History

Christopher Queen Galleries was founded in 1976 by mother and daughter, Alfhild Wallen and Nancy Ferreira in the small village of Duncans Mills, California, population 20! Duncans Mills is located 77 miles north of the Golden Gate in Sonoma County, surrounded by the lush Redwoods, the vineyards and the Russian River. The gallery was named after Christopher Queen. Christopher deQuien was a Pony Express rider who then settled in Duncans Mills in the 1870’s and built the hotel and livery stable where the gallery was originally located.  DeQuien was of French descent and Americanized his name to Queen upon arriving in the United States. He was one of the important landholders in Sonoma County and moved to San Francisco around the turn of the century.

Christopher Queen Galleries grew from a small gallery specializing in antique and contemporary prints to a nationally know wildlife gallery hanging important Early California and Contemporary paintings. The gallery has hosted many one-man shows for nationally known contemporary artists, several shows drawing collectors from all over the United States and Canada. Robert Bateman, Carl Brenders, John Seerey-Lester, Morten Solberg, John Stobart, Maynard Reese and Thomas Kinkade, to name a few. The gallery enlarged thrice before settling in its current location in John Orr’s Stores in Duncans Mills. John Orr was the owner of one of the oldest buildings in town housing John Orr’s Saloon, again in the town’s heyday in the 1870’s.

In its current location, Christopher Queen Galleries features contemporary paintings by Jack Cassinetto,  F. Michael Wood,  Dave Sellers, Bart Walker,  Ronald Goldfinger, Jane Hofstetter, Paul Kratter, Sergio Lopez, Kyle Paliotto, Allen Figone, Steve Curry  and Don Ealy.

Arnold “Swede” Wallen gathered together a collection of Early California paintings and joined Christopher Queen in the mid 1980’s. In the upstairs salon you will find a large selection dating from the 1860’s to the 1940’s. Many of the artists featured in this collection are represented in the Oakland Museum, the DeYoung Museum and the Crocker Museum. Paintings by William Keith, Thomas Hill, Samuel Marsden Brookes, Giuseppe Leone Cadenasso, Ransom Gillet Holdredge, Frederick Ferdinand Schafer, C.D. Robinson, Julian Rix, Alexis Podchernikoff and many others grace the walls. Each summer, the gallery features artists of the Bohemian Club; a club started by artists and journalists in the 1870’s  which celebrated its second encampment in Duncans Mills. Many of these famous artists came to the Russian River to paint this glorious landscape.

In 1996, Tiare Giardina joined the gallery and is currently second in command to Nancy Ferreira. Tiare, an art major and graduate of the University of Hawaii is a welcome addition with her expertise and generous spirit. 

Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, Christopher Queen Galleries is still located in downtown Duncans Mills, Population now 85!