Art by Medium: Masonite

Fredric Karoly (1898-1987). Etude III, 1950. Oil on masonite panel measures 18 x 24 inches. Unframed. Signed, titled, dated on reverse. Good condition with minor paint loss at edges. Biography: An abstract painter, Karoly was born in Hungary and studied painting in Paris, architectural eingineering in Berlin, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1926. He began a successful career as a fashion and fabric designer. In 1948 he was working as a fashion director for Simplicity Patters, when he had a solo exhibition of of his oil paintings, wire montages, dry-pen drawings and abstract photography. Solo Exhibitions: Hugo Gallery (Alexandre Iolas) New York 1948; Gallery Mai. Paris 1949; New Gallery (Eugene Thaw) New York 1950; Museu de Arte, Sao Paulo, Brazil 1951; Miami Museum of Modern Art, Miami, Florida 1959; Loft Gallery, New York City, 1966.Group Exhibitions: Hugo Gallery, New York 1947; Salon des Realities Nouvelles, Paris 1949-1953; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (Annual) 1951-1953, 1963; Biennale of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1951; International Independent Exhibition, Tokyo, 1951; Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, 1959; The Butler Institute of Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1960; Stuttman Gallery, New York, 1960; The Art Institute of Chicago (Annual), 1960; International Watercolor Exhibition, Brookyln Museum, 1961; Westchester Art Museum, White Plains, NY, 1963; Whitney Museum, Annual, NY 1963; Cleveland Art Festival, Park Synagogue, Cleveland, 1963; Whitney Museum, Sculpture Annual, NY, 1964.Works in Institutional Collections: Museu de Arte, San Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina; New York University, New York; Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri; Finch College, NY; Barnard College, NY; Metropolitan Museum, Whitney Museum and Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL. Awards: National Council Arts Awards, 1968. Frederic Karoly died on December 15, 1987 at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Manhattan, where he had made his home for many years. Fredric Karoly was born in Budapest in 1893. According to Karoly’s own vitae, his exhibition history began in New York in 1947, when at the age of 54 he took part in a four-person group show at Hugo Gallery. His involvement with visual art however was apparently life long. In a brief introduction to his solo show at Galerie Mai in Paris in June of 1949, Jen Luc de Rudder, reports that Karoly began painting at the age of 12 in Budapest. After several years of studying, then working in London, Paris and Berlin, Karoly emigrated to the United States in 1925 or 1926 (he probably first came to the US on a work visa in 1925). In New York, Karoly worked in women’s fashion as a designer. In 1948 Karoly worked in a manner than was clearly influenced by the work of such European surrealists as Max Ernst, creating spiked automatic bi-chromatic paintings. His style progressed into a progressively more biomorphic vein, similar to explorations by Theodore Stamos, Daphnis, Milton Avery and Mark Rothko around the same period. He was supported with patronage during this period by Mrs. Mimi Baliff, who apparently supported the “Industrial Design Workshop” that she helped open to feature Karoly’s designs in 1948. By the early 1950’s (1951) Karoly started experimenting with the drip and splatter process as well. Drip paintings dominated his process until the late 50’s-early 60’s, when linear compositional elements began to reemerge. By the late 50’s multi-layered drip grid motifs asserted a masque of spatial organization over looser washed fields and splatters of paint that Karoly worked off of. This development was consistent with concurrent explorations into the grid by artist Agnes Martin and others. By the mid-50’s Karoly’s style began another transition into a more surface concerned “Color Field” style of painting. There are elements still reminding one of Abstract Expressionist concerns as such painters as Clifford Still. But the works that began to emerge from Karoly’s studio in 1958 presaged the Morris Lewis fan motifs and Friedl Dzubas’s epic and romantic color spewing expanses of canvas. In 1959 Karoly began experiments using washes of turpentine diluted oil paint directly onto raw linen, and all of these subsequently suffered the consequences of oil oxidation and acidity upon the surfaces. However, many of Karoly’s washes in color field happily occurred on lightly prepared primed canvas surfaces as well. By 1960 Karoly began reintroducing imagistic references to his visual content. There were also various references to Japanese and Zen influences. He experimented with a variety of processes that included mixed media and marbleized surfaces achieved by the intermixture of oil and water mediums. A calligraphic element also enter Karoly’s work in the early 60’s. Then in 1961 glued and assembled objects begin to show up in Karoly’s work in earnest. The influence of early POP artists, particularly Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg, become apparent. From 1961-63, a series of the assemblage works transition from canvas to the sculptural to pieces obviously intended for full scale installation. Many of these pieces were among the most fragile of his works primarily due to their reliance upon the of gluing of objects such as plastic or paper cups on flexible surfaces of stretched linen or canvas. In the mid-60’s Karoly apparently produced a number of photo-silk screened series of Picasso, De Kooning and other significant artists of his generation. These were executed in a style somewhere between Rauschenberg’s and Roy Lichtenstein’s, primarily because of their reliance upon half tones and Ben-Day dot effects. Then Karoly began a series of paintings conflating his drip and grid styles with super imposed and painted over string. In the late 60’s Karoly embarked upon a series of multi-paneled stretched linen constructions often with slits and fiber optic back-lit elements that were prescient of the work of Dan Flavin and others. It was this body of work that was shown at Hofstra University’s Emily Lowe Gallery, and it was these works that suffered perhaps the most irreparable damage from a steam/water infiltration in a space where they were being stored. The late professional start that Karoly had into the art world was balanced by his long life span and early immersion into the design issues of modernism as it emerged in turn of the century Europe and later evolved in America. He was clearly an artist who subscribed to the ethos of the new in abstraction and was obviously impressionable and in some instances prescient with regard to various trends in abstraction. Several noteworthy and influential collectors and institutions during his 40 years of professional engagement acquired his work. The Whitney Museum of American Art had and may still own a large Karoly canvas from 1960, but this is doubtful as the artist failed to list it on the vitae he filed with MoMA in 1965. His work was recognized and honored by the Whitney with its inclusion in four of their annual survey shows (1951,1953, 1963 and 1964). The artist’s surrealist influenced paintings from 1948-1950 were the focus of a solo exhibition held of his work by the Museo de Art in Sao Paulo and eight years later a ten year survey of his work was the focus of a solo show at the Miami Museum of Modern art. The Sao Paulo Museum in Brazil, and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Argentina each acquired Karoly paintings for their collections in the 1950’s. One of Karoly’s surrealist pieces was apparently purchased by Christian Zervos, Picasso’s designated chronicler, who apparently also wrote a piece on Karoly in Cahiers D’Art in 1949. A 60’s piece of Karoly art that is in the New York University’s permanent collection is included in the MoMA Library’s catalog...

