Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

Viktor Schreckengost
Mayan, Large 20th Century Watercolor, Viktor Schreckengost

About the Item

Viktor Schreckengost (American, 1906-2008) Mayan Watercolor heightened with gouache over pencil on paper Signed lower right 39 x 29 inches 45.5 x 35.5 inches, framed Registered with The Viktor Schreckengost foundation, stock no. 6891 The son of a commercial potter in Sebring, Ohio, Viktor Schreckengost learned the craft of sculpting in clay from his father. In the mid-1920s, he enrolled at the Cleveland School of Art (now the Cleveland Institute of Art, or CIA) to study cartoon making, but after seeing an exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art he changed his focus to ceramics. Upon graduation in 1929, he studied ceramics in Vienna, Austria, where he began to build a reputation, not only for his art, but also as a jazz saxophonist. A year later, at the age of 25, he became the youngest faculty member at the CIA. In 1931, Schreckengost won the first of several awards for excellence in ceramics at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and his works were shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, and elsewhere. By the mid-1930s, Schreckengost had begun to pursue his interest in industrial design. For American Limoges, he created the first modern mass-produced dinnerware, called Americana. Along with engineer Ray Spiller, Schreckengost designed the first-cab-over-engine truck for Cleveland's White Motor Company. By the end of the decade, he had designed the first Mercury Bicycle for Murray, Ohio. In 1939, the bicycle and "The Four Elements" in clay were displayed at the New York World's Fair. In the 1940s, Schreckengost's designs for children's pedal cars (as well as bicycles and toys) helped Murray, Ohio become the world's largest manufacturer of pedal cars. His design and ceramic work was interrupted by World War II, when he was recruited by the Navy to develop a system for radar recognition that won him the Secretary of Navy's commendation. After the war, Schreckengost resumed his industrial design career creating products for Murray, Sears, General Electric, Salem China Company, and Harris Printing, among others. Approximately 100 million of his bicycles were manufactured by Murray, making it the largest bicycle-maker in the world. He retired from industrial design in 1972, but continued teaching at the Cleveland Institute of Art. In Lakewood, Ohio, he is most famous for his creation of an architectural sculpture for the exterior of the Civic Auditorium at Lakewood High School, which opened in 1955. The Early Settler, commonly and wrongly referred to as Johnny Appleseed, was commissioned by the Lakewood Board of Education. (The Lakewood Observer. March 22, 2011) Biography from the Archives of askART In June, 2006, Viktor Schreckengost celebrated his 100th birthday in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Of him at this event, it was written: Viktor Schreckengost, a prolific designer whose works ranging from toys, ceramics and paintings to dinnerware and trucks, have touched countless lives, expects his next inspiration to come at any time. . . (he) always seemed to know what to create by responding to needs---like improving the ride of a child's wagon or making user-friendly tableware with an artistic flair." He said he was always focused on function and that when beginning a project, he would as himself the question: "What makes it happen, stand out?" He first considered form and then color and texture followed by, in his words, "all the other stuff added to it." To recognize his birthday, more than 130 galleries and museums featured his work the summer of 2006 in a "National Centennial Exhibition" that paid tribute to his legacy that "includes generations of students who became designers who shaped the output of industrial America in the post World-War II era." Earl Bateman, an associate of Schreckengost, said: "Everything he has done over his entire career has been part of the popular culture. His work spans so many styles. He didn't focus on being a fine artist but he created fine art." In February 2008, Victor Schreckengost died at age 101 at Tallahassee, Florida, where he was spending the winter.
More From This SellerView All
  • The Entertainment, 20th century American family scene watercolor
    By Frank Wilcox
    Located in Beachwood, OH
    Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) The Entertainment, c. 1955 Watercolor on paper Signed lower right 20 x 30 inches Exhibited: 1955 May Show, Cleveland Museum of Art "The first district schools were log houses...
    Category

