the south wing, the vibrancy and immediacy of the Vasquez paintings cannot be overstated. They immerse the viewer in the bygone world of the California citrus industry with its packing houses, colorful street scenes and distinctive personalities. Text boxes tell the story of each painting in incredible detail.
The Vasquez gallery flows into an equally engaging exhibit of quite another sort titled “Cabinets of Wonder: The Art of Ralph Allen Massey.”
Many works appear to be collages, but on close inspection turn out to be flat oil on canvas depictions of pop and cultural artifacts. A variety of shapes and configurations make the works stand out from the usual square or rectangular design and framing.
“He had a lonely childhood, and many of his paintings reflect childhood memories,” said a docent stationed in the gallery.
Massey, who is 88 and still paints in Los Angeles, has a whimsical style and often riffs on the work of famous artists. Frank Stella is one of the artists he admires, with humorous interpretations among the paintings on display. Cultural references and icons appear in abundance, including comic book heroes, vintage toys and other memorabilia that spark the mind and imagination.
As you leave each of the galleries, another equally attractive one appears. Vibrant and colorful paintings of Route 66 on its 100th anniversary were conjured by Joan Gladstone. They capture nostalgic images of motels, road signs and diners encountered along “The Mother Road” during its heyday.
The museum was seeded by the vast art collections of the Hilberts, who helped fund the museum. Mark Hilbert is an enthusiastic collector of Disney art, and portions of his collection rotate in the Disney gallery. Right now, the works of Danish-born animator Jorgen Klubien are on display. Storyboard drawings from “The Lion King,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Mulan” bring those beloved characters to life.
Displays at the Hilbert do not focus solely on paintings and drawings. One permanent gallery features some of the Hilberts’ collection of 400 old-time radios. Front and center is a large blue modernistic disc known as a Keystone Sparton Nocturne radio from 1935. According to docent Bill Richardson, this type of radio graced hotel lobbies back in the day.
Besides the large disc, the exhibit features small white table radios. One sports a dial that shows both A.M. and shortwave channels. Richardson said that only 25 of these are still in existence out of several hundred that were made.
In a small side gallery, Native American pots, a storyteller doll and other Pueblo ceramics make up an exhibit titled “Spirits of Earth and Fire.”
“Stone and Scene” offers a craggy collection of “viewing stones” called such in Japan because they mimic features of the landscape such as mountains, waterfalls and caves. Many are paired with paintings showing scenes similar to the natural formations.
Other galleries showcase art from the museum’s permanent collection, while a final gallery presents the first museum exhibit curated by Chapman University students. The fall 2025 freshmen class taught by Hilbert Museum Director Mary Platt assembled a colorful and diverse collection of vintage rock concert posters titled “Rock On, California!”
The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University is open to the public free of charge from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. It is at 167 N. Atchison St. in Old Towne Orange across from the train station. Free parking is available. For more information, visit HilbertMuseum.org.