Conversation on the San Francisco Pier, Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1928 Early 20th Century oil painting of men having a conversation on the San Francisco, California pier with boats in ...

Arresting and evocative oil abstract titled "Female Priests" by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009). Unframed. Signed "Les Anderson" on...

Red Geraniums and Yellow Curtain Original Paul Schmitt California Impressionist Geraniums in an interior setting with a yellow curtain or drape behind by Paul A. Schmitt (American, 18983-1983). Oakland, California artist. Size 23.5"H x 16.5"W Signed lower left "Paul A. Schmitt" Exhibition label on verso, "Alameda Art Association, Paul A. Schmitt Oil Still Life No 10" Painter, watercolorist, illustrator and teacher, Paul Schmitt was born in Philadelphia, in 1893 and moved to San Francisco in 1898 where he lived until the 1906 earthquake took his family home. He then moved to the Fruitvale district of Oakland. He died of natural causes at the age of 90 in San Leandro, California. Paul Schmitt studied under Perham Wilhelm Nahl, at the California College of Arts and Crafts. He also learned various crafts, woodworking and carving skills from his father, Herman Schmitt, a German wood carver working in San Francisco. Herman's works are still found in various San Francisco public buildings including the city hall chambers and the garden court of the Palace Hotel. Schmitt joined twelve other local San Francisco artists to form the group called "The Thirteen Watercolorists", a group that eventually evolved into the Society of Western Artists. Their early members included Alfred Owles, Will Cameron, Maurice Logan, Maynard Dixon and many others. Paul worked with engineers and architects doing models of many projects. He was versatile in that he also did illustrations for various publications and advertisers. He fathered thirteen children. In the late 1930's he decided to accept a teaching position in the local adult schools where he retired in his eighties. Paul was very fond of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and yearly took his large family there on camping /sketching trips. He did a series of oils of the California missions. He also traveled extensively on sketching trips including Mexico where he did a series of Mexican churches...

