Skip to main content

Jenne Magafan Art

American, 1916-1952

Jenne and Ethel Magafan were identical twins, born in Chicago to a Greek immigrant father and a Polish mother. Due to health concerns about their father, the family moved to Colorado, living first in Colorado Springs and then in Denver. He was a proud supporter of their artistic ambitions but died suddenly in 1932, a heavy blow to both of them. They attended East High School in Denver, where they found a mentor in their art teacher Helen Perry. She had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago but had later abandoned a career as an artist, making her all the more determined to help the Magafan twins succeed artistically. While still in high school, the twins impressed artist Frank Mechau and Helen Perry paid for their lessons with him. He subsequently invited them to apprentice with him at his Redstone studio. In 1936, Jenne won the Carter Memorial Art Scholarship and shared it with her sister so that they both could attend the Broadmoor Art Academy in Colorado Springs. Once they ran out of money, Mechau, now teaching there, hired them as assistants. Through their involvement at the Academy, the twins entered into careers as muralists, working at first with Mechau and then with Peppino Mangravite. In 1939, Jenne was awarded her first commission for a mural at the Albion, Nebraska Post Office. Eventually, she won a total of seven commissions. For the work, she traveled across the country in a station wagon. Her daughter has said of her mother's experience that, “They saved up gas coupons as fuel was rationed and drove cross country on retreads or refurbished old tires”. Their federally sponsored murals could stir up exciting responses from local citizens. Jenne's favorite mural was Cowboy Dance at the Anson, Texas post office, but the local newspaper took offense to a whiskey jug painted in the lower corner, citing that, “Throughout the history of Anson there has never been an open saloon”. Meeting the artists Doris Lee and Arnold Blanch in Los Angeles, the twins learned of the art colony in Woodstock, New York and in 1945 they went to visit. That same year, their work was exhibited at the Los Angeles Museum of Art and the National Academy of Design. Marrying her longtime love, Edward Chavez, Jenne moved to Woodstock along with her sister where, for the first time, the sisters didn't live together. Ethel didn't look favorably upon her brother-in-law's dominating personality and this forced their styles to develop more independently. When Chavez won a Fulbright scholarship, the couple traveled to Italy. During this time, Jenne went to visit her sister in Greece, where Ethel was fulfilling her Fulbright. In 1952, the Magafans and their husbands returned to the States and less than a week after their return Jenne died in Albany Hospital of a cerebral hemorrhage.

to
4
4
1
3
1
1
2
1
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
4
1
4
1
2
1
4
6,934
3,279
2,514
1,213
4
2
2
2
2
Artist: Jenne Magafan
Back Fence with Bird. - Mid-Century - WPA Artist
By Jenne Magafan
Located in Miami, FL
The Mid-Century mindset As expected, 65 years ago.. people looked at art/painting a little differently. Back then, many artists were concerned with depicting simple and beautiful t...
Category

1950s Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Windmill on the Plains, 1940s Watercolor and Ink Mixed Media Modernist Painting
By Jenne Magafan
Located in Denver, CO
'Windmill on the Plains' is watercolor and ink on paper painting by Jenne Magafan. Depicting a large windmill on a 1940s Colorado farm scene with sheds and a fencing in the backgroun...
Category

1940s American Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Deserted Street, Figurative Exterior Painting with Yellow, Orange and Red
By Jenne Magafan
Located in Denver, CO
Oil on canvas painting from 1946 by Colorado/Woodstock modernist Jenne Magafan (1916-1952) titled 'Deserted Street'. Single figure portrayed in a ghost town with buildings and teleph...
Category

1940s American Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Church in Leadville, Colorado, 1930s Framed Landscape Watercolor Ink Painting
By Jenne Magafan
Located in Denver, CO
Rare WPA era original painting by Colorado/Woodstock modernist, Jenne Magafan (1916-1952). Church in Leadville, 1938 is presented in a custom frame with all archival materials, oute...
Category

1930s American Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Watercolor, Archival Ink

Related Items
Mid Century Autumn Trees Landscape
By Helen Enoch Gleiforst
Located in Soquel, CA
Vivid mid century landscape of autumn trees blurring into colorful abstraction by Helen Gleiforst (American, 1903-1997). Presented in a giltwood frame. Image size: 10" H X 8" W. G...
Category

