Masonite Abstract Paintings

On offer is a striking mid-century theatrical surrealist work by the Chilean artist Fabio Lemus, who was active during the mid-20th century. STYLE: Lemus was noted for his whimsical...

This painting makes a bold statement! A large, dynamic and colorful Abstract Expressionist painting by notable Post-War artist, Lee R. Chesney (Am. 1920-2016). Executed in a palett...

James Earl Ray (1928-1998). Landscape with Orange Sky. ca. 1975. Oil on masonite panel measures 6.5 x 8.5 inches, 10.5 x 12.5 inches framed. Signed lowe...

Signed lower right, 'Paul England' (American, 1918-1988) and painted circa 1965. With old label, verso, bearing title, 'Gutenburg'. Framed in a period wh...

Untitled Abstraction, 1958, oil on board, signed and dated lower left, 24 x 35 inches, presented in a newer frame Oscar Edmund Thalinger was an American painter, draftsman, printmaker, and muralist best known for his evocative depictions of the American Midwest, his 1950s and 60s abstractions, and his contributions to Missouri art...

Original oil painting on masonite by noted Mexican abstract artist Leonardo Nierman (1932 - ), signed lower right. In its original gilt wood frame measuring 38.5 x 30.5 inches. Ar...

Mid Century Modern, American Abstract Expressionist Painting on Masonite. This wonderful work in exciting colors is housed in a contemporary white wood frame presentation.. The art...

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...

Impressive early American impressionist landscape painting by Will S. Taylor (Born 1882). Oil on board. Framed. Signed. Image size, 12 by 13 inches.

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...

Wesley Lea (1914-1981). Cubist Composition, ca. 1960. Oil on masonite panel, measuring 14.5 x 22 inches. Framed measurement: 19.5 x 27 inches. Signed lower left.

Rollin Crampton Untitled, circa 1950 Signed lower right Oil on paper laid on Masonite 24 x 36 inches Provenance Eleanor Kron Stefan Kuczinski, White Plains, New York Rollin Crampt...

Earl Hill (1927-1985). Gas Station Attendant, 1966. Oil on masonite panel, 10.5 x 13.5 inches, 15 x 18 inches framed. Signed and dated lower right. Inscribed...

A Large, Colorful, Modernist Art Deco Cubist Painting, "The Dancers" by Famed Chicago Painter and Printmaker, Charles Turzak (Am. 1899 - 1986). A large, vertical composition relating to the artist's notable 1930s woodcut of the same title. The painting is completed in a vividly textured Cubist style, with striking hues of rich greens and yellows, deep blues and rose pinks. The painting is oiI on canvas mounted to Masonite (artist's original mount), and offers a superb visual appeal. A perfect complement to any Mid-Century Modern home or collection. Artwork size: 38 x 24 inches (Framed size: 38 1/4 x 24 1/4 inches). Signed "Turzak" lower right. Provenance: Estate of the artist. Charles Turzak was one of Chicago’s greatest printmakers of the Art Deco-era. Son of a coal miner, Turzak was born in Streeter, IL in 1899. In 1920, Turzak won the first prize a cartoon contest sponsored by the Purina company and he used his prize money to enroll in the Art Institute of Chicago. Best known as a print maker, in the 1920s & 30s, he created woodcuts of many of Chicago’s most notable buildings, including the Merchandise Mart, Palmolive Building and the Old Water Tower, among others. In 1933, he was commissioned to create woodcuts of many of Chicago’s most iconic buildings to illustrate a guidebook called “All About Chicago” by John and Ruth Ashenhurst” that featured the upcoming Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago. During the 1933 World’s Fair...

Autumn Trees - Mid Century Small-Scale Landscape, Signed Oil Painting Vivid mid century landscape of autumn trees blurring into colorful abstraction by Helen Gleiforst (American, 19...

Milton Resnick Untitled, 1975 Signed and dated lower left Acrylic on paper laid on Masonite 30 x 22 inches Provenance Vincent Melzac Collection, Washington, D.C. Private Collection,...

Artist: John Kinnear, Canadian (1922 - 2003) Title: Highland Figures Medium: Acrylic on masonite, signed lower right Date: circa 1960 Image Size: 22 x 38 ...