André Debono is a contemporary French abstract painter based in Nîmes. Deeply influenced by the radical deconstruction of the Supports/Surfaces movement—particularly the legacy of Cl...

Artist: Joseph Barber Title: Margaree Valley, Nova Scotia Year: 1976 Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed l.r. Size: 30 x 48 inches [76.2 x 121.92 cm] Frame: 35 x 54 inches [88.9 x 137.16...

A Delightful, Intimate Mid-Century Modern Portrait Painting of Mother and Child by Noted Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Artwork size: 5 3/4 x 4 Inches (Framed size...

A Vibrant, Colorful, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Pool Hall Scene by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin. Artwork size: 6 3/4" x 8 1/2", Oil on Masonite, Framed size: 11" x 12 1/2"....

nknown Artist (Signed “Kaufman”) Untitled (Pastoral Horizon), mid-20th century Oil on board Framed dimensions: 25 in. H × 21 in. W Original cream-toned carved wood frame This expres...

A strong modernist oil painting depicted in the Mid Century by Russian painter Michael Baxte. Mostly known for his abstracted figures on canvas or street scenes, this piece is a wonderful representation of his portraits in village landscapes with expressive use of color, shape, and form. Later in his career, Baxte explores Expressionism, infusing both European and North American stylistic trends. Art measures 25.5 x 21.25 inches Michael Posner Baxte was born in 1890 in the small town of Staroselje Belarus, Russia. For the first half of the 19th century, it was a center of the Chabad movement of Hasidic Jews, but this group was gone by the middle of the 19th century. By the time the Baxte family immigrated to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, the Jewish population numbered only on the hundreds. The native language of the Baxte family was Yiddish. It is likely that the death of Michael Baxte’s father triggered the family’s immigration. Three older brothers arrived in New York between 1903 and 1905. Michael and his mother, Rebecca, arrived in 1907. By 1910 Michael, his mother, and brother, Joseph, were living in New Orleans and may have spent some time on a Louisiana plantation. Around 1912, Michael Baxte returned to Europe to study the violin. In 1914 he, his mother, and Joseph moved to New York City. Meanwhile, in Algeria, a talented young woman painter, Violette Mege, was making history. For the first time, a woman won the prestigious Beaux Art competition in Algeria. At first, the awards committee denied her the prize but, with French government intervention, Mege eventually prevailed. She won again 3 years later and, in 1916, used the scholarship to visit the United States of America. When Violette came to New York, she met Baxte, who was, by then, an accomplished violinist, teacher, and composer. Baxte’s compositions were performed at the Tokyo Imperial Theater, and in 1922 he was listed in the American Jewish Yearbook as one of the prominent members of the American Jewish community. As a music teacher, he encouraged individual expression. Baxte stated, “No pupil should ever be forced into the imitation of the teacher. Art is a personal experience, and the teacher’s truest aim must be to awaken this light of personality through the patient's light of science.” By 1920 Michael Baxte and Violette Mege were living together in Manhattan. Although they claimed to be living as husband and wife, it seems that their marriage did not become official until 1928. On their “unofficial” honeymoon around 1917, in Algiers, Baxte confided to her his ambition to paint. There and later in New Mexico where the wonderful steeped sunlight approximates the coloring of Algiers, she taught him his heart’s desire. He never had any other teacher. She never had any other pupil. For ten years she devoted all her time, energy, and ambition to teaching, encouraging, inspiring him. Then in 1928, their mutual strivings were rewarded, as his works were being chosen as one of the two winners in the Dudensing National Competition for American Painters. Out of 150 artists from across the country participated in the Dudensing, and Michael Posner Baxte and, Robert Fawcett...

