Desert and American West Artists

Down a tranquil country road in the desert’s equestrian and agricultural East Valley is a small, intimate fine arts gallery that reflects the American West — particularly the wild, breathtaking beauty of the Coachella Valley that is now disappearing due to urban growth.

Just east of Monroe Street on Avenue 54 in Vista Santa Rosa, The Gallery at Rancho Ellenita is a tidy 1950s-era red brick building that was once the ranch manager’s home at the original R.V. Lloyd Ranch, now named Rancho Ellenita. The gallery’s fine arts collection is being cultivated as lovingly as the luscious Ellenita Brand tomatoes that were grown on the ranch.Ellen Lloyd Trover and daughter Florence Trover, second and third generations at Rancho Ellenita, have followed their passionate vision to assemble this collection of work by artists — some of whom Ellen knew as a child growing up in the East Valley — that includes Native American artists, as well as equestrian and equine- themed artwork.

From within its wood-paneled great room, big square picture windows and transom panes yield the ever-shifting desert light, perfect for viewing the rare collection of classic 20th century desert and California landscape paintings, many by Coachella Valley artists who lived here in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s.

Among these distinct finds is Coachella Valley landscape artist John Hilton, whose remarkable oil landscapes caught the sunlight reflected on clouds moving across the desert — one early morning scene in particular. His work was first exhibited at Desert Magazine’s art gallery in the 1940s. Desert Magazine was owned by Randall Henderson, a Palm Desert pioneer, writer and entrepreneur.

In a study of contrasts, Paul Grimm and Clyde Forsythe offer differing views of the desert’s lacy smoke trees that grow in groves in the washes, while earlier oil artist Agnes Pelton’s dusty roads in the white heat of day are reminiscent of the stark Taos school of art of the 1930s.

Marjorie Jane Reed’s blue, almost impressionistic oil on canvas, Butterfield Overland Stage Leaving Warner Station, is one of her many paintings depicting the Butterfield Overland line, her major theme.

While Ellen feels lucky to have acquired some of the rare 20th century desert works, she and her daughter actively search for Native American art traveling to the Hopi and Navajo Indian reservations. The Gallery also features pottery, jewelry, weavings, kachinas, and sculpture.

The Trovers are seeking fine Cahuilla Indian artwork, particularly basketry and carvings, for the gallery.
The Gallery at Rancho Ellenita is also the exclusive United States representative of prominent Australian painter Margaret Waterhouse, showing her equine and American wildlife paintings.

Waterhouse is the daughter of legendary bookmaker JK (Gentleman Jack) Waterhouse. Her paintings have a mystical quality enhanced by candlelight. She feels that “horses line up waiting to be in my paintings,” which is understandable since her family has been involved with all aspects of horse racing. Waterhouse traveled extensively in the West, ambling down dirt roads and trails seeking her subjects and settings that show
sensitivity to the Cowboy and Native American cultures.

An artist in her own right, Ellen captures in photographs the mystical beauty of a silver moon balancing on the cusp of a purple ridge; gray clouds spilling rain down brown mountains, the hazy light creating a watercolor effect; a stately grove of wild palms hidden along the crevice of the Indian Canyons. Ellen even captured the abstract form and color of gray-green prickly pear blooming in her own garden. Her signature desert photographs and photo note cards are available at the gallery.

A graduate of Vassar College and the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary, Ellen retired from 30 of years active law practice in Ventura County to run Rancho Ellenita and The Gallery. She is an associate director in the Riverside County Farm Bureau. Rancho Ellenita is in  transition from row crops to Mediterranean tree crops, Medjool dates, Black Mission and Brown Turkey figs and Palestinian sweet limes.
Florence, a graphic artist and Web page designer, is also a graduate of Vassar College, and has completed graduate studies in mixed media at Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is a general partner in Rancho Ellenita and The Gallery.

The Gallery is open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. until sunset and by appointment.

The Gallery At Rancho Ellenita
82-150 Avenue 54
Vista Santa Rosa, California
(1/2 mile south of Empire & El Dorado polo clubs)
(760) 398-8326

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