Philomena Marano Paintings

Acrylic on masonite. This is a pivotal work in deep and radiant cobalt blue from 1950. It dipicts calligraphic and hieroglyph structures over a grid and pyramidal base by the first generation abstract expressionist. Provenance: Skinner: November 13, 1992 [Lot 00219}, The entry in the Skinner catalog indicates that the painting came directly from the artist to the family of the consignor to Skinner. Kaminsky Auctions. There is an unbroken paper trail that traces the ownership of the painting from the current owner, through two auction houses to the artist. Perfect unbroken provenance. Pousette-Dart was among the most inventive of the Abstract Expressionist generation, His uncanny talent was to expand the nature of abstraction and still make each mark each element very much his own; a reflection of what he called   "the concealed power of the spirit," he said, “not of the brute physical form."   His was not aiming for a singular, realized aesthetic formula but to expand the possibilities of painting; the transcendental in painting. Typical of such invention and exploration is this  painting  Untitled 1950 when the artist was only 34 years old and represented by one of the champions of the new American painting, Betty Parsons.  
A banner year for Pousette-Dart, the Museum of Modern Art acquired their first painting by the Minnesota born artist.  He worked on easel size works such as this painting an oil on masonite. At the same time Pousette-Dart was also working on larger scale works such as Path of the Hero, running over ten feet in length now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Both contain fields of color articulated by a highly sophisticated white hieroglyphic vocabulary. Rather than demonstrate an expressionist sensibility, Pousette-Dart harnesses his more cerebral ideas transforming thick areas of paint into a more refined composition of geometric forms akin to the pattern and forms of say a stained glass window. In a way he is looking back at Fugue, 1940 a black and white composition which makes use of a similar format of painting albeit smaller. Color and form are minimal, but what Pousette-Dart has maximized is the rhythmic and syncopated character of painting casting his ideas into purely symbolic terms that one might link to the pictograms of Adolph Gottlieb. Nonetheless, nature is always at the core of Pousette-Dart’s thinking and dreaming. Here he has transformed the local Ramapo Mountains—where he will eventually move with his family to live and work— into a complex series of articulated fragments linked by style, scale and color.  The painting’s imagery built on two large triangles and reduced to just two colors, cobalt blue and white all outlined in black.  Pousette-Dart symbols stacked in horizontal and vertical rows:  blue is ground, white is language, symbolic of light, consciousness and awareness . The painting maintains a mystical character images compounded that formulate a secret code and linked to the series of white paintings Pousette-Dart authored in the first half of the 1950s. Get up close to the picture and you discover images within images a kind of picture puzzle...

Boldly colored sunset seascape by California artist Richard "Don" Klopfer (1920-2009). Signed and dated in the lower left corner ("Klopfer 12-98"). Canvas laid down on Masonite. No frame. Board size: 7.5"H x 9.5"W Richard "Don" Klopfer (1920-2009) attended the National Art School in Washington D.C. and the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. Klopfer was a life-long, passionate visual artist who worked in a variety of mediums, including oil paints, wood and bronze. His gallery "The Flair" was on Pico Blvd West Los Angeles from 1954 to 1980 was a gathering place for artists, friends and collectors. He was recognized for the use of brilliant color in his paintings and for leaving drawings everywhere he went. Klopfer's painting "My Old House" is on permanent exhibition at San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA). He has also exhibited at The Los Angeles County Art Museum, Esther Robles Gallery, Third Street Gallery, Westwood Art Association, Barnsdale Park, and Robert Pyle Gallery. Selected Exhibitions: 1990 - Wild Horse Gallery - San Luis Obispo, CA 1991 - “South County Journey” - El Camino Arti Association Gallery - Pismo Beach...

Jack Stuck (1925-1993) "Abstract Landscape" 1960 Collage oil paint, charcoal, paper and canvas laid down on masonite 48"x46" natural wood frame 51" x 49" Si...

A beautiful, atmospheric forest scene by American artist Gary Hicks (American, 20th Century), c.1970's. A small trail invites the viewer into this misty forest landscape, where layer...

Signed lower right, 'C. Sideman' for Carol Joy Sideman (1925-2021) and painted circa 1975; titled, verso, on old artist's tape, 'Surf and Rocks'. Carol Sideman received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley and, subsequently, attended the Oaklands College of Arts and Crafts. Sideman specialized in architectural illustration...

Modern Abstract Blue Rose, Vintage Abstracted Minimalist Floral by Eleanor Perry Modernist blue and white rose abstract by San Francisco, California artist Eleanor Louise Perry (Ame...

A beautiful abstraction from the 1970's by an American artist working in California but with ties to Hawaii. He melds collage with paint and creates a surface which is exquisite, la...

Signed lower left, 'Baba' and dated 1977. A large and colorful Pop Art derived perspective on the aquatic circle of life.

Materials: acrylic painted paper on Birch panel Non-objective artist Aimée Farnet Siegel works with color and line through the medium of hand-painted and manipulated paper. Her wor...

Processing Venice is a unique contemporary modern painting relief by renowned Polish-Dutch artist Eliza Kopec. This painting relief is a typical exampl...

Bold abstract composition by RH Barnard (American, 20th Century). The backdrop of this piece is composed of rectangular sections of brown, red, blue, and tan. In the center of the composition, there is a black object...

This framed 20" x 14" painting in a surrealist style by artist Leonard Kaplan depicts three nude figures crowded together, sitting and standing with a white bird obscured by the dark shadows. Predominant colors are red, orange, black, and cream. The painting is on paper and masonite framed behind glass in a silver metal frame. Leonard Kalan is known for surrealism and figure paintings. He died in California in 2008. Leonard was born January 15, 1922 in New York City and won a scholarship in 1940 to study at the Art Student League under Reginald Marsh and William Pair. He won an art scholarship to New York University in the late 1930's. He studied art at the Henry Street...