A Vibrant, Expressionist 1950s Mid-Century Modern Still Life Painting by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Depicting a bright and vivid studio still life scene ...

Gorgeous vibrant still life of roses, sweet peas, and calla lilies by Helen Mae Enoch Gleiforst (American, 1903-1997). Signed "Gleiforst" lower left. Displayed in a giltwood frame. I...

A Delightful, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait, "Boy in Blue Scarf" by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Artwork Size: 11 3/4 x 9 1/4 inches (Framed size: 1...

We are delighted to offer a unique and evocative piece by the Swedish artist Ingeborg Westfelt-Eggertz. This small oil sketch captures a moment in time, portraying a young man seated...

A strong modernist oil painting depicted in the Mid Century by Russian painter Michael Baxte. Mostly known for his abstracted figures on canvas or street scenes, this piece is a wond...

Signed lower right, 'R. Hornak' for Rosemary Hornak (American, born 1951); additionally signed verso, titled 'Perroquets Impasto, Variation 2' and dated 1992. Rosemary Hornak receiv...

A Visually Striking, early 1950s Abstract, Surrealist Mid-Century Modern Still Life Painting by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Depicting a subdued, tonal int...

Artist: Fil Mottola, American (1915 - 2008) Title: Market Place, Taxco Mexico Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed l.r. Size: 30 x 40 inches [76 x 102.5 cm] Framed: 38 x 48 inches [96.5 ...

Signed, u.r. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 80 x 32 inches

'Mare and Foal' by Leon D'Usseau, Jr. Equestrian Modernist Oil, Chouinard, LACMA, Metropolitan Museum ----- Signed lower right, 'Dusso' for Leon D'Usseau, Jr. (American, 1918-1991) ...

A Striking Surrealist Abstract 1950s Mid-Century Modern Painting "Mother & Child" by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Oil on Masonite, dating from 1952. E...

Edwin Kosarek (b.1929). Reclining Nude, 1952. Oil on wood panel, 17 x 48 inches. Signed and dated on verso. Edwin Kosarek Born: 1929 Studied: The Cit...

The vibrant French Quarter is brilliantly depicted in "Bourbon Street in New Orleans" by California-based artist Pablo Cucaro in a rich palette of chestnut, Tiffany Blue and black. S...

Ben Wilson Concert, ca. 1989 Oil on masonite board (Hand Signed by the artist; also bears the Estate Stamp) Boldly signed front and back, titled and dated on the back by Ben Wilson and also stamped on the back by the estate of Ben Wilson 42 × 48 inches Unframed This stunning painting is done by the second generation Abstract Expressionist artist Ben Wilson - one of the youngest artists to be given a show at prestigious ACA Gallery in 1940. This work "Concert" - depicting instruments, in a light, lyrically abstract painting. Exquisite colors and subtle imagery. In 2017, he was the subject of a retrospective at the George Segal Gallery at Montclair State University from September 6 to November 4 and it was accompanied by a catalogue. About Ben Wilson: Ben Wilson was born in Philadelphia in 1913 to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Kiev and settled in New York City. He was educated in Manhattan public schools and graduated from City College in 1935. To gain exposure to a wider range of styles, he also studied at the National Academy of Design and at the Educational Alliance. Admired by critics throughout his long career, Wilson was singled out as a “discovery” by the New York Times art critic Edward Alden Jewel even before his first one-man show at the Galerie Neuf in 1946. His paintings of the ’30s and ’40s were expressionistically rendered, often Biblical parables, filled with what he called “the grief of the intolerable” and reflecting an acute awareness of the agony of the time, from the Holocaust to the Spanish Civil War. A WPA artist who identified strongly with the plight of the Jews in Europe, he relentlessly explored themes of war, torment, and futility in his early decades of painting. When times changed and social pressures subsided, Wilson’s mood lifted. He spent 1952-54 in Paris working at the Academie Julien. During the ’50s his involvement with specific imagery persisted but became more psychological and mythic in orientation. Influenced by Cubism, he created a vocabulary of interlocking shapes and bold, sweeping gestures that served as a transition between his early figurative expressionism and his later abstract constructivist concerns. Towards the end of the decade Wilson reached a crossroads, moving towards abstraction and searching for what he called “a scaffolding under the externals.” By 1960, influenced by the Russian Constructivists, Mondrian, and Abstract Expressionism, Wilson turned to abstraction. Reexamining the basic elements of painting, he evolved his own personal vocabulary and structure, fusing the cerebral and the emotive. He became increasingly experimental, using house paint, sand, and other unorthodox materials in paintings that he worked from all directions, dripping, spraying, stenciling, and collaging. He employed elements of disjunction, repetitions of geometric motifs, linear networks, and complex overlays to create the transparent, multi-layer development of space that characterizes his later paintings. A consummate draftsman, Wilson filled notebook after notebook with drawings that he amplified in his paintings. Eschewing popular movements, Wilson was always one to pursue a personal aesthetic. Despite more than 30 one-man shows and 50 years of teaching, he increasingly withdrew from the gallery scene but continued to paint daily until his death at age 88 in 2001 in Blairstown, New Jersey, where he and his sculptor wife Evelyn Wilson...