1950s American Impressionist Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

"Don't Cry Long" Abstracted and Distorted Self-Portrait, One Crying Eye
Located in Detroit, MI
"Don't Cry Long" is a self-portrait of the artist and an unusual one at that in which the artist portrays herself shedding tears. Perhaps it is an expression of some grief experienced by Ms. Woodlock, but it also admonishes her to not "Cry Long" while at the same time poking fun because of her elongated face and the one lone "long" tear tracing a pattern down her face. In addition to self-portraits, Ethelyn painted commissioned portraits. In this painting her head is cocked and her famous bangs hang down her forehead. Compare two self-portraits, “Up From Under”, and “M’Eyes" to "Don't Cry Long." The major differences are the close facial view and the brilliant blood red paint that fills the entire canvas. This painting is included in the book, "Dreams Have Wings: An Artist's Journey into Magic and Mystery" printed in the United States, 1985. She describes "Don't Cry Long" as showing how funny looking we are, if we cry too long. Ethelyn Woodlock...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Oil, Masonite

Sail Boat Races Sausalito, Mid Century Modern Abstract Geometric Seascape
By Ray Mathewson
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid-Century Modern abstract geometric composition of pastel colored sailboats on a black background, with beautiful abstracted colorful reflections, gathering in Bay Area Sausalito Harbor by Ray Mathewson (American, d. 1968). Signed "Mathewson" in the lower right corner. Titled "The Meet" on verso. Unframed. Image: 24"H x 30"W. Ray Mathewson (American, d. 1968) was an artist and draftsman. He was married to Ruth Parker (American, b. 1930), also an accomplished artist. He died unexpectedly of a stroke in 1968. Exhibited, Toumala Arts, Fort Bragg...
Category

1960s Abstract Geometric Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Landscape with Orange Sky
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
James Earl Ray (1928-1998). Landscape with Orange Sky. ca. 1975. Oil on masonite panel measures 6.5 x 8.5 inches, 10.5 x 12.5 inches framed. Signed lowe...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Untitled Cubist Figure
By STM
Located in London, GB
'Untitled Cubist Figure', oil on board, by STM (circa 1970s). A vibrant modern painting inspired by Picasso and Braque, the artist uses angles, lines and...
Category

1970s Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Oil, Board

'Portrait of Future Man', German School
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of Future Man', oil on board, Berlin School, (circa 1960s). A thoroughly modern portrait clearly in the style of Italian Futurist, Fortunato Depero (1892-1960). Futurism co...
Category

1960s Futurist Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Oil, Board

'Abstract Landscape', California WPA, Corcoran, Whitney, AIC, GGIE, SFAA, LACMA
By Ellwood Graham
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed upper right, 'Graham' for Ellwood Graham (American, 1911-2007) and painted circa 1985; additionally signed, verso, and titled, 'View Study'. This early California Modernist ...
Category

1980s Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Landscape
By Andre Elbaz
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Andre Elbaz (b.1934). Landscape, ca. 1980 . Oil on card panel, image measures 14 x 20 inches; 18.5 x 24.5 inches framed. Signed lower right. Excellent condition. André Elbaz (born April 26, 1934, El Jadida, Morocco) is a famous Moroccan painter and filmmaker. Elbaz studied art and theatre in Rabat and Paris from 1950 to 1961. He started painting only at the age of 21, until which age he had been interested mainly in theatre. A few years later, he managed to combine his two passions into a new approach in art-therapy, inventing together with his wife, a psychiatrist, the Pictodrame, which brought him world recognition. His first exhibition, which was very successful, took place in Casablanca in 1961 and earned him an appointment as Professor at the Beaux-Arts school in Casablanca. Years later, in 1976, he exhibited his paintings at the Tel-Aviv Museum. In parallel to his career as a painter, Elbaz is also known as a filmmaker. He produced several short films in France, Canada and the United States. One of them, La nuit n'est jamais complète (The night is never complete), won a prize at the "5th Biennale de Paris in 1967" .[citation needed] Among the themes chosen for the many films he produced, there was a short one about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, as well as a series of drawings entitled Seuls (Alone), with texts written by both Elie Wiesel...
Category

