Edward Penfield Paintings
American, 1866-1925
One of the best of our native talents, Penfield is well-known for the decade 1891-1901, during which he was the art director of Harper's. For five of the ten years he produced posters for each month's issue of the then-popular magazine. His drawings are deceptively simple, with flat color and clear lines, but they always manage to convey class and refinement. And there's quite often a gentle touch of humor or irony, refreshing and frivolous. Penfield's posters are models of effective composition and economy of expression (Jack Rennert, PAI-XXVII, 555)
When his tenure at Harper's came to an end, Penfield was free to travel, and his experiences are preserved in two books published by Scribner's, Holland Sketches (1907) and Spanish Sketches (1911), in which his graphic sense blossomed in a wealth of detail. The critic Royal Cortissoz commented: "When he made [these], he entered thoroughly into the spirit of his themes and did some of his best work... He was never the technical virtuoso alone. Humanity was always breaking into his world." - Frederic B. Taraba
"We are a bit tired of the very serious nowadays, and a little frivolity is refreshing, and yet frivolity to be successful must be most thoroughly studied." So wrote EDWARD PENFIELD near the outset of his highly influential career as an illustrator, art editor, and poster artist, a career guided by keen observation, a cosmopolitan sensibility, and simplicity that belied his meticulously crafted efforts.
In looking at the work of Penfield today, we find less of what strikes us as frivolous and more of a keen sense of design and composition. The Art Center Bulletin of April 1925 remembered his contribution to illustrative art this way: "To everything he produced Penfield brought his great gifts of design and draftsmanship, a wonderful sincerity that never faltered, and a beautiful humbleness of spirit." As early as 1894, just a year and a half after Penfield began a series of monthly images for Harper's , his work was heralded by Publisher's Weekly: "The advertising poster has within recent years actually soared into the regions of art." Penfield is also credited with bringing abstraction to commercial art through his boldly simplified shapes. This and other stylistic trademarks resulted from a distillation of a number of influences, including the compositional precepts and casual poses found in Japanese prints, the hand-craftsmanship of the Arts and Crafts movement, the impressionistic approach of Parisian poster-making, and British poise and directness.(Biography provided by The Vintage Poster)
to
2
2
1
1
2
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
15
870
658
648
610
2
2
2
1
1
Artist: Edward Penfield
Washington at Mount Vernon
By Edward Penfield
Located in Fort Washington, PA
1923 Image of George Washington at his home in Mount Vernon.
Edward Penfield produced some of America’s finest posters. His clean style and large silhouetted shapes resulted from much careful preliminary refinement and elimination of detail. Horses and coaches were a favorite subject with him, as typified with his picture of the colonial Post Road. A notable series of his illustrations were contained in his book, Holland Sketches...
Category
1920s Other Art Style Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
President Cleveland, Saturday Evening Post Cover
By Edward Penfield
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Watercolor on Paper Laid to Board
Signature: Signed Lower Left
Saturday Evening Post Cover, June 20, 1908
Edward Penfield produced some of America’s finest posters. His clean style and large silhouetted shapes resulted from much careful preliminary refinement and elimination of detail. Horses and coaches were a favorite subject with him, as typified with his picture of the colonial Post Road. A notable series of his illustrations were contained in his book, Holland Sketches...
Category
Early 1900s Other Art Style Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Board, Paper, Watercolor
Related Items
1880s Original Hudson River School Landscape -- Sunset Through The Forest
By Charles Russell Loomis
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful Hudson River School Original gouache autumnal landscape of vivid sunset through forest by Charles Russell Loomis (American 1857 - 1936), circa 1880. Warm and cool tones wit...
Category
1880s Hudson River School Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Paper, Cardboard
Richard Caton Woodville II (1856 - 1927) 1794 War Balloon Aquarell England 1910
By Richard Caton Woodville Jr.
Located in Meinisberg, CH
Richard Caton Woodville II
(British, 1856 - 1927)
The French Aerostatic Corps - The first War Balloon The launching of the L'Entreprenant used by the French Army under General Jourd...
Category
1910s English School Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Cardboard
Free Shipping
H 15.56 in W 22.25 in D 1.58 in
In Toadstools - Contemporary Figurative Ink, Watercolor Painting, New Expression
Located in Salzburg, AT
The artwork is in plain Ikea frame behind plexi
Unframed size: 36x48 cm, Framed 42.5x52.5 cm
Grażyna Rigall is a painter, illustrator, author of stage designs and music videos. - Th...
Category
2010s Contemporary Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
Indian Contemporary Art by Sumit Mehndiratta - Gradisimo
By Sumit Mehndiratta
Located in Paris, IDF
Acrylic ink and acrylic paint on archival watercolor paper
Sumit Mehndiratta is an Indian artist born in 1986 who lives & works in New Delhi, India. He has pursued Master of Science...
Category
2010s Abstract Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic, Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper
H 22.05 in W 29.93 in D 1.19 in
Les Baux de Provence.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Late 20th century gouache landscape of "Les Baux de Provence" on paper by French artist Désiré Villain, signed bottom left and to the reverse and dated 199...
Category
Late 20th Century Impressionist Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Paper, Gouache, Board
Mummy - Contemporary Abstract Ink, Ecolina Painting, New Expression
Located in Salzburg, AT
Grażyna Rigall is a painter, illustrator, author of stage designs and music videos. - The artist is interested in the merging of the world of fauna and flora with the world of man, p...
Category
2010s Contemporary Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
'Towards Le Scathe Cove'. Contemporary Landscape, Rural, Sea, Ocean, Beach Blue
By Sophia Milligan
Located in Penzance, GB
'Towards Le Scathe Cove'. Contemporary mixed media landscape painting, Cornwall
Original Artwork, Unframed
_________________
January morning, heavy swell and a strong southwester, rain imminent, sheltering beneath lichen furred granite outcrops.