    1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Watercolor

  • Confederate Soldiers' Cemetery, Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio Watercolor
    By Clarence Holbrook Carter
    Located in Beachwood, OH
    Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Confederate Soldiers' Cemetery, Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, 1929 Watercolor on paper Signed and dated lowe...
    Category

    1920s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Watercolor

  • Circus Lot at Toledo, Ohio, Early 20th Century Cleveland School Artist
    By Frank Wilcox
    Located in Beachwood, OH
    Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) Circus Lot at Toledo, c. 1920 Watercolor on Whatman board Signed lower right 22 x 30 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller or Frederick Gottwald. Wilcox was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox, Sr. and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent lawyer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian. In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer, and Frederick Gottwald. He also attended Keller's Berlin Heights summer school from 1909. After graduating in 1910, Wilcox traveled and studied in Europe, sometimes dropping by Académie Colarossi in the evening to sketch the model or the other students at their easels, where he was influenced by French impressionism. Wilcox was influenced by Keller's innovative watercolor techniques, and from 1910 to 1916 they experimented together with impressionism and post-impressionism. Wilcox soon developed his own signature style in the American Scene or Regionalist tradition of the early 20th century. He joined the Cleveland School of Art faculty in 1913. Among his students were Lawrence Edwin Blazey, Carl Gaertner, Paul Travis, and Charles E. Burchfield. Around this time Wilcox became associated with Cowan Pottery. In 1916 Wilcox married fellow artist Florence Bard, and they spent most of their honeymoon painting in Berlin Heights with Keller. They had one daughter, Mary. In 1918 he joined the Cleveland Society of Artists, a conservative counter to the Bohemian Kokoon Arts Club, and would later serve as its president. He also began teaching night school at the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute at this time, and taught briefly at Baldwin-Wallace College. Wilcox wrote and illustrated Ohio Indian Trails in 1933, which was favorably reviewed by the New York Times in 1934. This book was edited and reprinted in 1970 by William A. McGill. McGill also edited and reprinted Wilcox' Canals of the Old Northwest in 1969. Wilcox also wrote, illustrated, and published Weather Wisdom in 1949, a limited edition (50 copies) of twenty-four serigraphs (silk screen prints) accompanied by commentary "based upon familiar weather observations commonly made by people living in the country." Wilcox displayed over 250 works at Cleveland's annual May Show. He received numerous awards, including the Penton Medal for as The Omnibus, Paris (1920), Fish Tug on Lake Erie (1921), Blacksmith Shop (1922), and The Gravel Pit (1922). Other paintings include The Trailing Fog (1929), Under the Big Top (1930), and Ohio Landscape...
    Category

    1920s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Watercolor

  • Crashing Waves on Atlantic Coast, Mid-century Seascape, Cleveland School Artist
    By Frank Wilcox
    Located in Beachwood, OH
    Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) Crashing Waves on the Atlantic Coast, 1957 Watercolor and graphite on paper Signed and dated lower right 22 x 29 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller or Frederick Gottwald. Wilcox was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox, Sr. and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent lawyer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian. In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer, and Frederick Gottwald. He also attended Keller's Berlin Heights summer school from 1909. After graduating in 1910, Wilcox traveled and studied in Europe, sometimes dropping by Académie Colarossi in the evening to sketch the model or the other students at their easels, where he was influenced by French impressionism. Wilcox was influenced by Keller's innovative watercolor techniques, and from 1910 to 1916 they experimented together with impressionism and post-impressionism. Wilcox soon developed his own signature style in the American Scene or Regionalist tradition of the early 20th century. He joined the Cleveland School of Art faculty in 1913. Among his students were Lawrence Edwin Blazey, Carl Gaertner, Paul Travis, and Charles E. Burchfield. Around this time Wilcox became associated with Cowan Pottery. In 1916 Wilcox married fellow artist Florence Bard, and they spent most of their honeymoon painting in Berlin Heights with Keller. They had one daughter, Mary. In 1918 he joined the Cleveland Society of Artists, a conservative counter to the Bohemian Kokoon Arts Club, and would later serve as its president. He also began teaching night school at the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute at this time, and taught briefly at Baldwin-Wallace College. Wilcox wrote and illustrated Ohio Indian Trails in 1933, which was favorably reviewed by the New York Times in 1934. This book was edited and reprinted in 1970 by William A. McGill. McGill also edited and reprinted Wilcox' Canals of the Old Northwest in 1969. Wilcox also wrote, illustrated, and published Weather Wisdom in 1949, a limited edition (50 copies) of twenty-four serigraphs (silk screen prints) accompanied by commentary "based upon familiar weather observations commonly made by people living in the country." Wilcox displayed over 250 works at Cleveland's annual May Show. He received numerous awards, including the Penton Medal for as The Omnibus, Paris (1920), Fish Tug on Lake Erie (1921), Blacksmith Shop (1922), and The Gravel Pit (1922). Other paintings include The Trailing Fog (1929), Under the Big Top (1930), and Ohio Landscape...
    Category

