A MICROFICHE EDITION later included a historical essay and bibliographical improvements by Ellen Schwartz.

The twenty volumes of the publication, CALIFORNIA ART RESEARCH was created in the 1930s in order to disseminate information about art and artists  whose principal residence was San Francisco, CA. One hundred Californian artists are reviewed in this document.  Junius S. Craven, distinguished art critic active in the Bay area, directed the historical research from February 1936 until his death in June 1936. Gene Hailey, art reviewer for different journals of the bay area succeeded him. Researchers, interviewers, editors, typists, proof readers, photographers and librarians…More than 40 people combined their efforts to work on the California art research project during that time. The publication was sponsored by Dr. Walter Heil of the M.H. de Young Museum.

Originally, it was a joint project of the WPA-Statistical projects division and the WPA-Federal Art Project. Its goals were to “compile the history and development, public and private, of art collections in San Francisco, to make a study of economic development of major California artists; to compile a series of biographical sketches covering the major artists of California”, as Ellen Schwarz reports in the historical essay of the second publishing in 1987. The California art research project started on February 14, 1936 and lasted until May 31, 1938.

Read Gene Hailey’s introduction about the  California art research project : Hailey, Gene (1936). Introduction; Hailey, Gene. Note_on_Personnel

Read Ellen’s Schwartz historical essay about the  California art research project : Schwartz, Ellen (1987). Historical Essay