Arthur Sarnoff

Talking It Over

1937

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 24.00" x 36.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right

Medium: Gouache on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right American Weekly magazine cover, September 9, 1956

Signed lower left

The Progressive Farmer magazine cover, January 1958 This dynamic scene of a mid-century New Year's Eve party captures the excitement across generations. While adults eagerly anticipate midnight, children watch from the staircase, and an older couple in the background enjoys a quiet moment together at the buffet table. Sarnoff's use of diagonals brings the scene to life, and the inclusion of noisemakers evokes the festive atmosphere. Created as a cover for the January 1958 issue of The Progressive Farmer, this is a prime example of Sarnoff's vibrant style. Approximate Date: 1958 Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Size: 25.00" x 22.00" Exhibited: Masters of the Golden Age: Harvey Dunn and His Students South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota May 5, 2015 - September 13, 2015 Norman Rockwell Museum...

American Art Deco 20th Century Modernism Social Realism WPA Era Scene Pin-Up Arthur Rosenman Ross (1913 - 1981) 'Edward, This Man Insulted Me. Do Something" Sight: 20 x 15 inches Wa...

Only Ballantine Ale Brews "Brewer's Gold," ad illustration appeared in the major magazines of the day. A magic moment is caught at a peak point of drama. It's the instant of friends having fun. A cold beer from the fridge is offered and it's is acknowledged with a head nod. The woman in the foreground covers her giggling face reacting to a funny comment. The decisive moment is preserved. Sounds like a critique of an art photograph? No, it's an illustrator. This ingenious Infiniti "S" composition simultaneously represents the best of photography and painting. Cartier-Bresson could have captured the precise moment. While Nicolas Poussin could have rendered the complex figural composition. Add to it , a painting technique and color scheme with the quick drama of a post-impressionist. We have a great work of art by an overlooked American illustrator/artist/painter, Mike Ludlow...

Signed lower left: Seymour Ball Inscribed upper left: To Morris E Weiss with best wishes Seymour Ball" Matted not framed

“Graduation Day” is emblematic of mid-century American Illustration. But the real story of this storytelling work is that it embodies the lost art of portrait painting and graphic design. Alex Ross borrows on the classical tradition and flaunts his skills as a narrative painter. In “Graduation Day”, he paints a complex composition involving at least thirteen portraits. The subjects are beautifully rendered and lit. They are set against a dark grey background and jump off the surface at the viewer. The composition is complexly designed. The future graduate in the red jacket engaging with a girl photographer is a compositional device that leads the viewer's eye to the main subject - a father congratulating his son on graduating from medical school. Creating art that relies on facial expressions and body gestures is a talent absent in contemporary art. Why? It’s very hard to do and takes years and training and practice to get it right. Despite Alex Ross's folksy subject matter, this work is a high example of naturalism and representation by an important member of the Golden Age of American Illustration. Signed lower right Born in the town of Dunfermline, Scotland, Alexander Sharpe Ross (1908-1990) moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1911. After attending Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), Ross moved to New York and joined the Charles E. Cooper Studio, where he worked among such notable illustrators as Ward Brackett, Stevan Dohanos, J. Frederick Smith...