Dining Room Interior Scene in Oil on Masonite Inviting and warm interior dining room scene by S. Spencer (American, 20th Century). Lovingly painted scene of a dining table with orna...

Athenian Woman Carrying a Water Jar In a White Dress Beautiful painting by a Central California artist circa 1890s (American 19th c). Oil painting of a Athenian woman holding a blue water vase on her shoulder with a red and orange shawl draped over her white dress. Painted on late 19th century Academy...

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Frieze with One Runner Flanked by Two Bicyclists n.d. Signed in red, u.r. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 35.5 x 69 inches (90.2 x 175.3 cm) $8,250...

This wonderful painting depicts a rich floral arrangement in a round, transparent glass vase. The flowers are depicted in a variety of colours, including different shades of red, pin...

Dynamic abstract expressionist painting by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009). Oil on masonite. Titiled on verso "Their Feet are Those ...

Mid Century Modern, American Abstract Expressionist Painting on artist board. This wonderful work combines delicate shades of pink and blue and comes house in a contemporary natural...

Ray Johnson Moon Mixed media on Masonite 8 3/4 x 6 1/2 inches Once described as New York’s “most famous unknown artist,” Ray Johnson was a renowned maker of meticulous collages and...

Cathedral with Green Domes in Acrylic on Masonite The front of a large cathedral by an unknown central California coast artist Maria Pavao Hadsell (Portugal/American, 20th Century). The cathedral has two large towers, each with a large green dome at the top. It resembles St. Stephen's basilica in Passau, Germany. This piece has a loose style, but nonetheless has fine details in the architecture. Maria Pavao Hadsell was born in Portugal and is mostly a self taught artist originally from Portugal. Later she immigrated to the USA and lived in Massachusetts, then she moved to Sunnyvale, California. Studied watercolor in Italy, and with Los Gatos artist William Wray Signed "M Pavao...

Serene winter landscape of snow and bare trees in cool tones by California artist Virginia Sevier Rogers (American, 1917-2015). Signed and dated lower right "VR 2/50." Displayed in a...

Colorful abstract oil painting on canvas by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009). From the estate of Les Anderson in Monterey, California. Unframed. Titled "An Archbis...

Edward Pechmann Renouf (1906-1999). Oil on panel measures 16 x 24 inches. Signed lower margin. Excellent condition. Provenance: Allan Stone Pr...

This work is part of our exhibition Marina Stern Luminary, the first retrospective of the artist since 2007. Marina Stern was a multifaceted New York-based artist whose works ranged...