A Colorful, Dynamic 1930s Modern Boxing Scene by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin. Artwork size: 2 3/4 x 4 inches, oil on Masonite mounted to original board; accompanied wit...

Sylvia Rutkoff (1919–2011) "The Cowboy" c. 1950s · Oil, gesso, on masonite · Period wood frame About this work Few paintings in the Rutkoff estate cache reveal her range as ...

Moody figurative abstract expressionist painting of a Victorian couple with an angel by artist David Rosen (American, 1912-2004), c. 1970. Signed "Rosen" lower right. Unframed. Image...

"Stillborn Dreams" - Mid Century Abstract Expressionist Composition in Oil Colorful mid century abstract expressionist painting by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009...

Jean Krillé’s paintings are known for their expressive use of color and dynamic, abstract forms, blending realism with abstraction in his depictions of nature. His landscapes often f...

Mid Century Modernist Sailboat Geometric Abstract Oil Painting This dynamic mid-century piece features bold geometry and a strong sense of movement. White triangular shapes parade a...

Bold abstract painting with pink, yellow, black, brown and white forms by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009). From the es...

A dymanic mid century abstract expressionist painiting with geometric shapes in cool tones and two figures by Leslie Luverne Anderson (American, 1928-2009). Oil on masonite. Titled "...

Large early oil painting by noted Mexican abstract artist Leonardo Nierman (1932 - ), signed lower right. Systema Solar Leonardo Nierman, Me...

Double sided figurative abstract by San Jose, California area artist Daniel David Fuentes (American, 20c-2017). San Francisco bay area abstract expressionist and landscape artist dur...

A Large, Dynamic Mid-Century Modern Painting of a Horse Race by noted Chicago Artist, Rudolph Pen. Artwork size: 24" x 36"; oil on Masonite. Framed size: 25" x 37". Signed "Pen" ...

A dynamic, 1950s Mid-Century Modern horse race painting by noted Chicago artist, Rudolph Pen. Artwork size: 27" x 23"; oil on Masonite. Framed size: 27 1/2" x 23 1/2". Signed "Pe...

Jean Krillé’s paintings are known for their expressive use of color and dynamic, abstract forms, blending realism with abstraction in his depictions of nature. His landscapes often f...

Sylvia Rutkoff (1919-2011) 26-1 "The Schoolgirl" c.1950s Oil paint, sand on Masonite 36x48 wood period frame Unsigned Collection acquired from family estate Sylvia Weinreb Rutkoff (...

Mexican Modernist Oil Painting - Double Sided Abstract Figures and Buildings Dynamic abstract pieces by Ernesto Butterlin, aka Linares, (Mexican, German b. 1917 d. 1964.) The front ...

This modern abstract painting by Peter Keil is on a smooth masonite board with a painted Tiffany Blue background, black abstract portrait. Here you ...

Large Scale Mid 20th Century Acrylic Painting by Vanguard Studios Signed Van Gaard Classic 1950s to 1960s acrylic painting of a guitar against a colorful ab...

Bertha G. Davis (1911-1997) Untitled, ca. 1960's Oil on cradled masonite panel. 16 x 20 inches; 24 x 28 inches framed. Signed lower left. Artist estate stamp on verso. Vintage custom wormy chestnut frame. A painter of cityscapes, landscapes, and abstracts in Texas, Bertha G Davis was primarily a self-taught artist whose style was influenced by her early life experiences in pre-World War II Lithuania and later Mexico. Her style is expressionistic*, relying on color to denote her profound feelings. She works primarily in watercolor and acrylic with some mixed media*. She is the daughter of Abraham and Dvora Germaize of Vilna, Lithuania and grew up in Jewish ghettos in Vilna, Alita, and Kovno. Davis was influenced by her father who was a decorative wood-worker and carpenter in Lithuania. The family of five daughters and a son escaped to Mexico City in the late 1920’s because of Jewish oppression. The images and emotions she experienced had no outlet. She was known as a beauty, and at age 17 was named Jewish Miss Mexico, barely able to speak Spanish having just emigrated from Eastern Europe. Irving Davis, a merchant from Texas who had also come from Eastern Europe via Cuba, saw her at this event where she was crowned Jewish Miss Mexico, and three days later asked for her hand in marriage. They moved to a small town in Texas, raising a family. Her daughter, Sylvia, was born when Davis was 20 and they were inseparable. As Sylvia became an actress, painter, and sculptor, Davis was amazed at the capacity for creativity. Davis didn’t begin her own artistic journey until she was 47, when her daughter Sylvia Caplan encouraged her to try. She was inspired by this daughter who gave her a drugstore palette of watercolors, paper and brushes and told her to “just try.” Davis did not put down her palette and brushes until her death in 1997. Bertha G Davis was primarily self-taught but maintained a style oriented toward color and texture that reflected her strong feelings. Most of her early work was done while she lived in McAllen, Texas where she was known for her contribution to art and showed her work and the work of other artists at the Bertha Davis Gallery. She studied with Stewart Van Orden, at Pan American College in 1960-61; and was a student at the Art Institute San Miguel Allende, Mexico, 1965. She was also a student of Harold Phenix...