1970s Abstract Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Landscape
Landscape
H 24.5 in W 18.5 in D 1 in
'Portrait of a Man Playing Guitar', Berlin School (circa 1960s)
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of a Man Playing Guitar', oil on board, Berlin School (circa 1960s). Clearly inspired by Georges Braque's (1882-1963) and Juan Gris' (1887-1927) works, this painting is sim...
Category

1960s Abstract Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Rare Chaim Gross Watercolor Painting Manhattan Skyscrapers Train NYC WPA Artist
By Chaim Gross
Located in Surfside, FL
This appears to be dated 1927. It came in with a piece dated 1929. A very early, rare work. Framed 22.5 x 18. Image 14.5 x 9 A great New York city street scene with an El train (elevated subway line) and architectural renderings of buildings. This is a wonderful piece by one of America's most treasured artists, Chaim Gross. Throughout his lifetime Gross has gone through tragedy and a real test of faith however, he has the unique ability to focus and direct his expression to the most joyful and beautiful works of art, such as the present lot. For more than sixty years Chaim Gross's art has expressed optimistic, affirming themes. His acrobats, cyclists, and mothers and children convey joyfulness, exuberance, love, and intimacy. This aspect of his work remained consistent with his Hasidic heritage, which teaches that "only in his childlike happiness is man nearest to God." He often used his creative abilities to explore and experiment with media. In his artwork he retains an optimistic philosophy, even when facing somber issues such as war, depression, and the Holocaust. Chaim Gross (March 17, 1904 – May 5, 1991) was an American sculptor and educator. Gross was born to a Jewish family in Austrian Galicia, in the village of Wolowa (now known as Mezhgorye, Ukraine), in the Carpathian Mountains. In 1911, his family moved to Kolomyia (which was annexed into the Ukrainian USSR in 1939 and became part of newly independent Ukraine in 1991). When World War I ended, Gross and brother Avrom-Leib went to Budapest to join their older siblings Sarah and Pinkas. Gross applied to and was accepted by the art academy in Budapest and studied under the painter Béla Uitz, though within a year a new regime under Miklos Horthy took over and attempted to expel all Jews and foreigners from the country. After being deported from Hungary, Gross began art studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna, Austria shortly before immigrating to the United States in 1921. Gross's studies continued in the United States at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, where he studied with Elie Nadelman and others, and at the Art Students League of New York, with Robert Laurent. He also attended the Educational Alliance Art School, studying under Abbo Ostrowsky, at the same time as Moses Soyer and Peter Blume. In 1926 Gross began teaching at The Educational Alliance, and continued teaching there for the next 50 years. Louise Nevelson was among his students at the Alliance (in 1934), during the time she was transitioning from painting to sculpture. In the late 1920s and early 1930s he exhibited at the Salons of America exhibitions at the Anderson Galleries and, beginning in 1928, at the Whitney Studio Club. In 1929, Gross experimented with printmaking, and created an important group of 15 linocuts and lithographs of landscapes, New York City streets and parks, women in interiors, the circus, and vaudeville. The entire suite is now in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Gross returned to the medium of printmaking in the 1960s, and produced approximately 200 works in the medium over the next two decades. In March 1932 Gross had his first solo exhibition at Gallery 144 in New York City. For a short time they represented Gross, as well as his friends Milton Avery, Moses Soyer, Ahron Ben-Shmuel and others. Gross was primarily a practitioner of the direct carving method, with the majority of his work being carved from wood. Other direct carvers in early 20th-century American art include William Zorach, Jose de Creeft, and Robert Laurent. Works by Chaim Gross can be found in major museums and private collections throughout the United States, with substantial holdings (27 sculptures) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. A key work from this era, now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, is the 1932 birds-eye maple Acrobatic Performers, which is also only one and one quarter inch thick. In 1933 Gross joined the government's PWAP (Public Works of Art Project), which transitioned into the WPA (Works Progress Administration), which Gross worked for later in the 1930s. Under these programs Gross taught and demonstrated art, made sculptures that were placed in schools and public colleges, made work for Federal buildings including the Federal Trade Commission Building, and for the France Overseas and Finnish Buildings at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Gross was also recognized during these years with a silver medal at the Exposition universelle de 1937 in Paris, and in 1942, with a purchase prize at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "Artists for Victory" exhibition for his wood sculpture of famed circus performer Lillian Leitzel. In 1949 Gross sketched Chaim Weizmann, President of Israel, at several functions in New York City where Weizmann was speaking, Gross completed the bust in bronze later that year. Gross returned to Israel for three months in 1951 (the second of many trips there in the postwar years) to paint a series of 40 watercolors of life in various cities. This series was exhibited at the Jewish Museum (Manhattan) in 1953. In the 1950s Gross began to make more bronze sculptures alongside his wood and stone pieces, and in 1957 and 1959 he traveled to Rome to work with famed bronze foundries including the Nicci foundry. At the end of the decade Gross was working primarily in bronze which allowed him to create open forms, large-scale works and of course, multiple casts. Gross's large-scale bronze The Family, donated to New York City in 1991 in honor of Mayor Ed Koch, and installed at the Bleecker Street Park at 11th street, is now a fixture of Greenwich Village. In 1959, a survey of Gross's sculpture in wood, stone, and bronze was featured in the exhibit Four American Expressionists curated by Lloyd Goodrich at the Whitney Museum of American Art, with work by Abraham Rattner, Doris Caesar, and Karl Knaths. In 1976, a selection from Gross's important collection of historic African sculpture, formed since the late 1930s, was exhibited at the Worcester Art Museum in the show The Sculptor's Eye: The African Art Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Chaim Gross. Gross was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1981. In 1984, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, with Jacob Lawrence and Lukas Foss. In the fall of 1991, Allen Ginsberg gave an important tribute to Gross at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which is published in their Proceedings. In 1994, Forum Gallery, which now represents the Chaim Gross estate, held a memorial exhibition featuring a sixty-year survey of Gross's work. Gross was a professor of printmaking and sculpture at both the Educational Alliance and the New School for Social Research in New York City, as well as at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, the MoMA art school, the Art Student's League and the New Art School (which Gross ran briefly with Alexander Dobkin...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