Signed lower right, 'Podryski' for Misha Podryski, also spelled Podrisky, (Russian-American, 1903-1989), titled, 'Paris' and dated 1934. Displayed in a substantial, silver-gilt, swept frame. Framed dimensions: 31.75 H x 2 D x 38.75 W inches A substantial oil landscape showing a view of a barge moored to the bank of the Seine with a view beyond to an arched, stone bridge beneath a luminous evening sky. Born in Estonia, this Russian-American painter first attended Moscow University before moving to France where he continued his education at the American Conservatory in Paris, the School of Fine Arts at Fontainebleau and, later, in Italy. This educational path explains the polished salon portrait manner seen in his Paris canvases from the period and in his later New York portrait...

'Still Life', Carnegie, Biltmore, Mills College, CPLH, LACMA, WPA, CWS, Hollywood Signed, lower right, 'Boris Deutsch' (Lithuanian-American, 1892-1978) and dated 1926. Deutsch bega...

Artist: Leonardo Nierman Title: Un Fuego Magico (Variation) Year: 1965 Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed and dated l.r. Size: 24 x 31.5 inches Frame: 28 x 36 inches

Beautiful Impressionist landscape of a country scene by Paul Friederich Weindorf (German/American, 1887-1965). Signed "Paul Weindorf" lower right. Artist's bio on verso. Unframed. Im...

An Introspective, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait "Head of a Young Girl" by Noted Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Artwork size: 15 x 12 1/2 inches (Framed size: ...

Signed and datedPurdy 03 lower left 14 x 22 inches Framed : 22 x 26 Beach scenes by Purdy were his most coveted works from the 1980's onward. There is an incredible amount of color...

Mervin Jules (American, 1912-1994) Folk Singer, 20th century Oil on masonite 18 x 7 1/2 in. Signed lower left: Jules Provenance: Garelick's Gallery, Detroit Matte included, no fram...

"Cars, Buildings People" Contemporary Outsider Folk Art African American Urban Purvis Young (1943-2010) Cars, Buildings People 65 x 48 inches Oil o...

Wonderful mid century portrait of Carmel artist Doris Estelle Rohr by listed California artist Abel George (Buck) Warshawsky (American, 1883-1962). Signed "A.G. Warshawsky Dec. 22 52...

Ultra Realist Library Still-Life Books and Candles "Little Devil in the Details" Highly detailed library interior scene and still-life titled "Little Devil in the Detail" by Ken DeWaard (American, 20th-century). This intriguing artists performance in excellence piece, features realistically rendered books, paintings within paintings, candle light, and a devil or gargoyle sculpture. The artist creates a strong mood as well as interesting subject matter in this unique scene. Signed "Dewaard '99" upper right. Displayed in a wood frame. Image size, 13"H x 14"L. Frame: 20"H x 21"W x 2"D After receiving his Bachelor of Arts with honors, Ken began working in a commercial art studio in Chicago. He continued his studies at the American Academy of Art, where he studied with nationally recognized watercolorist, Irving Shapiro. Upon Irving's recommendation Ken joined the acclaimed Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Art in Chicago, where he soon began studying with Scott Burdick as well as Dan Gerhartz...

This is an important, large tempera painting of the sand dunes that line Michigan's coast. Zolton Sepeshy, who lived and painted in Michigan, also wrote a book on tempera painting. ...

Paul Sample Spanish Village, 1958 Signed lower right; titled on artist label affixed to the reverse Acrylic on Masonite 23 1/4 x 33 inches Provenace Milch Galleries, New York Privat...