Acrylic on masonite. This is a pivotal work in deep and radiant cobalt blue from 1950. It dipicts calligraphic and hieroglyph structures over a grid and pyramidal base by the first generation abstract expressionist. Provenance: Skinner: November 13, 1992 [Lot 00219}, The entry in the Skinner catalog indicates that the painting came directly from the artist to the family of the consignor to Skinner. Kaminsky Auctions. There is an unbroken paper trail that traces the ownership of the painting from the current owner, through two auction houses to the artist. Perfect unbroken provenance. Pousette-Dart was among the most inventive of the Abstract Expressionist generation, His uncanny talent was to expand the nature of abstraction and still make each mark each element very much his own; a reflection of what he called   "the concealed power of the spirit," he said, “not of the brute physical form."   His was not aiming for a singular, realized aesthetic formula but to expand the possibilities of painting; the transcendental in painting. Typical of such invention and exploration is this  painting  Untitled 1950 when the artist was only 34 years old and represented by one of the champions of the new American painting, Betty Parsons.  
A banner year for Pousette-Dart, the Museum of Modern Art acquired their first painting by the Minnesota born artist.  He worked on easel size works such as this painting an oil on masonite. At the same time Pousette-Dart was also working on larger scale works such as Path of the Hero, running over ten feet in length now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Both contain fields of color articulated by a highly sophisticated white hieroglyphic vocabulary. Rather than demonstrate an expressionist sensibility, Pousette-Dart harnesses his more cerebral ideas transforming thick areas of paint into a more refined composition of geometric forms akin to the pattern and forms of say a stained glass window. In a way he is looking back at Fugue, 1940 a black and white composition which makes use of a similar format of painting albeit smaller. Color and form are minimal, but what Pousette-Dart has maximized is the rhythmic and syncopated character of painting casting his ideas into purely symbolic terms that one might link to the pictograms of Adolph Gottlieb. Nonetheless, nature is always at the core of Pousette-Dart’s thinking and dreaming. Here he has transformed the local Ramapo Mountains—where he will eventually move with his family to live and work— into a complex series of articulated fragments linked by style, scale and color.  The painting’s imagery built on two large triangles and reduced to just two colors, cobalt blue and white all outlined in black.  Pousette-Dart symbols stacked in horizontal and vertical rows:  blue is ground, white is language, symbolic of light, consciousness and awareness . The painting maintains a mystical character images compounded that formulate a secret code and linked to the series of white paintings Pousette-Dart authored in the first half of the 1950s. Get up close to the picture and you discover images within images a kind of picture puzzle...

Oil, acrylic, resin on masonite

Composition, 1940–42 Oil on paper collage on masonite, 16 x 11 3/4 inches (40.6 x 29.8 cm) Framed dimensions: 26 x 21 3/4 inches Signed right center: SF Provenance Frelinghuysen Morris Foundation; Valerie Carberry Gallery, Chicago, Illinois Private collection until 2022 Suzy Frelinghuysen was born into a wealthy and prominent New Jersey family, and growing up, she was tutored in both art and music. While she showed an early talent for art, it was not her primary interest; as a child, she nurtured an nambition to become a professional singer. In 1935, she married George Morris, who came from an equally wealthy and distinguished New York family and had already established himself as an art collector, artist, and critic. Morris encouraged Frelinghuysen to paint and introduced her to a circle of affluent abstract artists, including the artist and collector Albert Gallatin. Gallatin owned a small but influential gallery, known as the Gallery of Living Art...

