"Maternal Love, " Gorgeous 1930s Art Deco Painting with Mother and Two Sons

An extraordinary example of Art Deco painting with allegorical meaning -- like so many murals painted in the 1920s and 1930s -- this large work by William L'Engle depicts five nude male figures laboring in the field, symbolizing life in Provincetown, Massachusetts. A Black male figure in the foreground is planting crops, while two other figures in the distance are pulling a rope, perhaps alluding to fishing boats tied up at the dock, while another nude seems to be sinking into sleep beneath a pier -- all with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean in the background. L'Engle called this "The Five Josephs," perhaps referring to Joseph of Arimathea and other figures in the New Testament. William L'Engle was a towering figure in the Provincetown art colony, and was extremely well connected with America's artistic elite, starting with his trip to Europe as a young man with Waldo Pierce and George Biddle. Over time, William and his life Lucy became close to a wide range of important figures in painting, theater and the arts, including Charles Hawthorne, Eugene O'Neill, Gerrit Beneker, John Dos Passos, Edmund Wilson and Mary McCarthy, William and Marguerite Zorach, Edna St. Vincent-Millay, Charles Demuth, Childe Hassam, George Biddle, Edwin Dickinson...

Strikingly composed and beautifully glazed, this large wall charger -- designed with display in mind -- features the idealized Italian family as res...

Reflecting France’s fascination with Africans and Black Americans, and perhaps inspired by the Exposition Colonial Internationale held in Paris in 1931, this canvas shows an African ...

Beautifully painted in fresh, lovely colors on silk, this depiction of nymph and satyr, clothed in gauzy costumes like a scene from a Ballets Russes production, was painted by Stephe...

Glowing with tenderness, love and warmth, this depiction of a sleeping father, his arm protectively embracing his baby son, was painted by Svatopluk Machal, a Czech painter, in the 1...

One of the most exotic and gorgeously colored Art Deco paintings we have ever seen, this scene of an elaborately robed Chinese couple, clearly of royal blood, conversing by a pool su...

This stunning painting was created by the French artist Paul Jouve (1866-1924) in the 1930's and depicts two parrots. Paul Jouve was an illustrator and sculptor who had a lifelong p...

Oil on canvas painting by Emil Fiala (1869-1960) with the motif Gladioli in a glass vase. Signed by Emil Fiala Prof. Emil Fiala had many exhibitions and the membership of the Künstle...

Art Deco painting in oil on canvas illustrating a young nude woman, pensive, half lying down, in front and the face resting on her right hand. Her skin is clear and she wears a short hairstyle in the fashion of the 30s. A certain light emanates from this work which takes up a classic theme of Western art: the female nude. This Art Deco painting is not signed but can be linked to the work of the French...

Stupendous pastel painting designed by Fried Pal in the 1930s,the theme of the nude in the Art Deco period was of important relevance,the author in this painting demonstrates great s...

Art Deco watercolor vintage painting wildflowers by Emil Fiala 1930s Vienna. Emil Fiala (1869-1960) was from 1915-1937 member of the Austrian Künstlerbund (formerly Hagenbund). The d...

Art Deco Oil on carton painting by Emil Fiala (1869-1960) with the motif Autumn Leaves Bouquet signed, 1930. Emil Fiala provided an excellent understanding of transmitting the mood of the autumn time. He had many exhibitions and the membership of the Künstlerbund (formerly the Hagenbund). This painting is set in a golden authentic Biedermeier...