    1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Graphite, Watercolor

  • Vegetable Still Life No. 7, Contemporary watercolor by Ohio trompe l'oeil artist
    Located in Beachwood, OH
    George Mauersberger (American, 20th Century) Veg 7, 2004 Watercolor on paper 9 x 12 inches 13 x 16 inches, framed George Mauersberger completed th...
    Category

    Early 2000s Photorealist Still-life Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Watercolor

  • Vegetable Still Life No. 4, Contemporary watercolor by Ohio trompe l'oeil artist
    Located in Beachwood, OH
    George Mauersberger (American, 20th Century) Veg 4, 2004 Watercolor on paper 9 x 12 inches 13 x 16 inches, framed George Mauersberger completed th...
    Category

    Early 2000s Photorealist Still-life Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Watercolor

You May Also Like
  • MADELEINE (ORIGINAL GOUCHE)
    By Erté
    Located in Aventura, FL
    Unique, one of a kind original gouache on paper from Harper's Bazar series. Hand signed lower front by Erte; titled top front with studio catalog number on verso. Sheet size 10.7...
    Category

    1950s Art Deco Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Gouache

  • LA PRINCESSE LOINTAINE: LES FEMMES DE MILISSINDE
    By Erté
    Located in Aventura, FL
    Original on Gouache on paper. Hand signed on front; signed, titled, dated with dedication on verso. Stamped "Composition originale". Frame size 30.5 x 26.5 inches. Artwork is in e...
    Category

    1920s Art Deco Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Gouache

  • BEYLA (ORIGINAL GOUCHE)
    By Erté
    Located in Aventura, FL
    Unique, one of a kind original gouache on paper from Harper's Bazar series. Hand signed lower front by Erte; titled top front with studio catalog number on verso. Sheet size 10.7...
    Category

    1950s Art Deco Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Gouache

  • Art Deco Cherry Dancer
    By Marcel Vertès
    Located in Miami, FL
    Cherry Dancer Marcel Vertes French, 1895-1961 Beautiful girl juggling cherries is a beautiful and charming idea that is deftly rendered in a quick and loose style. Work is round De...
    Category

    1930s Art Deco Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Gouache

  • Art Deco Glamorous woman in Purple Evening Dress - Golden Age of Hollywood
    By Jaro Fabry
    Located in Miami, FL
    Framed Size 28.5 x 21 Jaro Fabry was a brilliant illustrator with a defined style of his own. There is not a brushstroke out of place in his works that appear loosely rendered. He is best known for his depiction of Golden Age of Hollywood...
    Category

    1940s Art Deco Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Watercolor, Gouache, Pencil

  • 1910's Art Deco Erte Gouache Painting Original Hand Signed Rare French Costume
    By Erté
    Located in Buffalo, NY
    A rare original signed Art Deco gouache on paper by Erte (Romain de Tirtoff) . This stunning theatrical costume design is signed Erte at the lower right. The piece is 20 by 18 fram...
    Category

    1910s Art Deco Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Gouache, Archival Paper, Pencil

Recently Viewed

View All