Beautiful cubist still life painted in jewel tones. ca. 1970. Oil on masonite panel measuring 20 x 24 inches. Unfrmaed. Signed "Galbrun" lower right.

Mid-Century Abstract Expressionist Composition with Blue, Purple, and Pink Colorful mid-century abstract expressionist painting by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009...

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

This early work by Jacob El Hanani was done in 1970. It is mixed media on masonite. It is hand signed in Hebrew and English in the bottom right. The piece comes framed in a black woo...

Coral Bouquet - Abstracted Underwater Scene in Acrylic on Masonite High contrast abstract composition by an unknown artist (20th Century). Vibrant scene composed of abstract shapes ...

Vivid and evocative abstracted painting of 9/11 by artist Jocelyn Audette (American, b. 1952), circa 2001. Impasto adds texture and interest. Label on verso with artist's name. Pres...

“Untitled” 1970 Abstract Surrealist Composition Encaustic & oil paint on Masonite 60 x 48 inches Not framed Born in 1934, the work of Suzanne Bloomfield represents the life force wh...

Mid-Century Modern Abstracted Cubist Table Still-Life in Acrylic on Masonite Vibrant mid-century modern still life with abstracted synthetic cubist elements in warm colors, highligh...

Signed lower right, 'Lundy Siegriest' for Louis L. "Lundy" Siegriest (American, 1925-1985) and painted circa 1955; additionally signed, verso, titled, 'Sun Glow' and bearing old exhi...

Boldly colored geometric abstract expressionist painting by California artist Michael Mercado (American, 20th Century). Signed lower right "M. Mercado '93" and Michael Mercado on ve...

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

Lesley Anne Spowart (American, born 1957) "Sacred" 2003 Oil paint, transfer, and mixed media on masonite Signed bottom left and on verso. Framed dimensions: 39.5" x 39.5" x .75" "Sa...

Expressive and raw large-scale modernist portrait of the timeless film actress Alida Valli (Italian, 1921-2006) by an unknown artist "Millá" (not to be con...

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...

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...

"Don't Cry Long" is a self-portrait of the artist and an unusual one at that in which the artist portrays herself shedding tears. Perhaps it is an expression of some grief experienced by Ms. Woodlock, but it also admonishes her to not "Cry Long" while at the same time poking fun because of her elongated face and the one lone "long" tear tracing a pattern down her face. In addition to self-portraits, Ethelyn painted commissioned portraits. In this painting her head is cocked and her famous bangs hang down her forehead. Compare two self-portraits, “Up From Under”, and “M’Eyes" to "Don't Cry Long." The major differences are the close facial view and the brilliant blood red paint that fills the entire canvas. This painting is included in the book, "Dreams Have Wings: An Artist's Journey into Magic and Mystery" printed in the United States, 1985. She describes "Don't Cry Long" as showing how funny looking we are, if we cry too long. Ethelyn Woodlock...

Mid Century Modern, American Abstract Expressionist Painting on artist board. This lively action painting has wonderful interjections of color within the predominantly black and whi...

Mid Century Modern Abstracted Landscape in Oil on Masonite Bold abstracted landscape by Ray Oakvick (American, 1917-1993). Streaks of reddish brown and white create an abstracted la...

His first name sounds like a concerto. Vivacious, its name is reminiscent of an aperitif or a cyclist. The addition of the two evokes the Italianate. Indomitable and unavoidable. Mor...

Bold abstract composition by RH Barnard (American, 20th Century). The backdrop of this piece is composed of rectangular sections of brown, red, blue, and tan. In the center of the composition, there is a black object...

20th Century School, "Stairway to Nirvana", Oil on Masonite, unsigned, titled verso, unframed. 24" H x 48" W x 1" D. Provenance: From the Collection of Laura and Lewis Kruger.

German Post War Modernist Still Life of Fruit and Pitcher by Walter Junge Double-sided Painting "An echo of the nature-oriented ideas from German Romanticism seems to continue to re...