SONOMA, CA.- Sonoma Valley Museum of Art will present The Real-Life Art History of M. Louise Stanley, September 19, 2026 through January 24, 2027. Stanley’s large-scale acrylic paintings, gouache and watercolor works on paper, and sculptural objects are presented alongside selections of the artist’s sketchbooks, studies, photos, and notes from her personal archives, revealing her artistic process and her relentless creative pursuits.

M. Louise Stanley stands a bit apart from other Bay Area Figurative artists such as Robert Arneson, James Albertson, and Peter Saul, who also embrace humor (both light and dark, high and low) and comic-style treatments to comment on the more serious side of life. Setting her apart from her male contemporaries, Stanley’s work is celebrated for its wildly imaginative narratives and distinctly female perspective, shaped by her keen observations of everyday life.

“We are especially pleased that this exhibition is the first museum retrospective of M. Louise Stanley,” says Linda Keaton, SVMA executive director. “Additionally, her art embodies the spirit of our year of Joy Through Art. With wit, irreverence, and a wonderfully sharp eye, she reminds us that art can make us laugh while still asking us to look more closely at ourselves and the world around us.”

In tandem with the exhibition, SVMA will present a variety of programs for adults and young people, including several student tours.

M. Louise Stanley was born in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1942 and grew up in South Pasadena, California. In 1965, she moved to the Bay Area and enrolled at California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts), where she received her BFA and MFA.





Known for her irreverent humor, imaginative storytelling, and distinctly female perspective, Stanley emerged in the 1970s alongside artists associated with Bay Area Figurative and Funk Art. She developed a singular style blending art history, mythology, everyday life, and social satire. Stanley has exhibited extensively throughout California and nationally, and her work is represented in numerous public and private collections. For more than five decades, she has been a distinctive and influential presence in Bay Area art.

Stanley has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (2015) and grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.