A strong modernist oil painting depicted in 1962 by Russian painter Michael Baxte. Mostly known for his abstracted figures on canvas or street scenes, this piece is a wonderful representation of his portraits in countryside landscapes with expressive use of color, shape, and form. Later in his career, Baxte explores Expressionism, infusing both European and North American stylistic trends. Art measures 21.25 x 25.5 inches Michael Posner Baxte was born in 1890 in the small town of Staroselje Belarus, Russia. For the first half of the 19th century, it was a center of the Chabad movement of Hasidic Jews, but this group was gone by the middle of the 19th century. By the time the Baxte family immigrated to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, the Jewish population numbered only on the hundreds. The native language of the Baxte family was Yiddish. It is likely that the death of Michael Baxte’s father triggered the family’s immigration. Three older brothers arrived in New York between 1903 and 1905. Michael and his mother, Rebecca, arrived in 1907. By 1910 Michael, his mother, and brother, Joseph, were living in New Orleans and may have spent some time on a Louisiana plantation. Around 1912, Michael Baxte returned to Europe to study the violin. In 1914 he, his mother, and Joseph moved to New York City. Meanwhile, in Algeria, a talented young woman painter, Violette Mege, was making history. For the first time, a woman won the prestigious Beaux Art competition in Algeria. At first, the awards committee denied her the prize but, with French government intervention, Mege eventually prevailed. She won again 3 years later and, in 1916, used the scholarship to visit the United States of America. When Violette came to New York, she met Baxte, who was, by then, an accomplished violinist, teacher, and composer. Baxte’s compositions were performed at the Tokyo Imperial Theater, and in 1922 he was listed in the American Jewish Yearbook as one of the prominent members of the American Jewish community. As a music teacher, he encouraged individual expression. Baxte stated, “No pupil should ever be forced into the imitation of the teacher. Art is a personal experience, and the teacher’s truest aim must be to awaken this light of personality through the patient's light of science.” By 1920 Michael Baxte and Violette Mege were living together in Manhattan. Although they claimed to be living as husband and wife, it seems that their marriage did not become official until 1928. On their “unofficial” honeymoon around 1917, in Algiers, Baxte confided to her his ambition to paint. There and later in New Mexico where the wonderful steeped sunlight approximates the coloring of Algiers, she taught him his heart’s desire. He never had any other teacher. She never had any other pupil. For ten years she devoted all her time, energy, and ambition to teaching, encouraging, inspiring him. Then in 1928, their mutual strivings were rewarded, as his works were being chosen as one of the two winners in the Dudensing National Competition for American Painters. Out of 150 artists from across the country participated in the Dudensing, and Michael Posner Baxte and, Robert Fawcett...

A large, picturesque, 1940s American Scene landscape painting of a country farm with barn and silo by notable Chicago Modern artist, Francis Chapin. Painting likely depicts a countr...

Scandinavian School, early twentieth century. Unsigned and inscribed, verso, on stretcher bar, 'Anna Ancher' with additional indistinct inscription and painted circa 1910. A psychol...

"Pacific Grove Glory" - Rocky Seascape Signed and dated "Coraly '06" in the lower right corner. Titled, dated, and signed "Pacific Grove Glory 2006 Coraly Hanson...

"Back Road" California Redwoods Santa Cruz County original Oil Painting Oil painting of the California Redwoods by Gorman Woody (American, 1907-2000). the scene is a country road ...

A Charming 1950s Modernist Portrait, "Girl in Red Scarf", by Noted Chicago Artist Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A colorful, intimate and gem-like work, the painting is accompanied...

White Sands New Mexico, Mid-Century Southwest Desert Landscape by Vannerson Gorgeous desert scene by award winning, self-taught artist Dr. Lucien C. Vannerson (American, 20th Centur...

Kimono with Rope Texture - Collagraph Master Plate Master plate for collagraph printmaking featuring a kimono with rope texture in warm neutral peach tones, by California artist Pat...

Red Rocks, Contemporary Utah Desert Landscape by Mike Wright A beautiful contemporary desert landscape of red rock country in Utah by Mike Wright (America...

Kierstin Young's (US based) "Luna" is an oil painting that depicts a battered white moth and a black background with the phases of the moon overhead Artist Statement/Bio: (b. The Ye...

Arch Rock, Oregon - Seascape in Oil on Masonite This dramatic coastal landscape by Edith Dawson (American, 20th century) captures the raw majesty of Arch Rock, rendered in a richly ...

A Captivating, Expressive 1950s Mid-Century Modern Coastal Beach Scene of Portugal by Noted Chicago Artist, Rudolph T. Pen (Am. 1918 - 1989). Pen travelled extensively throughout Eu...