Jarvaise relocated to Santa Barbara in 1969 and, from 1991 forward, served as Head of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Oxnard College.

His work exhibited alongside Jay deFeo, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Rauschenberg and Frank Stella), with the potential to launch his career to great heights.

[8][10] His most recent exhibition, "James Jarvaise: Collages Redux" at Louis Stern Fine Arts featured a selection of his latest work from 1989-2013.

[17] The AD&A Gallery, University of California, Santa Barbara acquired Hudson River School Series #59 from the Ruth Schaffner Collection in 1986.

His father, born in Turkey to French parents, was a scholar of Greek studies, spoke five languages and was a collector of antiques, largely informing young James’ interests in arts and culture.

The family, which included his sisters Julia and Catherine, spent time in New York City and Chicago, but Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania remained their main residence until 1940.

While studying in Paris, James befriended artist Matsumi “Mike” Kanemitsu who would influence Jarvaise’s early artworks.

The Jarvaise’s had five children, James Laurens, Julie Lorraine, Jeanne Marie, Anna Alexis, and Jean Rene.

Jarvaise assembled found objects, paint, industrial materials, and metals mostly in monochrome palettes of blacks, grays, whites, and beiges.

Jarvaise was an invited to attend Rico Le Brun’s Art Workshop at Yale University in 1953 where he audited Josef Albers’ classes.

Also in 1953, Lorraine was offered a teaching assignment by the U.S. Air Force in France  which allowed the couple the opportunity to travel and study throughout Europe.

In a MoMA Catalog from 1959, Jarvaise referred to this series, saying:“In the process of translating my reactions to my surroundings, I have acquired a new understanding of previous generations of American landscape painters.

It is to these Hudson River School painters that I have dedicated my own landscapes.”[19] Over the next five years, Jarvaise taught regularly at the University of Southern California, namely in their design, drawing, and painting departments.

This body of figurative work, titled Man in the Room, allowed experimentation with placing outlines of a human profile on colored grounds and abstract landscapes.

The painting titled Hudson River School Series, No 28, was acquired by Carneigie Tech (today’s Carnegie Mellon University) following Jarvaise participation in a juried exhibition in 1958.

De Feo, Wally Hendrick, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Alfred Leslie, Landes Lewitin, Richard Lytle, Robert Mallary, Louise Nevelson, Robert Rauschenberg, Julius Schmidt, Richard Stankiewicz, Frank Stella, Albert Urban, Jack Youngerman.

His early works were featured in a solo exhibition, titled  James Jarvaise and the Hudson River Series, that was organized and presented by Louis Stern Fine Arts.