I am trying to find information about a fine artist, an oil painter.
He/she I believe lived in Santa Barbara, CA, but I am not sure. My
father, who is in Santa Barbara, and has been his entire life, has 3
of his paintings, which I will photograph and add as additional
clarification.

I would like to find out as much as I can about this artist, including
the potential value of any of his original paintings.

The signature on the 3 paintings is (could be):
A.M. Podehornikoff 
or
the 'n' might be an 'm'
and the 'k' might be an 'h' (but probably not, only looks like the
first 'h' in one signature)
or the last 'o' could be an 'a' (but probably not, only looks like an
'a' in the same painting in which the 'k' looks like an 'h'.)

He painted landscapes and architecture. We have 1 painting that is a
field with trees, kind of dark. Another is an old adobe, and the third
is another landscape. I could find NO information online about this
guy, either by searching by his last name (and varients) or by Santa
Barbara artists, etc. I don't know if the artist is a male or female,
but I will ask my dad and add that information also. Good luck!

Dear sbdreamin,

The artist you are looking for is, without any doubt, Alexis Matthew
Podchernikoff, who was born in Vladimir, Russia, in 1886 and died in
Pasadena, California, on 31 October 1933.

Born into a family of artists, Podchernikoff first received art
tutition from Dmitri Zolotarieff, who was his grandfather, and later
from Ilya Repin and Verestchagin.
Already a recognized, award-winning landscape painter in Russia, he
left his home country and emigrated to the United States after the
Russian-Japanese war of 1905, to settle in San Francisco. From 1913
on, he lived in Santa Barbara.
Though resident in Southern California for the rest of his life, he
often returned to San Francisco to depict the local scenery in his
well-known landscape paintings.
In his last years, he lived in Pasadena where he died of tuberculosis in 1933.

He had exhibitions of his paintings with California Artists and in the
Golden Gate Park Museum. The Orange County Museum and the Oakland
Museum are among the owners of his works.

To read a brief biography of Alexis Matthew Podchernikoff at
AskArt.com, please follow this link:
http://www.askart.com/artist/P/alexis_matthew_podchernikoff.asp?ID=4855

My research revealed that his paintings are considered valuable. For
example, the Tirage Gallery estimates the value of his painting
"California Landscape" (ca. 1915) at $3800.00:
http://www.tirageart.com/lost/podcalif.shtml

John Moran, Antique & Fine Art Auctioneers, realized the following
prices for some of Podchernikoff's paintings at the California and
American Paintings Sale of 17 February 2004 [6]:
Untitled painting of a wooded atmospheric landscape - $1870.00
Untitled painting of figures and cattle watering in wooded landscape - $7150.00
"Mt. Tamalpais, California" - $8250.00
Untitled painting of a nocturnal coastal landscape - $1870.00

This should give you an impression of the value of Podchernikoff's
original paintings.

If you would like to see some more of his works, follow these links:

"Seascape with Poppies & Lupine" [1]
http://www.macfarlanecollection.com/inventory/images/podchernikoff.jpg

"Desert Reflections" [2]
http://www.echant.com/2004_11_14/images/1266_2308.jpg

"Sunset, Marin County" [3]
http://www.fada.com/catalogimages//1815.jpg

"View of Miller Avenue, Mount Tamalpais, 1907" [4]
http://www.vividvision.com/Podchernikoff/Podchernikoff2.jpg

"California Landscape", ca.1920 [5]
http://www.treadwaygallery.com/12-6-98-sale/catalog/paintings/p153.jpg


I hope this is what you desired to know!
Best regards,
Scriptor



Sources:

AskArt.com: Alexis Matthew Podchernikoff
http://www.askart.com/artist/P/alexis_matthew_podchernikoff.asp?ID=4855

Edan Milton Hughes: Biography of California Artist Alexis Matthew Podchernikoff
http://www.edanhughes.com/biography.cfm?ArtistID=519

[1] Macfarlane Collection
http://www.macfarlanecollection.com/inventory/podchernikoff.html

[2] Ron Rhoads Auctioneer
http://www.echant.com/2004_11_14/1266.htm

[3] Fine Art Dealers Association
http://www.fada.com/view_image.html?image_no=280

[4] John's Antique Mall
http://www.vividvision.com/Podchernikoff.html

[5] Treadway Gallery
http://www.treadwaygallery.com/12-6-98-sale/catalog/paintings/p103.html

[6] John Moran, Antique & Fine Art Auctioneer
http://www.johnmoran.com/fine_art/full/archive/2004_02.html

AskArt.com: Artists Listing - P
http://www.askart.com/artists/p.asp

Search terms used:
Podchernikoff 1886 vladimir 1933
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&q=Podchernikoff+1886+vladimir+1933&btnG=Suche&meta=
Podchernikoff
http://images.google.de/images?q=Podchernikoff&hl=de&lr=&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&start=0&sa=N&filter=0
"a m Podchernikoff"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&q=%22a+m+Podchernikoff%22&btnG=Suche&meta=

Well researched. Researcher was able to discerne the artist's correct
name from a misspelling on my part. This is definitely the artist! The
paintings are the same, and we received further information by a note
on the back of one of the paintings that gave it a better 'date'.
Thank you so much!

are you selling your paintings?  I would be interested....