Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12

Ellwood Graham
'Abstract Landscape', California WPA, Corcoran, Whitney, AIC, GGIE, SFAA, LACMA

Circa 1985

$3,600
£2,742.65
€3,162.39
CA$5,038.13
A$5,629.27
CHF 2,944.73
MX$69,032.87
NOK 37,628.07
SEK 35,681.38
DKK 23,602.58
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

Signed upper right, 'Graham' for Ellwood Graham (American, 1911-2007) and painted circa 1985; additionally signed, verso, and titled, 'View Study'. This early California Modernist was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended the School of Fine Arts at Washington University. By the 1930's, Graham was living in California and working in the Federal Art Project as assistant to Gordon Grant. In this capacity, he designed and painted numerous murals in Federal and state buildings including the U.S. Post Office in Ventura. In 1937, he moved to Monterey and the home studio he built there was where he carried out various commissions, including for Senatorial offices in Washington DC and for John Steinbeck, a close personal friend, whose portrait he painted while the author was writing 'Sea of Cortez' (1940). Graham served in the Navy during World War II and, afterwards, traveled between Monterey, the Caribbean (1952-1953), New Mexico, and Mexico (1954-1955) before becoming a resident of Pebble Beach in 1956. In 2000, he moved and spent his final years in Oregon. Graham exhibited widely and with success including at the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939), Art Institute of Chicago (1947), Corcoran Gallery (1947), Whitney Museum of Art (1951), San Francisco Art Association, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art and the Carmel Art Association. Honored with 68 awards, Graham has received national and international acclaim as an abstract painter and colorist. His work can be found in numerous public collections including the Whitney Museum in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago, the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Art Museum, the Oakland Museum, and the Brazilian Embassy in Washington. Concerning his work, Graham said: "I am a creative painter, the grist for the mill can come from anything at all - a love affair, a book, a poem, a conversation, anything. I like profound painting, although I'm not always capable of doing it, I want a painting to breathe; I like to orchestrate color, playing with the various tones to create an amalgam of color." Reference: Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 2, page 1341; Artists in California 1786-1940, Third Edition, Edan Milton Hughes: Crocker Art Museum, Sheridan Books 2002, Vol. 1, page 448; Art & Artists: Carmel – Monterey – Pacific Grove – Big Sur – Carmel Valley, Third Edition, Lee Harbick, et al., Art & Artists of the Monterey Peninsula 1985, page 77; et al.
  • Creator:
    Ellwood Graham (1911-2007, American)
  • Creation Year:
    Circa 1985
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)Depth: 0.13 in (3.31 mm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    minor losses, minor restoration; unframed; shows well.
  • Gallery Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU34412359442

More From This Seller

View All
'California Coast', Corcoran, Bohemian Club, MoMA, AIC, CSFA, LACMA, SFAA
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Estate stamped, lower left, 'Wm. A. Gaw' for William Alexander Gaw (American, 1891-1973) and painted circa 1935. William Alexander Gaw was born ...
Category

1930s Post-Impressionist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Postcard

'South-Western Landscape', Art Institute of Chicago, Whitney Museum, WPA, Odessa
By Todros Geller
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed 'Todros Geller' (Russian-American, 1889-1949) and dated 1937 An elegant and painterly, southwestern landscape painted when the artist was 48 years old. Born in Vinnytsia, now in the Ukraine, Todros Geller first studied in Odessa before moving to Canada. He continued his studies in Montreal (1906) and, subsequently, at the Art Institute of Chicago with George Bellows and John Norton. Geller exhibited widely and with success including, from 1925, at the Chicago Art Institute as well as at the Riverside Museum (New York, 1939), the New York World's Fair (1939) and at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1941) in addition to other national institutions. Geller was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards and his work may be found in private and public collections including the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was a member of professional associations including the Artist's Union, the Artist's Congress and the Chicago Society of Artists, which he also served as president. During the the 1930's, Geller was an active participant in the Federal Art Project (WPA) in Illinois and his large-scale murals and stained glass windows may be found in Chicago and Detroit as well as Tel-Aviv. We are pleased to offer this elegant, South-Western landscape painted when the artist was 45. Reference: Todros Geller Archives, Spertus Museum of Judaica, Chicago; Sparks, Esther. "A Biographical Dictionary of Painters and Sculptors in Illinois 1808-1945." Diss., Northwestern University, 1971, p. 390; Yochim, Louise Dunn. Role and Impact: The Chicago Society of Artists. Chicago: 1979, pp. 28, 44, 238; Mavigliano, George J. and Richard A. Lawson. The Federal Art Project in Illinois 1935-1943. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990, p. 120; Dijkstra, Bram. American Expressionism: Art and Social Change 1920-1950. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2003, p. 155. Chicago Modern...
Category

