Benjamin G. Benno Figurative Paintings

"Spirit" a bold and thoughtful cubist oil on canvas was painted in December of 2001 by African American artist William (Bill) Cooper. William Y. Cooper was a writer, painter, muralist, illustrator, and art teacher. He moved to Western New York in 1954 from Birmingham, Alabama, to pursue work, and Buffalo has been his home ever since. In 1975, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University at Buffalo; he was also a state certified art teacher. Cooper woked primarily in oils and acrylics, but also creates drawings on paper. He has painted several commissioned murals and has had more than fifteen one-man shows in Western New York and Ghana, West Africa, and has participated in more than twenty-five group exhibitions since he began his professional career in 1969. His paintings and drawings address both his African heritage and his experience as an American through symbolism and metaphor. He observes, “I am an Afrocentric artist. My worldview is rooted in an African frame of reference and a deep, abiding sense of the creator from whence I draw my inspiration, strength, and a sense of who I am. The use of symbols allows me to explore literal ideas.” Among Cooper’s published works are two children’s books, 77 Jackson Street, Rear and Nakai and the Red Shoes, and a novel for adults, The Mopane Tree. Cooper founded the Afrocentric Artists’ Collective and ran the organization from 1979 to 1981. In 2013 he was designated a “Living Legacy” artist by the Burchfield Penney Arts Center, the latest in a series of honors which has also included awards from the Arts Council of Buffalo & Erie County, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Alpha Kappa Alpha...

Predominantly recognized as a self-taught painter, he also worked in architectural murals, sculptures, ceramics, prints and drawings. Vigas is one...

ALFRED MCNAMARA "INTERIOR " OIL ON PANEL, SIGNED TITLED AMERICAN, DATED 1978 30 X 36 INCHES Alfred McNamara (1911 - 1994) Alfred McNamara was born in Tompkinsville, Staten Island and lived most of his life in Staten Island. He was heavily influenced by John Sloane...

From the estate of Jerry Opper & Ruth Friedmann Opper Yellow Cubist FIgure c. 1940-1950's Gouache 15" x 18", silver wood frame 16"x19" Unsigned This striking gouache painting featur...

Magic Carpet Ride, Contemporary Cubist Figurative Landscape A striking contemporary cubist oil on canvas figurative landscape painting by San Francisco artist Michael William Eggle...

Vintage American modernist abstract piano painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1940. Signed. Framed. Image size, 24"L x 20"H.

Dai Xiangwen was born in Hunan in 1991 and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Jianghan University, He is a member of China Artists Association, China Designers Association, a painter of Li Keran...

Oil on canvas by Fortunato Pirazzini (1907-2003), School of Paris, ca.1950. "Sleeping woman, Nude". Measurements : with frame : 56x71 cm - 22x28 inches without frame : 46x61 cm - 18....

Abram Abraham Krol was born January 22, 1919, in Pabianice (Lodz), Poland. Abram Krol went to France in 1938 to study civil engineering at the Universit...

You don't have to be a Catholic, or a medievalist, or a Catholic medievalist (Tolkien?) to appreciate this striking image of St. George taking on the dragon. In style it falls somewhere between Cubism and Guernica, to my eye. The limited color palette, with the bold red, gives it the energy of early 20th-century Russian poster...

Georges Dayez (French, 1907-1991). “Vendimia” Vintage / Grape Harvest / Wine Harvest , Oil on paper, 20”x 26 1/3, framed 27 1/4 x 33 1/4. Dayez was a...

Wonderful French mid-20th-century portrait of a young girl holding her hand up. The artist was a highly talented painter in the Cubist style. He painted interiors, portraits, and la...