A plein air painting from the series 'Holan ha Dor' (Meaning 'Salt and Earth in Cornish). West Cornwall is a harshly beautiful peninsula, jutting out into the wild tireless ocean, shaped and moulded by powerful salt laden Atlantic winds, and criss-crossed by ancient, tangled hedgerows. Drawn to the immediacy of moments, underpinned by enduring narratives, Sophia's fluid expressive paintings explores the flux and balance in the nature of all things: The freedom of the air and solidity of the soil; Of anchored stone and rhythmic water; Of human narratives written in the wild landscapes; In the sensual interplay of light and shadow. They capture an essence of the equilibrium between wild raw energy and serene stillness; chaos and harmony; and the enduring and the effervescent.
Mixed media on watercolour paper
Signed and inscribed
Unframed
23 x 30cm / 9 x 12 inches
__________________________
About The Artist
Sophia Milligan is a contemporary multidisciplinary artist, exploring discourses on permanence & evanescence; the eternal, cyclical absolutes of birth & death; motherhood & childhood; and ancient immutable connections. With resonating ripples of intuition and instinct Sophia illuminates the presence of the ordinary, creating moments of sublime present.
'Born among the wild cliffs and tempestuous seas of west Cornwall, I grew with the intimate details in the twisting lanes and the intense changing light throughout the turbulent seasons. I formed a primordial connection with a deep instinctual sense of being part of the natural narrative, and wherever in the world I may be, this connectivity underpins my practice. Like the wind sculpted hawthorns and sensual coves of weather worn granite, I have been shaped by the powerful energy entwined in this ancient raw environment.’
‘We are the stories of the journeys that came before. I weave into my work the tales of transitory circumstance; of struggle and survival; of forms and textures holding records of evolutionary millennia. I paint, I draw: with marks, mixtures, photography, words; the raw earth; the restless oceans; the whispered breeze. I work with time, and the immeasurable spaces of experience within, giving subtleties of existence a pause for contemplation. There is beauty in such poignant breaths. All moments are significant, every pebble of now forms the vast mountain of yesterday, and the great realm of tomorrow's possibilities'.
Sophia has a 1st class honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Visual Arts and World History, and a Masters Degree in Contemporary Visual Arts. Her work is held in prestigious international private collections, and exhibitions of her interactive, immersive installation, photography and mixed media works include 'Tabula Rasa', London; 'Superlative', Plymouth; 'Transition', Newlyn; The Eden Project, Cornwall; The European Parliament, Brussels; Kew Gardens, London; and 'The Cameraless Film Festival', Chicago...
Category
2010s Contemporary Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Color Pencil, Acrylic, Wax, Crayon, Ink, Archival Paper
Sophia Milligan'Towards Le Scathe Cove'. Contemporary Landscape, Rural, Sea, Ocean, Beach Blue, 2022
Free Shipping
H 9 in W 12 in
Advertising Graphic project for FIAT by Marco Silombria. Circa 1980
Located in Firenze, IT
Car rally. Fiat factory team.
Marco Silombria (Savona, 1035- Turin, 2014)
Mixed media: drawing, watercolor, pencils on paper, applied to hard support
Around 1980.
Marco Silombria...
Category
1970s Pop Art Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Plastic, Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Illustration Board, Pencil
Free Shipping
H 26.38 in W 30.32 in
'Fall Fog Approaching'. Contemporary Landscape Clouds Moody sky Blue Green Brown
By Sophia Milligan
Located in Penzance, GB
'Fall Fog, Approaching'. Contemporary landscape painting, Cornwall
Original Artwork, Unframed
_________________
Heavy skies moving in over the autumnal landscape of West Cornwall: a ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper
Free Shipping
H 12 in W 12 in
"The People People 4, " Acrylic Paint and Watercolor on Paper, 2006
Located in Chicago, IL
In this series entitled "The People People," Tracy Crump uses washes of grey, white and aqua to both conceal and reveal sensitively drawn figures. Each figure stands alone as an indi...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Watercolor
H 18 in W 24 in D 1 in
William Daniell (British, 1769-1837) Fortification 19th Century Ink Wash Drawing
By William Daniell
Located in Meinisberg, CH
William Daniell
(British, 1769-1837)
Bridged Fortification in a Mountainous River
• Blue wash on paper, laid on card, ca. 18 x 32 cm
• Presented behi...
Category
Early 19th Century English School Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Paper, Cardboard, Ink
Free Shipping
H 15.36 in W 18.51 in D 0.79 in
It Is Lazy - Contemporary Ink, Ecolina Painting, New Expression
Located in Salzburg, AT
Grażyna Rigall is a painter, illustrator, author of stage designs and music videos. - The artist is interested in the merging of the world of fauna and flora with the world of man, p...
Category
2010s Contemporary Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Paper, Ink
Previously Available Items
Policeman on Horseback
By Edward Penfield
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Magazine Cover of a policeman on horseback.
Edward Penfield produced some of America’s finest posters. His clean style and large silhouetted shapes resulted from much careful preliminary refinement and elimination of detail. Horses and coaches were a favorite subject with him, as typified with his picture of the colonial Post Road. A notable series of his illustrations were contained in his book, Holland Sketches...
Category
1910s Other Art Style Edward Penfield Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Edward Penfield paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Edward Penfield paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Edward Penfield in paint, board, paper and more. Not every interior allows for large Edward Penfield paintings, so small editions measuring 11 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Werner Drewes, Charles Hargens, and Randall Berndt. Edward Penfield paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7,500 and tops out at $59,000, while the average work can sell for $7,500.