1930s Modern Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Illustration Board

'Cretan View', California Artist, SFMOMA, Metropolitan, LACMA
By Douglas Mcclellan
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Douglas McClellan', dated 1988 and titled lower left, 'Cretan View'; additionally signed, titled, dated and media noted as 'monotype with collage' on verso. A ...
Category

1980s Abstract Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Tissue Paper, Monotype

'Evening Landscape' Bay Area Abstraction, San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts, CWS
By Robert George Gilberg
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Gilberg' for Robert George Gilberg (American, 1911-1970) and painted circa 1965. Born in Oakland, Robert George Gilberg first studied at the Oakland Art Center during the 1930s. Following service during WWII, he settled in Nevada City, California where he lived and painted until shortly before his death in San Francisco. Gilberg exhibited widely and with success and was the recipient of numerous medals, prizes and juried awards, including at the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts...
Category

1960s American Modern Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

'Alpine Landscape', Bay Area Abstraction, Mid-Century Woman Modernist, CCAC
By Marjorie Cathcart
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Cathcart' for Marjorie Cathcart (American, 1918-2014) and painted circa 1965. Additionally signed, verso, and titled, 'Alpine Landscape'. Marjorie Cathcart first attended the University of California in Berkeley, where she studied with Lundy Siegriest, Tom Holland and Anne O’Hanlon and was also influenced by the work of Wayne Thiebaud. Cathcart received her Bachelor's degree in 1943 and subsequently studied, and then taught, at the California College of Arts and Crafts, Over the course of a long and successful career, Marjorie Cathcart exhibited widely and with success including at the California State Art Exposition, the Jack London...
Category

1960s Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

'Large Bay Area Abstract', Smithsonian, San Francisco, CCAC, SFAI, MoMA, Milan
By Bruce Lauritzen
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'B. Lauritzen' for Bruce Lauritzen (American, born 1934) and dated 1970. Framed dimensions: 46.25 x 46.25 x 2 inches A large and dramatic abstract by this notabl...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Acrylic

You May Also Like

Antique American Modernist Abstract Landscape Morris Shulman Signed Oil Painting
By Morris M. Shulman
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist landscape abstract painting. Oil on board, circa 1952. Signed. Image size, 21.5"L x 7.5"H. Housed in a period modern frame.
Category

1950s Abstract Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Modern Abstracted Landscape -- Wyoming Abstract #1
By Erle Loran
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract landscape painting of Wyoming Hills by Erle Loran (American, 1905-1999), a modernist of urban and coastal views and geometric painting. Signed lower right "Loran '83." Prese...
Category

1980s Abstract Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Antique American Modernist Abstract Landscape Morris Shulman Signed Painting
By Morris M. Shulman
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist abstract Maine landscape painting. Watercolor and gouache on paper, circa 1960. Signed on verso. Image size, 30...
Category

1950s Abstract Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

abstract hills, desert
Located in Belgrade, MT
This painting by Lucien Durand is part of my private collection. It is signed by the artist.
Category

20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

Abstract Landscape 1954 American Modernist from Paul Rosenberg Gallery
By Raymond Mintz
Located in Surfside, FL
Label verso from Paul Rosenberg Gallery. (this was 600$ in 1954!) 18 X 26 without frame. 19 X 27.75 with frame Raymond was born in Clifton, New Jersey, in 1925, of German descent. ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Antique American Modernist Abstract Landscape Morris Shulman Signed Painting
By Morris M. Shulman
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist abstract Maine landscape painting. Watercolor and gouache on paper, circa 1960. Signed on verso. Image size, 30...
Category

1950s Abstract Landscape Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache