Art by Medium: Brass

Hagenauer bookends pair leaping gazelles. The original had rubbed brass patina finish—stylized Haenauer animals, four intertwined and perfectly proportioned. The size is enough to su...

Extremely rare set of chase Equestrian bookends sculpture designed by Walter Von Nessen in 1932. Industrial Design incorporated with the latest materials and machine age approach. Th...

This sculpture is part of our exhibition America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Music (attributed), brass and wire construction, c. 1936, 28 x 14 x 5 inches; perhaps exhibited at Hollywood Riviera Gallery, 1936 (third prize); provenance includes Estate of Jon Spencer Helfen (Los Angeles, CA About the Sculpture In 1935, Philip Paval bought a box of metal in a “blind auction.” Paval, a painter, sculptor, and jeweler, had hoped the box contained silver. To his dismay, it was brass. Seeing an opportunity, Paval started to make sculptures from the brass sheets. His subjects included Cinema, Hollywood, Radio, Dance, Aviation and Music. The works were well-received with the Hollywood crowd and critically acclaimed. Actor and comedian, Ben Bard, purchased four of them for his theater, and novelist and screenwriter, Vicki Baum ordered four more for her drawing room. Movie director King Vidor also purchased them. Los Angeles Times art critic, Arthur Millier, described Paval’s “contraptions” as “ingenious, decorative, different.” Paval exhibited these works for several years in the late 1930s, including at the American Artists’ Congress Gallery in Los Angeles in an exhibition called Formalism and Abstraction in 1938 and at a solo show at Stendahl Galleries in 1939. The appeal of these works must have been irresistible, as a 1936 Los Angeles Times article noted, “Two feet of brass art has been stolen from the Hollywood Riviera Galleries. The work is an abstraction. It portrays the spirit of music and rested on the grand piano in the main hall. The work of Philip Paval, it won third prize in the current gallery exhibition at the gallery.” One can only wonder whether this is the “contraption” which was pilfered from the gallery nearly one hundred years ago. Given the description of the work, its subject matter and size, it seems likely. About the Artist Philip Paval was a sculptor, painter, and jeweler. Born in Denmark, Paval was apprenticed to a silversmith and studied art in Denmark. He immigrated to the US in 1919 and first worked as a merchant seaman in New York. The following year, Paval settled in Los Angeles where he later opened his own jewelry shop featuring works he designed and produced. Paval became a favorite in the entertainment world, making a good living selling silver...

Impressive cast brass Macaw parrot sculpture crafted in the Mid-Century with Art Deco influence. Having graceful flowing form and presented on a walnut stand. Hand polished and lacqu...

Large Cloisonné Eggs Set of 2 Blue & Red with Birds & Flowers are a lovely set of sculptural beauty. Purchased directly from the Chinese manufacturing fa...

Mid Century C. Jere brass over door or wall art with a chic pleaded design reminiscent of a sunrise with Art Deco influences. Signed C. Jere 1984.

The artwork is done in mixed media. Italian fine-grained cotton tm Unico and Dutch acrylic paints Amsterdam were used in the work. Finish - satin varnish. The sides are painted in t...

Jean Eugene Gilbert Despres (1889-1980) was born in Avallon, a small town in Burgundy, where his parents had a small shop selling jewelry and gifts. At the age of 16, he went to Paris to apprentice with a friend of his father, who had a jewelry and metal workshop in the Marais. At night, he studied design. Any spare time was spent in Montmartre, where he met Modigliani, Soutine, DeChirico, Signac, and most important, Georges Braque, who, with Picasso was the founder of Cubism. Despres and Braque became great friends. Jean Despres was one of the most important French Art Deco designers...

Philip Paval was a sculptor and silversmith who worked primarily in Los Angeles. He was known as a Hollywood Artist, as he affiliated with many of the Hol...