James Lechay

"Bottle & Glasses"

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: James Lechay (1907 – 2001) Born in the Bronx in 1907, James Lechay spent most of his childhood in Brooklyn before moving to Joilet, Illinois at age 13 to live with his uncle after his mother passed away. In 1928, he received his B.A. in psychology from the University of Illinois. The next year, he attended one week of graduate school before leaving to study under his brother, the painter Myron Lechay, in New York. At his brother’s studio, James began to associate with other artists of the time such as Milton Avery, Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky, William Zorach, and Raphael and Moses Soyer. From Myron, James Lechay learned to train his eye to observe natural forms and developed a philosophy dependent upon the relationship built between the artist and the subject. Lechay became engaged in the social and political issues of Depression-era New York and even joined the social realism movement for a brief time in the 1930s. He operated as the leader of the Artists Union while employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). With the WPA, Lechay traveled to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he established a gallery and exhibited the works of Milton Avery, Max Weber, and other WPA artists. Despite his association with many artists and artistic communities in New York in the 1930s and 40s, Lechay opposed adopting a style due to its popularity and commercial success. His use, however, of large brushstrokes from Abstract Expressionism, the flattened plane of Modernism, and the simple compositions of early Abstraction created a combination of styles completely his own. A painter of a vast range of subjects, including still lifes, portraits, and landscapes, Lechay was known to reduce these forms to their visual essentials. Lechay often did not date his paintings as he frequently reworked them, even after they were exhibited, calling his pieces, “finished at all stages and never finished”. In 1945, Lechay was hired by the University of Iowa’s art department, where he worked alongside Mauricio Lasansky, Humbert Albrizio, Carl Fracassini, and Byron Burford...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984) He was born to Czechoslovakian parents in 1892 in New York City. Living in Chicago as a youth, he took classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, returning to New York when he was 20. From 1913 to 1916, he enjoyed a scholarship from the Art Students League, and worked with John C. Johansen (a portraitist whose expressive style resembled that of John Singer Sargent), and Anders Zorn. He accepted a teaching position at the Minneapolis School of Art in 1916, remaining there until 1921. This enabled him to travel to Europe to study Cézanne’s paintings and works of the Old Masters. He traveled to Paris, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, and Munich seeking the works of Titian, Cranach, Rembrandt, Veronese, and Holbein, which gave him new perspective. Vytlacil studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Munich, settling there in 1921. Fellow students were Ernest Thurn and Worth Ryder, who introduced him to famous abstractionist Hans Hofmann. He worked with Hofmann from about 1922 to 1926, as a student and teaching assistant. During the summer of 1928, after returning to the United States, Vytlacil gave lectures at the University of California, Berkeley, on modern European art. Soon thereafter, he became a member of the Art Students League faculty. After one year, he returned to Europe and successfully persuaded Hofmann to teach at the League as well. He spent about six years in Europe, studying the works of Matisse, Picasso, and Dufy. In 1935, he returned to New York and became a co-founder of the American Abstract Artists group in 1936. He later had teaching posts at Queens College in New York; the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California; Black Mountain College in North Carolina; and the Art Students League. His paintings exhibit a clear inclination toward modernism. His still lives and interiors from the 1920s indicate an understanding of the art of Cézanne. In the 1930s, his works displayed two very different kinds of art at the same time. His cityscapes and landscapes combine Cubist-inspired spatial concerns with an expressionistic approach to line and color. Vytlacil also used old wood, metal, cork, and string in constructions, influenced by his friend and former student, Rupert Turnbull. He eventually ceased creating constructions as he considered them too limiting. The spatial challenges of painting were still his preference. During the 1940s and 1950s, his works indicated a sense of spontaneity not felt in his earlier work. He married Elizabeth Foster in Florence, Italy, in 1927 and they lived and worked in Positano, Italy for extended periods of time. Later on, they divided their time between homes in Sparkill, New York and Chilmark, Massachusetts, where Vyt, as he was affectionately called, taught at the Martha's Vineyard Art...

Illustrated in "Joseph Barrett, The Prime Years 1970s - 1990s", pg. 54, plate #062. Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Joseph Barrett (1936 – ) Joseph Barrett was born in Midland, North Carolina, in 1936 and studied at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Barrett, now of Lahaska, Pennsylvania, has been painting his entire adult life. His favorite subjects include the landscape surrounding New Hope and many local landmarks often encompassing figures into his compositions. Barrett utilizes a heavy impasto and his palette bears similarities to that of Fern Coppedge and George Sotter. Barrett’s paintings are always found in unique and somewhat charming handmade frames designed by the artist and finished in metal leaf. A living contemporary of the no longer living “New Hope School” impressionist painters, Joseph Barrett resides outside of New Hope above his old-fashioned antique shop and studio. Entering Barrett’s shop is like taking a step back in time. Inside this cluttered and dusty haven of treasures from the past, is a studio spanning only four by eight feet. This little studio, containing cans of old brushes and hundreds of used paint tubes...

Illustrated in "Joseph Barrett, The Prime Years 1970s - 1990s", pg. 10 #010 Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Joseph Barrett (1936 – ) Joseph Barrett was born in Midland, North Carolina, in 1936 and studied at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Barrett, now of Lahaska, Pennsylvania, has been painting his entire adult life. His favorite subjects include the landscape surrounding New Hope and many local landmarks often encompassing figures into his compositions. Barrett utilizes a heavy impasto and his palette bears similarities to that of Fern Coppedge and George Sotter. Barrett’s paintings are always found in unique and somewhat charming handmade frames designed by the artist and finished in metal leaf. A living contemporary of the no longer living “New Hope School” impressionist painters, Joseph Barrett resides outside of New Hope above his old-fashioned antique shop and studio. Entering Barrett’s shop is like taking a step back in time. Inside this cluttered and dusty haven of treasures from the past, is a studio spanning only four by eight feet. This little studio, containing cans of old brushes and hundreds of used paint tubes...

Lustrous blues and golds abound in this original and highly unique contemporary oil and resin painting on canvas from acclaimed American abstract artist Erin Parish, Parish's tradema...

Bernhard Zimmer has created a positive stir at major international art fairs (Art Basel, Kunst Köln, etc.). His lively and mysterious compositions pique the taste of the serious art ...

An oil painting on canvas and resin. Yektai transforms the classical still life into a dynamic expressionistic composition with an abstract landscape in the background. A warm, soft ...

Cheerful and bright mid century abstract still life. Unsigned but dated 1956 on the back. Framedin its original black and gold wood frame. Great piece to brighten any space. Lots of ...