The Fly Fisherman, Figurative Landscape Watercolor
By Harvey Eckert
Located in Soquel, CA
Delicate depiction of a fly fisherman in the rain by Harvey Eckert (American, 1946-2018). This highly detailed landscape watercolor depicts a man fishing in the rain, wading into the water as he smokes a pipe under a tree. Signed and dated in the lower right corner. Presented in a wood frame with a double mat and anti-glare glass. A check from the original purchase is attached to verso (blurred for privacy). Image size: 14"H x 18"W Harvey Eckert (American, 1946-2018) was an American artist from Kansas. He attended Colby Community College, Hays Emporia State and graduated from Wichita University with two degrees. While living in Montana, he was employed by Bob Wards, Fran Johnson’s Sporting Goods and Cashell Engineers as a surveyor and draftsman. Eckert illustrated three books, Caddisflies by the late Gary LaFontaine, Montana Trout Flies and The Master Fly Weaver by the late George Grant. He did illustrations for the following publications: Montana Outdoors, Colorado Streamside, The River Rat published by Trout Unlimited, Fly Fisherman, Rod and Reel...
Category

1980s American Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Coral Bouquet - Abstracted Underwater Scene in Acrylic on Masonite
Located in Soquel, CA
Coral Bouquet - Abstracted Underwater Scene in Acrylic on Masonite High contrast abstract composition by an unknown artist (20th Century). Vibrant scene composed of abstract shapes ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Masonite, Acrylic

Previously Available Items
Untitled (Wash Day)
By Jenne Magafan
Located in Denver, CO
Woman hanging laundry. Watercolor and ink on paper. Housed in a custom frame; outer dimensions are 17 x 12.75 x 1.25 inches; image measures 11.5 x 7.5 inches. About the artist: Jenne Magafan and her family settled in Colorado Springs in 1919, where she and her twin sister, Ethel, began painting western landscapes. Jenne received the Carter Memorial Art Scholarship which she shared with her sister, and they attended the Broadmoor Academy (later named the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center). There, they worked under Peppino Mangravite, Frank Mechau...
Category

1940s American Modern Jenne Magafan Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Jenne Magafan art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Jenne Magafan art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Jenne Magafan in paint, ink, oil paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Jenne Magafan art, so small editions measuring 21 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Cecil Crosley Bell, Herbert Kornfeld, and Paul Sample. Jenne Magafan art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $4,750 and tops out at $16,250, while the average work can sell for $8,750.

Artists Similar to Jenne Magafan

Recently Viewed

View All