Stendahl, Earl (Earl Leopold), 1888-1966

Earl L. Stendahl was a pioneering American art dealer known for promoting California Impressionism, modern and pre-Columbian art. He opened his first gallery in Pasadena, California in 1913. By 1921, he moved his gallery to the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He maintained a gallery on Wilshire Boulevard until 1949, where he moved it to his house on Hillside Avenue. Stendahl's son, Alfred E. Stendahl and son-in-law, Joseph Dammann, joined the family business.

By the 1930s, the gallerist had established his reputation as the premier dealer in painters of the California Impressionist School. William Wendt, Guy Rose, Edgar Payne, Joseph Kleitsch and Nicolai Fechin were part of the early Stendahl stable of artists. Stendahl introduced Modern art to the West Coast with works by Matisse, Chagall, Klee, Feitelson, Siqueiros, Cantú, Kandinsky, Braque and Picasso. As early as 1935, Stendahl began promoting ancient artifacts from Mexico and Central America before branching out to become a significant dealer of the Pre-Columbian art of his day.